Step Into Cuba hosted a walk along the Rito San Jose and Fisher Community Trails on National Trails Day this year. Nearly thirty people, many from the Just Move It program, turned out on the sunny, early summer day.
Walkers ranged in age from below ten to over seventy, with many coming from as much as an hour away. Some walked the short distance to the Rito San Jose, where unusually high water roiled past on its way to the Rio Grande. The Rito San Jose Trail is an easy to moderate walk east across a sage covered flat across a small drainage via footbridge and then to the rim of the a small canyon. Hikers can continue down a slope to a figure of eight loop along the willow covered river terrace.
King Cup Cactus on blooming on the Fisher Trail
Others followed the more challenging Fisher Community Trail, where a number of wildflowers were in bloom alongside the path. The trail begins with a series of switchbacks then follows contours of the side of a tree covered mesa uphill and downhill until it crosses a large arroyo. It then climbs to a ridge that leads to the nearest corner of Santa Fe National Forest. The trail provides striking views of sandstone cliffs, the Nacimiento Mountains, and the Village of Cuba.
The University of New Mexico’s Prevention Research Center, Step Into Cuba, and Just Move It provided support for the event.