Tentative activities and field trips for 2022 are listed below. Updates and changes are in RED.
As more activities and field trips are planned, updated information will be posted here and in the Moki Messenger. Please read General Information About Field Trips and check forthcoming issues of the Moki Messenger and monitor this webpage for updates. Field trip participants must be current, fully-vaccinated SJBAS members. For information about these trips or to sign up, please contact the trip leaders directly.
This trip schedule is a “work in progress.” Although we hope to go on the outings as planned, these dates and destinations are subject to change due to adverse weather or road conditions, unanticipated scheduling conflicts, or changes made by the leaders. Click on the hyperlinks for more information about trip destinations or meeting presentations.
SJBAS Field Trips – Safety and Responsibility
Participants in SJBAS field trips and activities are solely responsible for their own safety. SJBAS field trip leaders are untrained volunteers who plan, organize, and lead the trips, but have no special training or expertise in outdoor safety or hazards and are not responsible or liable for the personal welfare and safety of participants. Each participant is the only expert regarding his or her own abilities. Participants are solely responsible for choosing trips appropriate for their own physical and medical ability; for taking proper clothing, equipment, and provisions; for making appropriate decisions in response to terrain, elevation, and weather; and for understanding the inherent hazards of traveling in the outdoors (such as falls, lightning, hypothermia, heat stroke, dehydration, and injuries caused by others).
Field Trip Difficulty Ratings
Field Trip Difficulty Ratings provide a general sense for the physical difficulty of field trip activities expected under usual circumstances. Some trips will accommodate a range of abilities, but not all trips will accommodate all abilities. It is the participant’s responsibility to choose trips that are within his/her ability. If an SJBAS member is uncertain about a trip’s level of difficulty, the trip leader can provide more information for those considering signing up.
The following are Field Trip Difficulty Ratings used by SJBAS:
- Easygoing: Trip is suitable for members in reasonable health who have no problem walking on mostly smooth, relatively flat surfaces up to 1 mile. For example, touring a museum or pueblo, or participating in a walking tour in downtown Durango. Trips generally take place close to roads and support services.
- Easy Active: Trip is suitable for active people in good health. Hikes are usually less than 3 miles on well-defined trails, with elevation gains and losses up to 250 feet. Trips generally take place within a few miles of roads, but not necessarily other support services.
- Moderate: Trip is suitable for energetic, experienced hikers.Hikes may be up to 5 miles, mostly on established trails that can be rocky and steep in places, with elevation gains and losses up to 800 feet. Trips may take place in remote locations.
- Hard: Trip is suitable only for physically fit, strong hikers. Hikes are generally strenuous, may be longer than 5 miles, may be on poorly defined trails or off-trail, with elevation gains and losses greater than 800 feet. Trips often take place in remote locations. Backpacking trips, by their very nature, would be considered “Hard.”
Length: Approximate total length of trip, whether out and back, loop, or through hike
Elevation: Approximate total elevation gain (in most cases there would be a corresponding elevation loss)
In addition to the following trips, there are several important conferences scheduled for this year, including the Pecos Conference. Check the Moki Messenger or our website, www.sjbas.org, for details.
Tentative Field Trip and Activity Schedule – 2022
| Dates | Activity or Field Trip |
| Jan. 11 | Edge of the Cedars Museum in Blanding, UT – Behind-the-scenes tour of the Perishables Collection led by staff archaeologist Jonathan Till. Tour may also include a tour of the nearby Ancestral Puebloan site, weather permitting. The cost is $5 admission plus a group fee of $25 ($2.50 each). After the tour those who wish may meet for lunch. Participation limit is 10. Difficulty rating is easygoing. If you are interested in going on this day-trip please contact trip leader Lori Hansen at Lmhansen39@gmail.com |
| Jan. 12 | SJBAS meeting – Dr. Anna J. Osterholtz will use Zoom at 7:00 p.m. to present: Sacred Ridge. |
| February 9 | SJBAS meeting – Dr. Douglas MacDonald will use Zoom at 7:00 p.m. to present: “Before Yellowstone: 11,000 Years of Native Americans in the National Park.” |
| March 9 | SJBAS meeting – Dr. Ryan Harrod will use Zoom at 7:00 p.m. to present: “The use of Social Control in the Chaco Phenomenon during a Time of Change: A bioarchaeological perspective” |
| March __ | Tour of Signatures at Aztec National Monument – POSTPONED Tour of historic signatures on the beams of Aztec N.M. led by Fred Blackburn. For more information or to sign up, contact Janice Sheftel at janicesheftel@gmail.com |
| April 9 – 10 | Montezuma Canyon – This is a two-day trip to visit Ancestral Puebloan sites and petroglyphs in Montezuma Canyon, Utah. Participants may camp at the developed campground at Hovenweep National Monument, disperse camp in Montezuma Canyon, or stay in a motel in Blanding or Monticello. Trip participation limit is 15. Difficulty Rating: Easy Active. For more information or to sign up, contact Erica Tucker at etucker72@yahoo.com. |
