East Mountains High

Roots Farm Café, in Tijeras, owned by partners Kendall Rattner and Daniel Puccini, specializes in serving organic, local produce and selling goods crafted by locals. In Cedar Crest, Cabra Coffee, owned by Hannah Johnson, and Rumor Brewing Co., owned by her brother, Patrick Johnson, also feature local and sustainable ingredients, dished out with plenty of friendliness.

Fresh angles on consumerism and mountain air prove to be an irresistible combination, particularly in the time of COVID-19. Visitors weary and wary because of the ongoing pandemic are seeking an escape into the great outdoors here, all while remaining close to Wi-Fi, restaurants, watering holes, and shops. Cedar Crest and Tijeras offer a close remoteness, a less wild wilderness. And a great day-trip destination.

“A lot of our new customers are people who’ve come up for a hike and then stumbled upon us,” says Pam Cherry, co-owner of BackRoads Home Decor, a not-to-be-missed emporium of vintage, antique, and farm-chic wares that shares Tom & Jerry Plaza with Cabra Coffee and Rumor Brewing. “It’s been a good thing.”

I am someone who stumbled upon the East Mountains 30 years ago, lucking into an acre of land abutting the Cibola National Forest outside Tijeras by way of marriage. The union didn’t last, but the luck of mountain living has. Yet, until Covid-19 forced many of us to work from home, I had never taken the time to relish all the area had to offer. The East Mountains was a zip code and a place I passed on my way to somewhere else, enjoyed in blurred views out car windows and all-too-brief weekend respites.

That had to change. I committed myself to explore these mountain communities with fresh eyes and limber (but not too limber) legs and set off into the otherness.

AT TOM & JERRY PLAZA—or rather, just behind it—a favorite day trip begins. Like most of the retail businesses in Cedar Crest, the plaza sits on NM 14—“North 14,” if you want to sound like a local—and Arroyo Seco Road, next to the Cedar Crest Post Office. At the end of the road, the trailhead for the John A. Milne and Gutierrez Canyon Open Space leads to 720 acres of gently sloping forest and endless mountain vistas. Free of rutted, rocky roads, the area (the Milne portion was named in honor of the longest-serving superintendent of Albuquerque Public Schools) is one of the most accessible trail systems in the East Mountains. Its trails suit nearly every skill level for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and trail running. Dogs on leashes are also welcome.

The 2.3-mile Arroyo Loop is one of my favorites, suitable for families and those looking for a short stroll rather than a mighty conquest. For a more amped-up experience, you can connect from the Loop to a series of trails that wend through the entire space.

Cherry says it’s not uncommon to see hikers parking behind Cabra Coffee to prime their trek with a warming cuppa and made-from-scratch baked scones and muffins. Cabra’s soothing lavender latte is a favorite of the locals, but I prefer the spicy house-made chai.

Read More: Tinkertown Museum, in Sandia Park, is decidedly odd and delightful.

After an excursion, opt to imbibe something a little more potent, at Rumor Brewing Co., Cedar Crest’s only brewery. Steps away from the Milne/Gutierrez trailhead, it’s a good place to grab a beer, a slice of brick-oven pizza, and a relaxing spot on the patio before the sun sinks red and radiant behind the Sandías. In warmer weather, Rumor also features live music.

Just north of the trailhead, the popular El Mariachi, a small, family-run Mexican restaurant, dishes up some of the best mole and carne adovada this side of the Sandías. El Mariachi also serves breakfast and offers a heated, covered patio for alfresco dining. But what makes this a favorite food spot among locals is the welcome from Ozzy Aragon and his family. A few times here and you’re a friend. Known for its generosity, El Mariachi distributes hundreds of burritos to those in need and holds burger cookouts to raise funds and collect donations of warm clothing and blankets. It’s a place with a lot of heart—and a heck of a great guacamole.

FOR ANOTHER DAY TRIP, head to the south side of Tijeras Canyon by way of NM 337, still referred to as “South 14” by stubborn locals even though the highway was renumbered in 1988. We locals refer to this community collectively as “Tijeras,” though very little of the area stretching from the canyon through the Manzanita and Manzano mountains lies within the village boundaries, which is a slight 1.2 square miles in size.

The name Tijeras, spelled various ways on survey maps over time, from “Tejeras” to “Tegera” to “Tijera,” derives from the Spanish word for scissors. It earned the name because of the way the canyon cuts through the mountains.

A half mile from the canyon on South 14 is what remains of the original village of Tijeras, active more than 700 years ago. Tijeras Pueblo, built on a bluff in the bowl between the Sandía and Manzano mountains, was home to as many as 250 people at its Ancestral peak. For years, the inhabitants endured harsh winters, unreliable water sources, and interloping marauders before dying out or moving west to the more inhabitable Río Grande Valley. Alas, most of what was the pueblo’s kiva, plaza, and boxy rooms has returned to the dirt underfoot, the puddled-adobe walls worn away by weather and time.

Read More: Find trails to the historic Kiwanis Cabin atop Sandía Peak.

Take the 1/3-mile interpretive trail, just off the parking lot of the Sandia Ranger District, and ascend toward the bluff, passing signs warning of rattlesnakes, before making a loop around the eroded buildings. From the highest point of the trail, the sounds of interstate traffic whooshing through the canyon might serve as a reminder of the passage of time.

At the ranger station, pick up maps and seek advice about other nearby hiking and cycling trails and picnic sites in the Cibola National Forest. Among the most popular trails are Coyote, Otero Canyon, and Tunnel Canyon, each accessed from South 14 and no more than five miles from I­–40.

Begin or end this south-side day trip at Roots Farm Café for a panini, soup, or salad, made with seasonal, organic ingredients—with some of that produce grown by the restaurant owners themselves. The parking lot at Roots is almost always full, but somehow the cozy rustic cabin finds room for all. I don’t know how they do it, but the daily offering of quiche manages to combine a savory, melty nirvana while still maintaining the integrity of a flaky crust.

Roots also offers one of the best selections of local goods, including copies of Timelines of the East Mountains, an exhaustive trove of area history compiled by the East Mountain Historical Society.

And what a history it’s been. For much of the time, the East Mountains were a place along the way to somewhere else. Wagons full of Civil War soldiers in the 1860s and refugees escaping the Dust Bowl in the 1940s made their way through Tijeras Canyon, each seeking their own ideas of something better, something true. Farmers, miners, and settlers came and went. Towns such as San Antonio, Yrissari, Bartolo Baca, Escabosa, and Vallecito are now just names on a map.

Read More: A Tijeras café builds community by combining fresh meals with farm produce, a shop, and hands-on workshops.

Later businesses such as the popular Bella Vista restaurant, home of all-you-can-eat chicken and fish dinners, and the Golden Inn, a rowdy bar that attracted hundreds of city folks to watch acts like Chubby Checker and Asleep at the Wheel, were torn down years ago.

Even today, some visitors pass through Tijeras or Cedar Crest on their way to other destinations—north to Santa Fe by way of the historic Turquoise Trail or skyward to Sandía Crest and the Sandia Peak Ski Area. Like me, many people sometimes do not see that some of the best destinations are within reach of our own backyards, in our own communities.

But stay at this altitude, in this rarefied air, in this place. You might find the East Mountains is the right place at the right time