Hiking Cerrillos Hills

On our second and last day of Santa Fe goodness, we headed south for a bit of a desert hike. The Cerrillos Hills rise up out of a wide desert plain just south of the mountains surrounding Santa Fe. From the various hilltops along the hike, we could see into the wide basins on either sides of the hills, and south towards the mountains around Madrid.

Our hike was a little less than 5 miles long, and we wandered and mosey’d our way through the desert. Dylan and Ann were wonderfully patient with Mark and I, as we went slowly, stopped for photos in yoga poses, threw rocks into old mines and generally did not hike very quickly.

It was another lovely day. No wind, no clouds. Just long views, and quiet desert.

In the evening, we had dinner at Body Cafe, a local yoga studio/spa/boutique/restaurant that specializes in creative use of raw foods. Ann’s raw curry soup threw both Mark and I for a loop. And their raw, vegan Cheesecake really topped off a great weekend.

I really wanted to stay in the happy bubble of Santa Fe. I think the fight Mark and I had that evening over whether or not we should crash the tango dance party at the restaurant was less about dancing and more about how sad I was to leave. But life moves on, and the real world beckons most of us home from vacation eventually. Dylan and Ann, however, do get to stay…