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Hiking the Zipper

NOB HILL--One of the benefits of having a good public transportation system is the ability to do 'point to point' urban hikes on the weekend. A five mile hike down old Route 66 is possible, and then using the Rapid-Ride bus to get back home. This might be called Destination Hiking and it is in contrast to making a loop around your neighborhood so you end up back in your own front yard. All this is made easy by having the buses run on Saturday and Sunday.

MaryAnn and I did a hike the other Saturday from our house in Nob Hill to Robinson Park downtown. We then walked over to the courthouse on Silver (about 3 or 4 blocks) and took the Rapid-Ride back to Nob Hill. On Saturday the R-R buses run about every 10 minutes. The Red Line runs by there every 20 minutes and so does the Green Line. Either bus goes up to Nob Hill.

The Zipper
"The Zipper" refers to the long string of shops and restaurants along Central Ave. It does in fact look like a zipper. There also is a company which has put out a very handy map called "The Zipper ABQ," plugging businesses up and down Central. But the Central Ave. corridor is actually longer than the map shows, running all the way from Tramway in the east to Coors Rd. in the west. That distance is somewhere around 10 miles. The idea is you can start hiking at any Rapid-Ride stop and finish at any other Rapid-Ride stop. The are the regular bus stops as well, but those buses are so dang s-l-o-w that sooner or later the next Rapid-Ride will pass you.

Another nice aspect of this kind of hike is the elevation change. One can take a leisurely walk downhill all the way in warm weather, or a brisk tramp up the hill on a cool morning. And don't forget the food! There are amazing restaurants from one end to the other.

Jam-Packed
But the real attraction just has to be all there is to see. A walk around the neighborhood is fine, but a walking a good distance on Central Ave. is jam-packed with all kinds of interesting things to see. They don't even have to be 'important' things, everything assumes a kind of significance when it's on The Mother Road.

Here are but a few of the sights we saw on our hike that Saturday:
• The Bob Haozous sculpture "Cultural Crossroad of the Americas." This piece, erected in 1996, was controversial from the start because the artist affixed a roll of barbed wire running across the top. That pointy addition was not in the plans he showed UNM. Suits followed. Eventually the wire was removed with the artist's consent.

• UNM's Center for High Performance Computing has an interesting limestone feature: an Oldsmobile and a Cadillac ensignia, both made of matching limestone and somehow fastened to the building. The structure used to house the Galles Oldsmobile and Cadillac dealership.
• A Med-Evac helicopter that had just landed at Presbyterian Hospital.
• $22 rooms for rent...in case your day hike extends...or things go in a different direction.
• You won't believe what they have done to the walkway though the underpass: LED lights that change color and illuminate photos of Old Albuquerque.
• Lunch at Rooster's downtown was wonderful! MaryAnn's soup & salad was unbelievable.

It was just a great morning. Among other things we stopped for quite a while in the original Albuquerque Public

Library. Try to include this place if you have time. We also stocked up on garlic from the Chispas Farm. They were part of the farmers' market in Robinson Park. Eli Burg told me that Chispas Farm is a national repository for garlic in America, with several hundred varieties.

So you might want to try hiking The Zipper. Just another way to 'get your kicks' in the Duke City.

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Comment by cathyray on October 27, 2009 at 9:21am: fun!

Comment by Lee on October 27, 2009 at 11:56am: Must have been a year or so since I walked under that bridge... any change would be an improvement but it sounds like they outdid themselves with lights and pictures !

Comment by Dan M on October 27, 2009 at 1:44pm: I really like the picture compilation you used for your heading! And this was an interesting and informative post.

Comment by Johnny_Mango on October 27, 2009 at 2:19pm: Thanks Daniel,
This is an actual photo (cropped). Did you notice the people waiting for the train?

Comment by Dan M on October 27, 2009 at 5:32pm: no, I didn't, but I do now that the picture is my desktop background.
yeah, the way you cropped it, it looked photo-shopped for a sec, but that's a cool perspective.
It captures a lot of the personalities Downtown has to offer: the good (Downtown density), the great (Alvarado) and the ugly (surface parking).

Comment by Lauren on October 27, 2009 at 7:00pm: Where is Roosters?

Comment by JMG on October 27, 2009 at 10:11pm: What's in the original Albuquerque Library? I remember when it was there...

Comment by Johnny_Mango on October 27, 2009 at 10:16pm: Rooster's is in the 300 block of Central SW.

The old library is now primarily devoted to genealogy and New Mexico history. They also have a collection of old printing presses. The library's interior is also worth seeing.

Comment by JMG on October 28, 2009 at 3:00pm: I loved the library when it was in that old building. Will check it out again.
My husband and I also like to take long city treks. Last weekend we walked from 4th and Griegos to UNM Hospital and back, meandering through neighborhoods. It's amazing the feel you get for different parts of town when you're on foot and the fascinating things you discover. The buildings that, upon closer look, you realize are historic and morphed from their original purpose to something different. The interesting artifacts you find along the road. And the people you meet: we talked at length to a trucker standing by his truck load of raw, unrefined copper from mines down near Silver City.

Some of the best walks we've done are along the ditches lacing the north valley. I highly recommend the ditch trails.

Comment by cc on October 28, 2009 at 3:28pm: So glad to hear about what Roosters has - just saw its beautiful yellow awnings next to its trees with yellow leaves this morn taking daughter to school.
Enjoyed this post!