This afternoon, I decided to hike trails near where I live rather than driving anywhere. I crossed the Main Hill Road near the airport to pickup the Canyon Rim Trail, the section east of the fire station and above DP Canyon. I hadn't walked very far on the graveled path when along comes a county vehicle and the passenger is calling my name, long, drawn out and raised up at the end like when you've caught a child doing something naughty. It was none other than our local Open Space Czar! He advised me that they were still checking out the Canyon Rim pedestrian bridge for safety. Whatever gave him the idea that I would have snuck on the bridge before its official July opening?? ; D Anyway, I cheered "Yay!!" for what he'd accomplished in getting that bridge put in!! It was expensive and the County Councilors weren't thrilled about it but Los Alamos is a community of hikers and there was a lot of public support for it.
I walked as far as the new pedestrian bridge and observed that workers were truly checking it out. I walked back on a dirt road nearer the Main Hill Road, my shoes raising clouds of talcum powder dust, looking for a break in the barbed wire fence to get across to the airport but had no luck. I had this wild idea that I could walk over to where they are building the Los Alamos Food Co-op to check out the area east of the airport runway, including the Pajarito Cliffs-Entrada Road section. Instead, I went back on the official, graveled Canyon Rim Trail (it will be asphalted to make the surface ADA compliant) until I finally found a piece of barbed wire broken down enough to step over. (Even then, it almost snagged my clothing!!)
I continued over to the Mesa Trail, at the western edge of the airport, but instead of going west toward Aspen Ridge Assisted Living Facility, I went east. The Youth Conservation Corps has extended much further to the east the Pueblo Canyon South Rim Trail that they started last year.
The trail tread is much improved from last year. The trail workers took out a lot of tripping hazards like roots and rocks. The eventual plan is to connect this with the Tent Rocks Trail, far below in Pueblo Canyon. Right now, it stops below what looks like a concrete dam (some kind of water runoff retention structure) near the end of the airport runway.
I am so pleased to have this trail to enjoy with it's beautiful views north to the cliffs of North Mesa, west to the Jemez Mountains and east to the Sangre de Cristos - my sacred world! I could see to the northwest that smoke from the South Fork fire was roiling up in the afternoon winds. I sat for a peaceful while on a rock above awesome cliffs enjoying the views and then headed back home.