Landscape, Interrupted I, by John Fleck

One of my favorite Albuquerque views is from the bike trail by what we call the “Big I”, the interchange of two interstates in the middle of town. The trail runs along the northwest bank of a flood control channel, and the geography is such that you’re at the highest point around, including (mostly) the freeways. The result is a nearly 360-degree horizon – the Manzano and Sandia mountains to the east, the Jemez to the north and Albuquerque’s volcanoes to the west.

But when I stopped today to try to photograph it for this blog post instead of just enjoying it as I rolled by, I noticed something that I’d never seen before in the hundreds of times I’ve done that ride. There is a tremendous amount of city interrupting the view of the landscape. For years, my eye and brain have been clearing all that clutter away. The view of the volcanoes was the most striking example:

Landscape, Interrupted II, by John Fleck

Those little bumps on the horizon, toward the right side of this picture. Those are the volcanoes. There’s a lot more city in the way than I realized.