The Insider's Guide to Hiking Valles Caldera National Preserve

The September Mountaineers meeting will feature a talk by Coco Rae entitled “The Insider's Guide to Hiking Valles Caldera National Preserve.”

As Valles Caldera National Preserve marks its 20th birthday as public land, at long last there is a trail guide to its backcountry. What started as a volunteer project on trail conditions turned into an 18-month long labor of love over hundreds of miles to produce a guidebook that has proven overwhelmingly popular. Join Coco Rae, author of Hiking Trails in Valles Caldera National Preserve, as she reveals some of the secrets of VCNP's rarely-traveled backcountry and describes three of her favorite trails: El Cajete Loop, Northwest Corner Trail, and Sulfur & Alamo Canyons Loop. Learn about bubbling mudpots and steaming fumaroles, hidden valleys and geothermal ponds, and where you're likely to spot elk and other wildlife. See some of the captivating beauty of VCNP's varied landscape, and get the inside scoop on where to start exploring.

The Mountaineer's monthly meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of every month. When held in person, they take place in the planetarium of the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC), 2600 Canyon Rd, Los Alamos, NM 87544. Recent meetings have been held electronically. To register for this meeting, go to https://peecnature.org/events/details/?id=36252.

View PEEC's recording of this talk! https://youtu.be/awqRNJagU8g