Trails and other news

I did the La Luz and Pino Trails (Albuquerque, New Mexico) and also visited Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument around mid-October with some family.

With the La Luz, we started at the top and worked our way down the trail. I did this twice, ending at both a parking lot and at the tram. Going to the parking lot is a bit shorter -- the tram trail is an extra 1.6 miles and was not well marked and meandered quite a bit.  Either way, it was about 4 and a half hours.

For the Pino Trail, we started at the bottom, went to the top, and came back down all in about 4 and a half hours. The Pino Trail felt a lot more difficult than the La Luz because it gains about 1000ft every mile for two miles!

I don't think I would want to do the La Luz or Pino with young children as the trails are narrow and on the edge (requiring constant awareness) and very long.  I did do both of these with my 13 year old and he did very well. Tent Rocks I've done with everyone in my family (youngest was 8 years) and while it has challenges, it is also short.

At the beginning of October, I did a karate belt test and now I'm a green belt. While I was in Albuquerque, I attended a self-defense class with my mother-in-law and found a lot of the same basic techniques being taught.