{"id":11256,"date":"2026-09-20T15:30:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T22:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yetihikes.net\/wordpress\/?p=11256"},"modified":"2026-09-23T16:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T23:56:10","slug":"grand-enchantment-trail-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yetihikes.net\/wordpress\/2026\/09\/20\/grand-enchantment-trail-day-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Enchantment Trail: Day 2 Manzano Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Start: Old lean-to on Sandia Ridge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finish: Southern Crossing Trail<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miles: 21.33 \/ 38.27 total<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ascent: 2340 feet<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It sprinkled on and off last night and there was even a rumble of thunder or two but nothing serious.  It cleared up for a much better looking day in the morning.  Despite the rain, my tent was only a little wet.  The dry desert air does wonders for gear management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I set off at sunrise and is my baseline plan for the trail.  It is fall with the days getting shorter every day, so I want to make the most of the 12 hours of daylight I currently have.  Also want to get moving before the sun heats things up too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heading down the trail, even the brush along the trail had mostly dried out.  This is in stark contrast to a warmup hike I did back home where the bushes stayed wet the whole day even with the sun out.  Big difference in climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I continued down the Sandia Ridge, with it petering out as I went.\u00a0 Soon a sharp divide marked the end of the ridge, leaving a large gap to the next chain of mountains that continued further south.\u00a0 I descended quite a ways on easy trail, and watched the flora go through evolutions in the reverse of what I saw yesterday.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I spent a lot of time hiking through large juniper which were fragrant which I always enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got occasional views of the surrounding landscape, but I was mostly buried in forest with little else to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I came to a waterfall which was bone dry even after the recent rains.\u00a0 There were a ton of dayhikers heading up to the falls from the nearby trailhead, so I\u2019m sure a lot of them were disappointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I got to the trailhead and my route transitioned to road for the first time to get under I-40.  Thankfully on the other side there was a caf\u00e9 where I topped off my devices and had 2 meals, since that is way better than trail food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I stepped away from my table to get my water bottles refilled, someone dropped off a plate of food when I got back.  The restaurant didn\u2019t do it, so I presume someone thought I was homeless and needed the food.  Not the first time that has happened on a hike, but definitely the soonest.  It was only the morning of day 2!  I returned the food since I didn\u2019t want it.  Don\u2019t want to be too full on a warm day hiking uphill.  I\u2019ve learned that lesson before.  A shame it probably went to waste though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The route continued up a road briefly, then hooked into some multi-use trails which I would follow the rest of the day.  It looked like mostly hikers and mountain bikers used them, so no ATVs or beaten down trail from that thankfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a big network of trails, and I made my first wrong turn of the trip.  I knew there was a turn coming up, but I didn\u2019t see a trail until I confirmed with my GPS that I had passed it.  Oh well, it was only a few minutes.  I paid closer attention the rest of the day with the many trails, but I don\u2019t like to just stare at my GPS.  It takes something away from the hike for me.  With this being an unmarked route following existing trails, it will happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The mountains I was passing through today weren\u2019t as high or steep as the range yesterday, so the hiking was fairly easy, but with few views.  It was nice forest, but nothing spectacular.  I purposefully don\u2019t research hikes extensively before hand because I want to see the landscape as it unfolds before me.  I don\u2019t really know what to expect for this route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My stretch target for today was to camp right before the next road crossing, since that is the beginning of a long road walk.  Ideally, I wanted to hit that road first thing tomorrow morning so I could get as much of it done as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw that I was well within range of the road at the beginning of the afternoon, so I took it a little easy and took a couple long breaks.  It was fairly warm and exposed and I had only gotten 4.5 liters of water at the caf\u00e9, so I needed to manage my water closely.  I probably should have gotten more since I won\u2019t get to the next source until tomorrow morning.  Oh well, I had enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I rounded out my slower afternoon by getting to camp around 5 with plenty of time.  I\u2019m not far from the road, but still can\u2019t hear it, so that is ideal.  I got a much nicer campsite for tonight.  Flat, spacious, a bed of pine needles.  Better in every way from the site last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I relaxed the rest of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
\t
<\/div>