| April 13 | SJBAS meeting – Alexis O’Donnell will use Zoom to present: “Our Teeth Tell Tales: Living and Moving during the AD 1000-1200s in New Mexico.” |
| April 13 – 15 | Cedar Mesa Backcountry Sites – (Cancelled) Three-day camping trip. Camp in a dispersed campsite and hike to a variety of Ancestral Puebloan sites. 4WD/HC vehicles are required, and participants must be fit and ready to hike all day. Difficulty Rating: Moderate. Trip participation limit is 12. For more information or to sign up, contact Lyle Hancock at lylehancock99@gmail.com. |
| May 11 | SJBAS meeting – Edward Jolie, Arizona State Museum – “Ancient Basketry Shields of the Northern Southwest” |
| Early June | Keet Seel Backpack (Cancelled – site remains closed to visitors) – Three or four-day camping trip to Navajo National Monument that includes an overnight backpacking trip (8.5 miles each way) to Keet Seel, one of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings in the Southwest. For those who want to stay for a fourth day there is a guided five-mile round trip hike to Betatakin. Limit of 10 backpackers, but others are welcome to camp. Difficulty Rating: Hard. For more information or to sign up, contact Hunter McCleary at hunter.mccleary@gmail.com. |
| June 7 | Fort Lewis College Field School – Students will be surveying the San Juan Mountain Association’s Nature Center property near Bondad. SJBAS participants will take a short walking tour of some of the property to learn about the students’ survey work. Difficulty Rating: Easy Active. Trip participation is limited to 15. For more information or to sign up, contact Janice Sheftel at janicesheftel@gmail.com. |
| June 8 | SJBAS annual picnic |
| June 21 | Curation of FLC Anthropology Department Collections. SJBAS participants will meet on campus and talk with students about their curation efforts. Difficulty Rating: Easy Active. Trip participation limited to 15. For more information or to sign up, contact Janice Sheftel at janicesheftel@gmail.com. |
| June 23 – 26 | Ohkay Owingeh Feast Day – Four-day motel/camping trip to Santa Fe. Combine colorful feast day dances at Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo with other sites such as El Rancho de las Golondrinas, Bandelier National Monument, Pecos National Historic Park, etc. Trip participation limit is 15. Difficulty Rating: Moderate. For more information or to sign up, contact trip leader Rusty Chamberlain at chambrke@aol.com. |
| July 13 | SJBAS meeting – Dr. Thomas C. Windes – “Hard Times and Mobility in the Thirteenth-Century Bears Ears National Monument area, SE Utah: A Chronometric Study & More” |
| July 19 – 20 | Arborglyphs 2 – Two-day camping trip at San Juan National Forest Burro Bridge Campground. We will look at glyphs along Groundhog Stock Driveway and around Lone Cone. Trip participation limit is 14. Difficulty Rating: Moderate. For more information or to sign up, contact Andy Gulliford at andy@agulliford.com. |
| August 11 – 14 | Pecos Conference – 2022 – One to three-day trip at Rowe Mesa near Pecos National Historic Park just east of Santa Fe. Archaeologists gather under open skies to discuss recent research, problems of the field, and the challenges of the profession. Most participants camp at the conference site. No trip limit. Difficulty Rating: Easygoing. For more information or to sign up, contact trip leader Rusty Chamberlain at chambrke@aol.com. The website for the conference is pecosconference.org. |
| August 10 | SJBAS meeting – Robert Weiner will present: “Chacoan Roads: How Were They Used, and Why Does It Matter?” |
| September 11 | Sand Canyon in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument – Visit Sand Canyon Pueblo at the head of Sand Canyon then hike down into the canyon to view other sites. Trip participation limit is 12. Difficulty Rating: Moderate. For more information or to sign up, contact Rusty Chamberlain at chambrke@aol.com. |
| September 14 | SJBAS meeting at the Fort Lewis College Ballroom – Anna Sofaer and Rich Friedman will present: “Update on Chaco Solstice Project.” |
| September 16 – 18 | Tsiping Ruins near Abiquiu, NM – Three-day camping trip or motel stay. Ranger-led tour of Tsiping Ruins, a Tewa Puebloan Ruin of 1250 AD, and visit Ruth Hall Paleontology Museum at Ghost Ranch. Trip participation limit is 15. Difficulty Rating: Moderate. For more information or to sign up, contact Tish Varney at tishvarney@att.net. |
| September 24 – 25 | Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park Service Weekend and Site Tour – CANCELLED Two-day camping trip at the Tribal Park Campground. On the first day, volunteers maintain trails and facilities; on the second day a Ute guide will lead a tour of several cliff dwellings. Participants must be fit and ready to work all day. Difficulty Rating: Moderate. For more information or to sign up, contact Thomas Polich at thomas.polich@gmail.com. |
| October 5 – 7 | Bear’s Ears National Monument Backcountry Sites– Three-day camping at BLM’s Comb Wash Campground. We will explore various Ancestral Puebloan sites and conclude the trip at Andy’s house in Bluff with a gathering at dusk. Trip participation limit is 10. Difficulty Rating: Moderate. For more information or to sign up, contact Andy Gulliford at andy@agulliford.com. Trip is full. |
| October 12 | SJBAS meeting – Christopher Schwartz will present: “The Pre-Hispanic Parrot Trade: Scarlet Macaws in the US Southwest & Mexican Northwest” |
| November 9 | SJBAS meeting – Kelley Hays-Gilpin will present: “Ann Axtell Morris and the amazing story of early 20th century women archaeologists in the Southwest.” |
| December 3 | SJBAS Annual Meeting and holiday brunch |