Albuquerque, New Mexico.

We were in Albuquerque for about a week in June for a family reunion. One evening, the eastern sky lit up as the sun completed its trek across the desert sky in New Mexico. Hoping I’d get a chance to get in position on the road a bit east of my sister’s home, I started the uphill trek toward the Sandia Mountains.

The neighborhood is not even a mile from the bases of those mountains, bathed in shades of purple and orange for but a few moments that evening. I knew I wouldn’t have much time to capture the changing light.

About the photo: Captured on my Samsung S20U, I struggled a bit to find a composition I liked given that I was in the middle of a residential area, and by the time I’d gotten into the car and found a suitable setting for the foreground, the magic would be gone, shrouded in the approaching twilight.

Instead, I ran up the hill toward the mountains, stopping several times to ultimately capture several compositions. I loaded them into Lightroom and decided there was only one that was really worth sharing. After basic edits, I loaded the image into Luminar Neo for final processing. You can bet that this image will find its way to my skies folder for use in other image backdrops. To view the image on a black backdrop, click on it to view it in 2K HD on my Flickr site.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment.

John Steiner

The western side of the Sandia Mountains shields the city of Albuquerque from the early morning sun. To view that early morning sunrise, you could climb to the top of the 10,378 foot summit. Or you could ride on the Sandia Peak Tramway. You’ll be elevated over 4000 feet to the top in about 15 minutes with only the effort of purchasing a ticket and stepping carefully into the waiting car. A page on the tramway website here features the history and capabilities of the tram.

The terrain is steep and rocky on the west side of the mountains, but on the east side, the terrain is much more gentile. Skiing is a popular sport on the east side of the mountains. Skiers can ride the tram to the top, or take a ski lift from the bottom of the ski area on the east side of the mountain.

On our trip upward, there were a few wispy clouds near the peak, so we had a spectacularly clear view of Albuquerque to the west and south. While we were at the top, we stopped for coffee at High Finance, a restaurant with a view from the top. A large viewing area gives the tourist plenty of opportunity to gaze at the city below. Looking east, the ski area with its much more gentle slopes beckons. On our visit, clouds below us obscured the view of the eastern slopes except at the very top. In the distance, we could see the Sangre de Cristo Mountains rising through the cloud layer. By the time we were ready to leave, the cloud layer enveloped the entire mountain below us and we watched a tram car emerge from the cloud layer into the bright, sunny skies above. We would eventually descend through that layer to view the city completely overcast.

You can check their website here for information on the tramway, and for winter and summer sports information. I submit for your approval, a gallery of images taken at Sandia Peak Ski and Tramway. Click on an image to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.

John Steiner