"Hiked up the Piedra Lisa then branched off right to do a ridge traverse (Knife Edge 5.0) on the Shield. Tons of exposure but the rock is great and free of snow due to constant snowmelt. This traverse spit me out near the North Sandia Peak and I postholed south a few miles to descend La Luz back to my car. Wonderful route that I'd recommend to anyone looking for a stiff 4th class adventure. 13mi, 4k elevation gain, 7hr" — MikeERodriguez • Mar 1, 2026

"Amy and I are planning to hike Kilimanjaro together at the end of the summer. This is the highest freestanding mountain in the world, 19,341. To prepare; we are both planning on doing lots of Cardio Hikes, which entail blasting up mountain for an hour as hard as we can then blasting down. We are also doing a number of peaks together to prepare. She is working out at the gym and I am doing lots of mountain trail running. This hike is a preparation hike. We met at the bottom of the Tramway at the edge of Albuquerque at about 6:45, left one car behind, then drove 4.5 miles to the bottom of the La Luz Trail. The elevation at the bottom of the trail was about 7000 feet. We were hiking by about 7:00 AM. Albuquerque is blessed to have so many outdoor opportunities within minutes of the city and the La Luz Trail is a classic. The temperature was pleasant as we began to hike. As one hikes the switch-backs up the mountain the beauty opens up more and more, the expansive view opens up more and more. We passed through 4 life zones to the top; the Sonoran zone with pinion and juniper trees, the Transition zone with ponderosa pine, the Canadian zone with aspen, scrub oak and mixed conifer, a..." — Phil-Robinson • Jun 21, 2025

"Late afternoon and evening hike from Sandia Crest down to Peak 10,211 and back up to the Crest. Then enjoyed viewing the sunset and Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS from Sandia Crest. Fall colors are just past prime but still lovely. " — rick-brown • Oct 14, 2024

"Beautiful vista. Hiked the La Luz Trail to La Cueva Overlook and then on up to the Sandia Crest. Odd story - we intended to hike to the Sandia Tram, but a crime scene along the trail closed the La Luz to the tram, so we changed course to the Sandia Crest. " — rick-brown • Oct 21, 2023

"First time back to Sandia Crest since 1999. It's odd to see it so empty and kind of left behind- I guess the tramway has taken all the funding and the people? Still gorgeous. Next time I'll do the hike to North Sandia Peak, but I was with my mom so we just did the simple nature trail and walked around the Crest. " — psychikingjes • Oct 6, 2023

"Oh hey, 2 summits for one! Who knew?? This started off as a 1-hr trail run, but someone planted the seed and I couldn't be deterred from going for the summit. I was told it was two miles closer than it ended up being, and this was quit the climb on no breakfast and a handful of gummi bears. I called a friend to pick me up at the top, mostly because going back down would be way too hot for my dog. Bad decisions were made, but I got two more summits, and no one died, so... WIN!" — tmetz1226 • Jun 17, 2023

"Started on the La Luz trail which has been a tradition of mine for quite some time, branched off on the overgrown trail to the chimney in order to reach the crest. Beautiful sections of 4th class scrambling up the chimney, wouldn't recommend doing it in winter months w/o gear. Once on the crest you can walk over and catch the La Luz down. Calling this traverse La Luz del Mundo." — MikeERodriguez • Aug 7, 2022

"Hiked this one a day earlier than I originally intended due to an unpropitious weather forecast for the following day. My route of choice was La Luz to the Crest Spur trail. Hike went smoothly until about 9000’ above sea level when it started to become clear that I wasn’t fully acclimated to the elevation (I’m from Missouri and had only been above 3000’ for the last 3 days and 5000’ the last 12 hours). At this point I slowed by pace but continued to make a determined push for the top. From here on I progressively added layers on the way up and even got to use my microspikes that I bought for the trip (these were even more useful on the way down). The top was windy, chilly and visuals were dominated by gray overcast so I didn’t spend much time at the summit. I debated taking the tram back down but ultimately just decided to hike back in part because I wasn’t certain if the tram was open but more so because I’m stubborn about what I count as “summiting” a mountain (taking the easy way back would make me feel like I didn’t do it properly lol)." — tylerdelia • Dec 8, 2021

"I have only been cross-country skiing once before. My friend Brian is a cross-country ski enthusiast and had some extra equipment so he invited me to go with him and his dog Penny. I did not intend to get a mountain peak, but when we saw that it could easily be part of our journey we decided to get Sandia Crest, elevation 10,679. This is a repeat peak for me. I have gotten it several times. This peak is part of the Sandia Mountain Range which is the beautiful backdrop east of Albuquerque. We started cross-country skiing, Saturday February, 15, 2020, at 8:40 AM, at Ellis Trail Head. Our starting elevation was 10,300. We hiked up then dropped down to our lowest elevation 10,250. It was a beautiful sunny day with a nice snow depth everywhere. Penny was in dog heaven. We hiked over to the top of the Sandia Peak Tramway. (This is a must for any out of state visitors. Also take them to the new “Ten 3” restaurant, named after the elevation.) This was the point we decided to cross-country ski over to Sandia Crest. It took about 2 hours and 3.5 miles to get to the top. We stayed on the top for about 20 minutes and enjoyed the views. This is the mountain top in New Mexico with some of the gr..." — Phil-Robinson • Feb 15, 2020

"Did a double up and over run starting at La Luz. Took part of the old La Luz trail to La Cueva overlook then realized I forgot my phone in the car. Went back down and came back up La Luz. Completed the loop at the top using North Crest trail, Pena Blanca, Osha Spring trail, Osha Loop back to North Crest and La Luz." — Brian-Pilgrim • Jun 8, 2019