The world’s longest tram stretches from the base to the top of Sandia Peak. The 15-minute ride takes riders over deep, wooded canyons and up steep granite rock faces.
The view from the top is spectacular as any mountaintop view would be. I always have a hard time believing, however, that I was not transported to a different planet, not just a few thousand feet because the top of the mountain (and the other side of it) is so different from my desert side.
The tram is used widely for visitors wanting to get to the top of the mountain, but it is also used for skiers and hikers. (There are some great hiking trails that people hike up, but ride the tram down.)
In the summer, the angle of the sun lights the tram wires. During the warmer months from my house I can see most of the tram wires in the morning. My house is at least 20 miles from the wires. To see a car, however, one must be quite close.
At the top there is a small building with some nature posters and samples. There is a restaurant, a ski area and hiking trails at the peak. One can drive up the “back” of the mountain to the same location (or get relatively close), but it takes about an hour longer to do so.
My World is a meme put on by the same people who do SkyWatch Friday. Go check it out and see the worlds of other people!
This week, I joined the MWT/SWF team, so there are more pictures of/from the tram at the main My World site.
November 3, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Simply beautiful, Louise. Thank you.
The first shot reminded me of the movie Where Eagles Dare!
November 3, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Louise: What a great view and your opening photos are superb, nice start my friend.
November 3, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Even if Im scared of heights, I would not let that hinder me seeing a beautiful sight as this!
November 3, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Interesting place! And huge place you live in!~
November 3, 2008 at 2:16 pm
WOW, that is amazing!!
Thank you for commenting on my site
Take care.
November 3, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Hi Louise – Great photos (as usual) and a very interesting post. And it’s great to see your name added to the SkyWatch/MyWorld team. Good for you!
November 3, 2008 at 2:26 pm
seems like a great place !
very impressive !
November 3, 2008 at 2:33 pm
These are such beautiful shots. I also enjoyed the ones on your Introduction to this week of My World. The second shot in this post almost looks like a pastel.
November 3, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Congrats on joining the SWF/MWT team – how totally cool!! I don’t think I’ll be taking the trip up that tram thingy of yours. Ever. I did as a kid in Cape Town – up Table Mountain. And I loved it. I remember my dad staying down below and NOT WATCHING us go. That would be me today. In fact, I might even just forget to tell the kids that it’s even an option. Sure does look beautiful though!
November 3, 2008 at 2:34 pm
What a beautiful sight!
November 3, 2008 at 2:37 pm
That must be nothing short of awe-inspiring to wake up to. Funny thing, it’s not the street I officially live on, but the street that runs next to my house (I live on a corner) is called Sandia Drive. But it doesn’t look anything like this!
November 3, 2008 at 2:38 pm
It is breathtaking! Those rides are fun – aren’t they?
Cheers, Klaus
November 3, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Your house is near the end of civilization cracked me up! That is how I feel some nights driving home after work! I have never seen a view from atop a mountain that wasn’t spectacular and these we no exceptions, Louise!
November 3, 2008 at 2:51 pm
We have one of those things that takes us up to the top of Grouse Mountain. I took my Welsh visitors there last summer and we had a great time. The view are always spectacular, as are yours!
November 3, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I don’t think I would like to fall down there…
November 3, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Lovely images Louise – as were your opening photos!
Glad to see you on the team – congrats! You make a wonderful addition to it.
November 3, 2008 at 3:08 pm
What a trip you arrange for us!
Thank you!
I really would like to be there in person.
November 3, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Thank you for the beautiful tour with the splendid view! Thanks also for your kind comments!
November 3, 2008 at 4:02 pm
That is breath-taking!
November 3, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Hi Louise! Longest tram in the world? It must be in the Guiness… 😉 Wonderful views!
Blogtrotter is departing Armenia. It leaves you however with a view that Tsar Nicholas didn’t see… ;))
Have a great week!
November 3, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Great shots Louise… Ouah !
Very nice view…
November 3, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Magnificent!
November 3, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Cool post. You’ve got a vast landscape 🙂
November 3, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I’m not sure if I could get past my fear of heights but I’d sure try for that view.
November 3, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I’ll just enjoy the view through your pictures. I couldn’t bear to be in that thing.
November 3, 2008 at 5:46 pm
COOOL! I wanted to go on one of those when I was in Vancouver but it was all foggy… 😦
November 3, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Oh my Louise! These are great pictures!!!! I love the trams and getting to enjoy the “birds eye view” of the lovely mountains. Wonderful post!!
November 3, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Those are some big beautiful mountains. Thanks so much for sharing.
November 3, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Great post, Louise! I love the pictures and the view is magnificent! It brings back memories of when I lived in Gatlinburg, TN and rode the tram to work every day.
November 3, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I’d sure get breathless from that view! *whistles*
November 3, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Wow! What beautiful pictures!
Makes me want to go there and RELAX!
November 3, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Wow, great post. I think I see your house. We have something similar in Palms Springs, and I’ve never taken the tram! I think I will next summer.
November 3, 2008 at 7:02 pm
What an awesome views. love the shots. congrats on joining the SWF and My World Tuesday!
November 3, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Congratulations on joining the Team.
I don’t know much about New Mexico so it is great to learn a little from a personal point of view. Thanks for the insight.
