The Manzano Mountains extend south of Albuquerque for about 40 miles, and are essentially the southern extension of the Sandia Mountains (where Interstate-40 crosses the mountains east of the city, the Manzanos go south from there, the Sandias go north). Whereas the Sandias are much more uplifted and cliff-laden, the Manzanos feature mountain tops with rounded profiles. Even so, the highest point of the range , Manzano Peak, pokes above 10,000 feet, similar to the highest points in the Sandias. The range provides two counties with their highpoints: Torrance County contains the actual summit and thereby gets to claim Manzano Peak as its highpoint, while Valencia County to the west includes some of the ridges and foothills of the range, including one point at 8,960 feet that serves as its highest point. The natural inclination is to try for both highpoints in one long day-hike. Interestingly, this would be the 4th time I'd attempt these: in October 2000, my plans to visit here were interrupted twice by storms. Then in July 2001, I got as far as the airport when multiple delays prompted me to postpone my trip again. All went well this time, even with the new security measures in place at the airports. I left Phoenix on Friday the 19th, arriving in Albuquerque at sundown and staying the night in Mountainair, about 80 miles of driving from Albuquerque and just south of the Manzano trailheads.

There are numerous trails in this range, including "Trail Crest (170)" which runs nearly the entire length of the range. Many people backpack up here and there are also numerous side trails leading up from below. The popular trail to Manzano Peak is the Kaiser Mills Trail, which is an overall 7.5 mile round trip hike. The Valencia highpoint is a little more remote. The Salas Trail from the west side of the range leads right to it but is almost a 13-mile round-trip hike. I decided to do both in one go so I chose the Red Canyon Trail, which comes up from the east and puts one on the main range crest just above the Valencia highpoint and about 3 miles north of Manzano Peak. Either way, I was looking at almost 15 miles of hiking. Fortunately the trails are good and the views are nice, too.

I was at the Red Canyon trailhead by 7 a.m., roughly 20-odd miles from Mountainair, arriving in good, clear weather. I started up the trail at 7:15. It stays low and within a steep-walled canyon for the first section; in wetter weather there are sections that may even feature waterfalls, although I saw no flowing water. Shortly, the trail breaks out of the canyon confines and switchbacks broadly up moderately-steep forested slopes, eventually coming up to the main range crest and the junction with the Crest Trail (#170). I turned left here and walked another half-mile south to the obscure junction with the Salas Trail. This section covered about 3 miles one-way with 2,000 feet of gain, and had taken me about 90 minutes.

For the Valencia County highpoint, I turned west onto the Salas Trail, which was hard to find under all the fallen leaves. It quickly surmounted the the ridge crest and dropped down the other side, switchbacking steeply for the most part. This trail doesn't get too many visitors and in places it was hard to follow. Valencia County's highpoint is about 1.5 miles and 1,100 feet down from the range crest, and I made great time. Twice, the trail crosses some impressive rocky outcroppings, the first maybe a few hundred feet down and the second just before the highpoint is reached. This second rock outcrop has good trails and is not technical, but even so I found myself taking care in some short sections - more fun than scary! Very shortly thereafter I crossed the invisible Valencia County Line and its highpoint, a very non-descript point on a ridge that otherwise would not attract any attention. Previous visitors built a cairn at (near) the boundary, a few feet of walking up from the trail, but plainly obvious no matter what. Only a few people had signed in in the past few years: people from the county highpoints group whose names I recognized, and two hunters who probably quite amusingly signed in when they found this strange cairn just sitting there. After a few minutes I started the trudge back up to the range crest, stopping at the first rock outcrops for a quick bite. I was back at the Salas-Crest junction at about 11 a.m.

The hike to Manzano Peak continues south along the Crest Trail. From the Salas junction, the trail stays mostly level right below 10,000 feet for about 3/4 of a mile in a wooded forest with periodic openings for views. Early on I heard an animal lumbering in the woods above me. It could have been deer but usually they take of running and make a lot of noise; this was more of a deliberate saunter. I couldn't see the animal but I wondered if it was a bear? I picked up a stick and beat it against some trees to make noise, as well as "talking". It didn't scare off the animal but it did continue on its way, in the opposite direction from me. Then a few hundred feet down the trail, I sat on a rocky section to rest when I heard a low roar that increased into a loud deafening roar. Then, for a split second, I saw it: a fighter jet was buzzing the range coming from the east and it banked sharply right and north, just enough time for me to see it. It was heading back to Kirtland AFB near Albuquerque, I presume. Cool! The roar was so loud that for about 30 seconds afterwards the whole range and valley echoed the roar.

As for the hike, the trail drops about 400 feet in a grassy meadow where it meets with Ox Canyon Trail, about 1.25 miles (my estimation) from the Salas junction. It then regains the 400 feet, stays level, then drops about 300 feet again where it meets the Kaiser Mills junction, about 1 mile south of the Ox Canyon junction. From here, Manzano Peak is about 3/4 of a mile (the sign says 1 mile) and about 400 feet of gain, most of it done early. The final few hundred feet is relatively steep but the summit is open and wide, with a nice sign and plenty of sitting rocks. I took an extended break here to eat and relax- it was 12:30 when I arrived. The views are outstanding, with a 270-degree panorama to the East, South and West. I signed in the register. I was the first since the previous Saturday, when a "Jake" signed in and Praised God and All His Glory and Infinite Love and Wisdom in Sending His Only Son to Die For Our Sins and Salvation Praise Be His Glory, all in capital letters, of course. My entry was more mundane: the usual "nice views, great hike" variety. Jake doesn't sound like the subtle type.

After about a half four I started the 5.5-mile hike back north up the Crest Trail then down the Red Canyon Trail. It went kind of slow because I aggravated a tendon high in my left thigh near the adductor muscle (I do this periodically; it make it hard to lift my left leg high for steps, etc). But in less than 3 hours I was back to my truck, right about 3:40 in the afternoon. I saw a few people hiking up, the first people I'd seen on the trail. I drove onto the town of Vaughn about 50 miles east of Mountainair and scouted the Guadalupe county highpoint, Mesa Leon. It was about 5 p.m. but I didn't have enough daylight for a full hike so I stayed in town and did it the next morning.