Discover a super-secret slot canyon only 1.5 miles from downtown Los Alamos. Courtey/PEEC
PEEC News:
Visit a slot canyon so secret that most townies know nothing of it, or get off the beaten path at Tsankawi to explore little known caves, petroglyphs and visits.
In both cases, you will be guided by experts – County Open Space Specialist Craig Martin to the slot canyon, and Bandelier Superintendent Jason Lott through Tsankawi.
These are two of the many Take Wing events that PEEC is offering exclusively to those who donate $150 or more to its capital campaign. The Tsankawi tour is 10 a.m., Sept. 29 at and the slot canyon adventure 9 a.m., Oct. 4.
In both cases, space is limited and filling up fast. PEEC is raising roughly $1.2 million through the capital campaign to fund indoor and outdoor exhibits and a professional planetarium projector for the new Los Alamos County Nature Center, slated to open in spring 2015.
On Monday, Sept. 29, Bandelier Superintendent Jason Lott will lead a special off-trail tour through Tsankawi ruins. The small group will be scrambling up some rocks and climbing north mesa. Then they will head to Duchess Castle, the remains of a home and school built by Madame Vera von Blumenthal, who was not actually a duchess but a baroness, and her friend Rose Dougan in 1918. Next the tour will lead the group to the Doll House, to explore unique cavates and to see some very unique petroglyphs and vistas. The tour will meet at 10 a.m., at Tsankawi and will be approximately two miles and two hours long.
Trail expert Craig Martin will lead a small group Saturday, Oct. 4 on a hike to a super-secret slot canyon located right in Los Alamos. The exact location is a secret, but it is on Los Alamos County Open Space about 1.5 miles from downtown. The small group will meet at PEEC at 9 a.m. to carpool to the trailhead. The hike is on established trails for 1.75 miles, and then it goes off-trail to the destination. In total, the hike is 5 miles round trip and covers a 1,000-foot elevation gain. This one is for experienced hikers only; the route involves scrambling over boulders where the use of hands and arms is required, including climbing over six to 8-foot rock obstacles.
A petroglyph off the beaten path at Tsankawi. Courtesy/PEEC
Jason Lott became superintendent at Bandelier in May 2009. He has overseen the rehabilitation of the visitor center and response to the extensive and continuing impacts from the Las Conchas fire, including the installation of an ongoing shuttle service to bring visitors to and from the monument. Lott came to Bandelier from the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Arizona where he was also superintendent.
In 2005, he won the National Parks Service director’s award for natural resource management in a small park, while program manager for resources management at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in Texas.
Craig Martin serves as the Open Space Specialist overseeing the County’s open space and trail systems and the Fuel Mitigation Project for the protection of the county from forest fires.
Martin is a graduate of the University of Delaware and has authored 18 books covering the history and recreational opportunities of northern New Mexico. Martin was named a Los Alamos Living Treasure in 2013, the youngest person ever so honored.
Registration is required for both tours and space is filling up, so those interested are encouraged to sign up soon. Donors of $150 or more to PEEC’s capital campaign can register online by visiting https:////www.pajaritoeec.org/takewing/events.php.
For more information about PEEC’s capital campaign and Take Wing events, and to make a donation, visit www.PajaritoEEC.org/TakeWing. Take Wing events such as these are being offering exclusively to those who donate $150 or more to the capital campaign. PEEC is now also offering engraved bricks and pavers as part of its fundraising efforts. For a donation of $500, donors will have the opportunity to put a message on an engraved brick, or for donations of $1,000, donors can opt for a paver. Bricks and pavers will grace the gardens of the new center. Engraving has a lifetime guarantee, so the text will last forever.
The Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) was founded in 2000 to serve the community of Los Alamos. It offers people of all ages a way to enrich their lives by strengthening their connections to our canyons, mesas, mountains, and skies. PEEC maintains a nature center, holds regular programs and events, and hosts a number of interest groups from birding to hiking to butterfly watching. PEEC activities are open to everyone; however members receive exclusive benefits such as discounts on programs and merchandise. Annual memberships start at $20. To learn more, visit https:////www.PajaritoEEC.org.