November 3, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Warmest congratulations on becoming a team member of both Sky Watch and My World, Louise! That’s wonderful, and well deserved.
Love, love, love those Sandia photos!
::you can take the girl out of NM, but you can’t get the NM out of the old woman!:::
November 3, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Wonderful views!
November 3, 2008 at 7:41 pm
That must be some wonderful experience, Louise!
November 3, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Very beautiful photo of the cable cars. Love the background scenery too. Have a happy tuesday.
November 3, 2008 at 8:39 pm
The geography of a place is so relevant to who we are. Astounding, isn’t it?
November 3, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I’m not too fond of heights, but I would go ride the tram without second thoughts. I can just imagine the sweeping views from that vantage point.
November 3, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Yes, I saw your other shots too and they are breath taking. What wonderful views!! Whoa!!
November 3, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Wow that is beautiful, but you would never catch me on that. I am shuddering just from the view. LOL
November 3, 2008 at 10:03 pm
We didn’t have time to actually go up the tram when we were in your city but the mountains were beautiful.
November 3, 2008 at 10:05 pm
I would like to ride that, although I could be scared.
Congratulations on joining the Myworld-gang. You are the right person for that.
November 3, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Another stunning mountain featured. So takes me back to Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa where I used to live. Majestic and awesome. Interestingly I know that contraption you call a Tram as a Cable Car. More new terms to learn as I adjust to this side of the pond.
Thanks for your visit too.
November 3, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Wow! Awesome photos! I would love to be able to take photos from a tram. I’ve only ever managed shots from a tall Ferris wheel and a crop duster.
November 3, 2008 at 10:52 pm
“Louis” remembers that tram – and how he always wanted to ride it but never got to…What a great vantage point for some Sky Watch photos!
November 3, 2008 at 11:18 pm
I might even overcome my vertigo to see these views, wonderful
November 4, 2008 at 12:18 am
Beautiful! And a great lead-in to My World!
Very wonderful.
November 4, 2008 at 12:20 am
It’s a great post! But i can live it only by photos because i have height fear. I can’t imagine myself up there.
November 4, 2008 at 12:36 am
first of all i would like to congratulate you on the intro and pics on this weeks my world meme. great job.
secondly, your place is just grand. i love the view of the mountain and the scape. beautiful.
November 4, 2008 at 12:52 am
Magnificent shot…another “dizzy subject” 🙂
November 4, 2008 at 12:57 am
Stunning views & obviously plenty photo opportunities along the way but far to scary for me!
November 4, 2008 at 3:37 am
Just gorgeous views and pics!
November 4, 2008 at 4:27 am
Beautiful shots.
November 4, 2008 at 4:28 am
As a skier I am used to trams (and I am very happy they exist!). Your view is stunning, what incredible shots!
November 4, 2008 at 8:10 am
Amazing!!!
November 4, 2008 at 10:01 am
I enjoy a lot these views, Louise!
I really don’t know how you can follow 200 BLOGS!!! Bloggers friends are so quick in posting that every minute there is a new post, even if you have controlled the blog just a moment before! I think it’s a good thing posting every day, but it’s also too fast, there is no time to stop a bit on the photos and the text. But then I think to the daily papers with the events which go on and go on endlessly…
November 4, 2008 at 10:32 am
It seems that you live in a beautiful part of the world !
November 4, 2008 at 2:31 pm
That must be one fabulous ride, and lovely shots!
Louise, congratulations and thank you on being a team member of MWT.:)
November 4, 2008 at 3:12 pm
That is really cool. We have a tram somewhere close to here. I rode it as a kid, but had forgotten about it until this post. I’m going to have to go do some research and take my kids to it.
*hugs*
November 4, 2008 at 4:16 pm
What a fantastic view! I think you live in a beautiful part of the world:)
November 4, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Great captures and wonderful views!
Thanks for sharing, Louise!
November 4, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Neato…guys like trams….they are spacey and macho…..just like me.
November 4, 2008 at 8:53 pm
You do have a beautiful area with many wonderful views! I think I would like the tram, scary but fun too.
November 4, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Congratulations on joining the team. That is a beautiful mountain you have to see everyday and photograph. The tram ride would be a nice way to get photos of both the mountain and the city. Great post!
November 5, 2008 at 1:18 am
Thanks for fixing the link. I remembered that I needed my country after I pushed the publish button. I don’t have a smile face to click on and fix it.
Thanks for your visit to myworld post.
November 5, 2008 at 1:43 am
Breathtakingly beautiful view and infomative post.
Thanks for sharing such a beautiful world.
Check out Gothic architecture in My World
November 5, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Really nice, i love the view. thanks for sharing
November 5, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Great photos and what a terrific view!
Thanks also for stopping by my blog and for commenting too!
November 6, 2008 at 6:59 am
WOW! Wonderful photos and amazing view! Love this new blog My World! Congratulations on joining the team!
November 6, 2008 at 5:52 pm
With regard to your comments on my blog. I have registered earlier than usual as I am away. I normally only register once my photo is posted (as per the requirements) This time my post is set on a time schedule so will post in the morning. I hope this is ok for this one time.
March 11, 2010 at 7:02 am
[…] (Hopefully lots of it coming to a blog near you soon.) One day we went to the top of the mountain on the tram. There was about 6 feet of snow at the top, so the girls had a great time playing in it. We walked […]