Records of the Rockies - Spring, Summer, and Fall - an educational journey
There is a remarkable window into New Mexico's geological past only minutes from downtown Santa Fe.
Join your geologist guide for a two to three hour leisurely walk through a block of the Earth's crust that records the history of three generations of the Rocky Mountains.
We'll touch on some basic rock vocabulary before we start our journey, and we'll learn how geologists see rocks and fossils as records of past events, as we go along.
We'll discover 300 million year-old fossils as we walk through a Coal Age delta that formed when the ancestors of the Rockies pushed up out of tropical seas - only to erode completely away.
We'll see and feel the variety of ways rocks can deform as renewed stresses rippled through the crust, during the classic time of Rocky Mountain building, 70 to 40 million years ago.
And finally, we'll talk about the modern landscape, reincarnated by uplift, extension, erosion, and volcanic activity in the last 15 million years - the landscape which makes New Mexico the Land of Enchantment.
This walk is structured as an educational experience rather than a hike. We employ some clever visual aids where they will help out our understanding. This walk is a great opportunity for children to see how scientists engage with the natural world. And it will help local residents appreciate their surroundings in a new way.
A note: although the pace is slow, we do traverse irregular ground which is steep in a few places and muddy in others. There is little shade, so sun protection is important.
Travel time: 15 minutes. On trail: 2 to 3 hours
Costs:
Two to four hikers $180 flat fee (inclusive of all, not per person)
(Solo hiker $140 flat fee)
$40 per person for each additional hiker
Maximum group size is 8 people
Children 12 and under are not charged.
Join your geologist guide for a two to three hour leisurely walk through a block of the Earth's crust that records the history of three generations of the Rocky Mountains.
We'll touch on some basic rock vocabulary before we start our journey, and we'll learn how geologists see rocks and fossils as records of past events, as we go along.
We'll discover 300 million year-old fossils as we walk through a Coal Age delta that formed when the ancestors of the Rockies pushed up out of tropical seas - only to erode completely away.
We'll see and feel the variety of ways rocks can deform as renewed stresses rippled through the crust, during the classic time of Rocky Mountain building, 70 to 40 million years ago.
And finally, we'll talk about the modern landscape, reincarnated by uplift, extension, erosion, and volcanic activity in the last 15 million years - the landscape which makes New Mexico the Land of Enchantment.
This walk is structured as an educational experience rather than a hike. We employ some clever visual aids where they will help out our understanding. This walk is a great opportunity for children to see how scientists engage with the natural world. And it will help local residents appreciate their surroundings in a new way.
A note: although the pace is slow, we do traverse irregular ground which is steep in a few places and muddy in others. There is little shade, so sun protection is important.
Travel time: 15 minutes. On trail: 2 to 3 hours
Costs:
Two to four hikers $180 flat fee (inclusive of all, not per person)
(Solo hiker $140 flat fee)
$40 per person for each additional hiker
Maximum group size is 8 people
Children 12 and under are not charged.
Fill out our reservation request form for an email response, or call (505) 660-0394 with questions.
