We posted the following 1977 Albuquerque Journal story and photo last week after doing a bit of research into the early days of our Paseo del Bosque Trail (i.e., the Bosque Trail; i.e., Riverside Trail):

An alert, knowledgeable reader noted the photo in the story above was taken by not just any Jim Nacthwey, but extremely famous war and other events photographer James Nachtwey, who according to his Wikipedia page may well still be with us. You, like me, on first look earlier this week might have been thinking: “How did he get that photo?” “Did he stage it?” Given Mr. Nachtwey’s subsequent reputation and abilities, post-Albuquerque Journal, it very much looks like a case of a great photographer doing what great photographers do. They wait.

Speaking of waiting, and getting back to the research reason in finding Mr. Nachtwey’s early work, the story of the Bosque Trail is definitely one of waiting by those brilliant enough to envision and follow-through on the concept of putting a paved recreational non-motorized trail (but not just recreational) along the Rio Grande.

Having navigated the bureaucracy of multiple government jurisidictions (MRGCD, City) and departments (Parks & Rec, Mayor’s Office, etc.), City Park Planner Cathy Cisco and others had to also initially put up with hillbillies trying to drive Bosque Trail riders off the Trail. From those early days in 1977, it’s fascinating and instructive to continue looking through newspaper clips to see the Trail go from seven miles and hillbillies to, for example, this two years later:

Yup, in just two years we’ve got folks in the ABQ “Parents Without Partners” chapter getting together for a ride on the Bosque “Bikeway.” Single parents leisurely chatting while fearlessly riding along our Bosque is a far cry from Hillbillies. And a further two years on in 1981, the Trail has become established and popular enough for this:

The Trail being only about five miles long in ’81 (from Cesar Chaves Blvd. to Candelaria Rd.”), triathletes cycled and ran up and down it before heading off to swim in the Rio Grande River HS pool. Yeah, that’s too bad about the River; it would have been made quite a bit more sense than going from 10-mile run to driving five miles for a 250-meter swim. Maybe they biked there, but I kinda doubt it. Nevertheless, from 1977 to 1981 the Trail had now gone from hillbillies to big-time organized events.

But wait, there’s more. Soon thereafter comes the economic development angle, in this case real estate ads using the Trail as a selling point by 1986:

Followed only a few years later, 1993, by such growth in Trail popularity that quite a few folks living along Candelaria NE at the Nature Center are sick and damn tired of said popularity along with other public use of the Bosque outlined in a newly approved City “Bosque Action Plan”:

In a happy coincidence, Trail planners and supporters discovered the best way to reduce the inundation of visitors along Candelaria was to extend the Trail and open up other points for users to access it:

So while it did take a while, eighteen years on from the hillbillies of 1977, by February 1995 the City was putting out the following very impressive estimation of Trail users (“200 bicyclists an hour”?!?):

Those nine miles of Trail finished by 1995 have eventually grown to our current fifteen miles along the River connected to even more non-motorized fun, such as the Chavez Loop in the South Valley and unpaved trails elsewhere in the Bosque.

Every one of us today enjoying the current network of Trails has folks like the aforementioned 1977 City Parks and Recreation Planner/Designer Cathy Cisco to thank for their work and perseverance. I’ve held off posting this little mini-history a few days in an attempt to find out more concerning Ms. Cisco. After being quoted in local newspaper stories often in the mid-70s for her work with the Trail and parks all over town, I don’t see any stories after 1977. Searching round ye olde internet hasn’t revealed anything either, using varied last names and search terms.

As has happened many times in the past, you BB readers have been great in helping out on such research efforts and your help is enlisted once again regarding Cathy Cisco. She seems like a person very much worth knowing and also appears to be an excellent proponent/teacher in the professional/life practice of waiting. Just like Jim Nachtwey with his camera, Ms. Cisco and others back around 1977 had to wait for the Paseo del Bosque to blossom. For years.

Today, I will think of Cathy Cisco and others who have helped made Paseo del Bosque as I make another, almost daily, ride along the Trail into town from the South Valley. And about the importance of waiting.