Past Trips

Start celebrating our nation's birthday early with a hike up Pajarito Mountain!

Join PEEC and the Los Alamos Mountaineers for an ascent of one of the seven peaks of the Northern New Mexico Peak Challenge.

Pedernal is a landmark visible throughout northern New Mexico, standing as a sentinel at the northern end of the Jemez Mountains. It was Georgia O'Keeffe's mountain, painted by her time after time. The summit is a classic destination and views from its 9,862' narrow top are spectacular. 

Have you wanted to go backpacking, but didn’t have the gear or experience? Well, PEEC has the adventure you’ve been waiting for! This summer, PEEC will offer a backpacking trip for beginners, open to adults and families. The group will on an overnight backpacking trip starting at Santa Barbara Campground in Carson National Forest. Participants will meet at the Los Alamos Nature Center on Saturday, June 29 at 9 a.m. and carpool to the Santa Barbara Campground, which is about a 1.5 hour drive.

Still haven't had enough snow? Looking for one more opportunity to strap boards on and glide down a mountain slope (or two) this season, or just looking for a training opportunity for some upcoming snow and glacier travel? Then this trip is for you. Your four footed family members are also welcome, so long as no participants object in advance.

I have arranged for a tour/hike of the Wells Petroglyph Preserve in the Velarde area. This is known to be a spectacular petroglyph area, totalling about 192 acres. More information about the preserve can be found at https://www.mesaprietapetroglyphs.org.  The cost per person will be $35, which we pay to the preserve (this is their group rate). Starting time at the preserve will be sometime early in the morning; I've asked for a 9:00 AM start, before the heat of the day.

Join Zack on a Rio Grande packrafting adventure on Saturday, June 8.  We will start at the Red Dot Trail, decend to the river, kayak about 8 miles downriver to the Burro trail in Bandelier, and hike back to the waiting shuttle back to White Rock.   You should be prepared to carry a kayak about 7 miles with ~2k' of elevation change. 

If you'd like to come, please email zackbaker@gmail.com

NEW INFORMATION: Sign up via PEEC website or at the Nature Center in Los Alamos! See Below.

Mt Taylor is one of the seven peaks in the Northern New Mexico Peak Challenge, a program sponsored by the Pajarito Environmental Education Center and the Los Alamos Mountaineers.  See this site for details of the program:

https://peecnature.org/   Look under the "Learn" dropdown menu.

Up the hill from the Ojo Caliente spa, one enters into high desert backcountry with rock formations and views from the Jemez to the Taos plateau. We will do an explore of 8-10 miles in this terrain, with an optional end-of-hike stop at the hot springs and/or restaurant. Our route will take us north and west from the hot springs, hiking to the mica mine and beyond to the overlook rocks. If we feel energetic, we can continue cross-country to the summit of Cerro Colorado, 7813' high.

!! WEATHER ALERT !!

The weather forecast is not promising to do this canyon on 5/11. For Friday and Saturday the rainfall will be significant and the temps cold.

I'll reschedule for Memorial Day weekend, 5/26 for now.

Prerequisite: Competent rapeller.

This hike is re-scheduled for May 25. Please contact PEEC. 

Join PEEC and the Los Alamos Mountaineers for the first hike of the new Northern New Mexico Peak Challenge!