Native cactus, Arroyo Hondo Open Space, Santa Fe NM

My assignment for yesterday morning was to find somewhere to hike around Santa Fe. With the help of Google and the Trails Alliance of Santa Fe I found Arroyo Hondo Open Space. It is right at the east edge of the city, near the top of the first pass on 25 North. After some false starts due to my thinking I could find it without consulting the gps, we got there. There is a nice parking area (and even a portapody) and an extensive loop of trail through Pinion Juniper habitat with too many varieties of cactus to count. It must be glorious when in bloom. There were a few wildflowers still in bloom in August…and the views were amazing. They say on a clear day you can see Mt. Taylor, 90 miles to the west, and the views south and west over the Sandias are spectacular. On the other side of the hill you overlook Santa Fe, and the Santa Fe mountains rise to the North. All in all a great place to spend an afternoon (or morning…morning would be cooler in August 🙂

This little grouping of cacti and rocks looks like something a landscape gardener would have designed…and my compliments to the master gardener!

Sony HX90V in-camera HDR at 160mm equivalent field of view. 1/320th @ ISO 80 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.