PDSCT Hike Report
Tingley Beach South to Bridge - Albuquerque Region
2023-01-10
Hike Distance (mi): 3.8Elevation Change (ft): 20
Total Uphill (ft): 20
Total Downhill (ft): 20
Report:
We had only 5 hikers for this “A” hike, but Palo Duro SC let us go anyway. As luck would have it, the hike leader started off on a trail nearer the road than planned and the porcupine spotters in the group identified two porcupines way up in the trees! As we hiked south, we came across a number of vehicles (5?), some of which had “Police” written on the side. Two men we encountered said that an Open Space team was clearing out a homeless camp. We saw ducks, coots, and cormorants in the two ponds in the woods, and shoveler ducks rotating as a group in the water. (See the video in the web album for this behavior captured a week earlier.) We saw large flocks of robins and a number of other small birds. As we hiked, we found wide deep holes that something had dug near or in the path. Was the critter digging for a home or to get something to eat? Here and there we had good views of jetty jacks, a past flood control measure for the Rio Grande.
As we hiked back on a trail closer to the river we came upon small trees gnawed by what must have been a beaver. We had lunch at a picnic table by the large pond near the parking lot. A scary giant goose (the attack goose type) kept demanding part of my lunch and wouldn’t take “No” for an answer. Most of the rest of the inhabitants were settling down to a nap (up on one foot, head stuck in the feathers) but roused themselves when a couple across the pond started tossing food into the water. Then it was a stampede (or whatever you call it when the animals fly or swim and don’t run).
We had an uneventful trip back to the center and arrived at about 1:30 PM. Thanks to our driver Lora.
Web Album 1 Name: Marilyn and Pamela web album
Web Album 1 Link: link
Hike Report Status: Published
Hike Leader(s): Marilyn Warrant
Hike Coordinator(s):