North Gulf Course Urban Open Space Xeriscaping project

Mike: During our field observation at the trail surrounding UNM's North Golf Course there were joggers, people walking their dogs, even families enjoying this trail that was very much under construction. Intermittent fencing, multicolored flags and florescent spray paint marked the trail. Likewise, there were several freshly dug trenches for irrigation leading into the golf course.

Erin: To get there were first travelled a few yards along the North Channel Trail, a bike path that I became acquainted with the week before  when I attempted to cycle to the gym where I go climbing. The route, which follows the course of the North diversion tributary, evokes an uncanny feeling of Nostalgia in me because it shares many characteristics with my favourite cycle route back home.

             Melisa: I discovered this area while aiming to get fit again. I decided that this could be the best place to explore, be outdoors, and still be close to home. This space is my backyard. When asking Mike & Erin if they would like to explore this area the remodeling was already taking place. I don’t think that I would have picked up on how this space was being altered for the golfer, runner, or casual walker with his or her pet.

            Mike: The neighborhood surrounding this trail and golf course is comprised of both businesses and residences, as well as branches of UNM's hospital system and an independent cancer facility: Casa Esperanza. All told, it seems like this trail is a great way to invest our city's resources into something for everyone to enjoy. Along the trail, there are several tall trees, similar to those in the Bosque, as well as lots of grass and slow rolling hills, as one would expect for a golf course. It's a terrific idea to turn this landscape into something that serves a dual purpose by placing a walking trail along this golf course.

Erin: However, whereas the trail back home follows alongside river Exe, with its sloshing swan infested waters always seems on the verge of exploding its banks, the presence of even a little trickle at the bottom of the North Channel tributary was surprising enough that we remarked upon it as we passed.

Melisa: While being at the top of the hill one can see at the horizon and the expansion of land interacts with the blue sky. When we are all up on that hill I pointed out to everyone that in Long Beach there is also a space much like this one. The only difference is that in the distance you can see the blue sky blend in with the blue water—the Pacific. I observe the land this way because of the colors and the ongoing blending of the land and sky. I thought again of California and the ways in which your perspective shifts when you move from landscape to landscape.

            Mike: The last leg of the trail, in the way that we completed it, took us along a ditch that was hard to notice against the backdrop of a beautiful westward view of Albuquerque. From our vantage at the end of the trail, the volcanoes on the Westside, as well as Albuquerque's downtown could all be taken in together. The view and the trail were a great reprieve from the city grid that surrounds much of life in Albuquerque and indeed surrounds this trail as well.

Erin: In the midst of a Xeriscaping project, the park is covered in large mounds of dirt and little flags that let you know that something is going on. The fences that usually separate the golf course from runners and families out for an afternoon stroll have been taken down in many places. I felt a bit sad to think that this space which must have required a lot of energy to keep green had only been accessible to the public through the bars of a metal fence.

             Melisa: As we headed Northwest towards the back of the trail the golf course was messy looking. There were dug up holes feet away from each other. No people in sight. I think it’s funny how when under construction a recreational space can be disturbed. Although the paths are available for the walkers, and runners. The space, for me is not what it was back in January. Rugged, brown and hilly. Now the golfers are not in sight, piles of dirt are laid across the lawn. Fences that created a divide for the trespasser runner are not present in some areas. In the distance you can see a woman running and playing with her dog.