Field Trip and Activity Schedule – 2021
Due to the continuing coronavirus pandemic and public health considerations, SJBAS members have proposed a limited number of field trips for 2021. Activities and field trips for 2021 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 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.
SJBAS Field Trip Difficulty Ratings:
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 400 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 7 miles, mostly on established trails that can be rocky and steep in places, with elevation gains and losses up to 2000 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 7 miles, may be on poorly defined trails or off-trail, with elevation gains and losses greater than 2000 feet. Trips often take place in remote locations. Backpacking trips, by their very nature, would be considered “Hard.”
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.
| Dates | Tentative Field Trip and Activity Schedule – 2021 SJBAS plans the following activities and field trips. Most meetings and presentations will use Zoom. |
| January 13 | SJBAS meeting – Dianne Scialla will present: “Heavenly Splendor, the Baths of Caracalla.” |
| February 10 | SJBAS meeting – Steve Nash will present: “Mogollon Archaeology Near Reserve, New Mexico: A Journey from Chicago to Denver and Beyond.” |
| March 10 | SJBAS meeting – Kelley Berliner will present: “The Archaeological Conservancy’s Preservation Efforts in the East: from the Paleolithic through 19th-Century Industrial Sites.” |
| April 14 | SJBAS meeting – Fred Blackburn will present: “Methodology and Documentation of Historic Names at Aztec Ruins” |
| May 12 | SJBAS meeting – Carla Sinopoli, Director, Maxwell Museum, will present: “Landscapes of Stone: Iron Age Monuments, Rock Art and Landscapes along the Tungabhadra River, South India.” |
| May 19 | Virtual Field Trip of the Animas Museum Helen Sloan Daniels Collection – 2:00 p.m. – by Susan Jones, secretary of the La Plata County Historical Society. Please use the same Zoom credentials that we use for our monthly meetings, www.sjbas.org. |
| June 9 | SJBAS meeting – Shelby Tisdale will present her new book: “Federico – One Man’s Remarkable Journey from Tututepec to LA.” |
| June 12 | Day trip to Sand Canyon Pueblo and Goodman Point – Participation Limit 12. Difficulty: Easygoing. For more information or to signup, contact Rusty at chambrke@aol.com. |
| June 18-21 | Summer Solstice at Hovenweep – Cancelled due to heat wave. We will explore the five villages of Hovenweep, visit Lowry Pueblo, the Painted Hand site, and the sun dagger solstice panel at Holly Village. Limit 12. Difficulty: Easy Active. For more information or to signup, contact Lorraine at lorraine@bike-durango.org. |
| July 21 | SJBAS meeting – At 7:00 p.m. in Lightner Room at La Plata County Fairgrounds – Davina Two Bears, visiting FLC professor, will present: “Dine Survivance and the Old Leupp Boarding School.” |
| July 23 | Arborglyphs at Beaver Creek and Piedra Stock Driveway – Trip is full as of July 9th. Learn about The Woolly West and the Hidden History of Sheepscapes in southwest Colorado with a full day tour of carved aspen trees or arborglyphs in Beaver Meadows and along the Piedra Stock Driveway in the San Juan National Forest. Andrew Gulliford will lead the tour. Learn about the life of lonely sheepherders who brought their flocks into Colorado’s high country. Easy Active trip, limited to 20 fully-vaccinated SJBAS members. Contact Andy@agulliford.com for information or sign up. |
| August 7 – 8 | 2021 Pecos Conference – Mancos, Colo. There will be a SJBAS member get-together the evening of the 7th. Contact Foxie Mason for further details. Her email is fmasondurango@gmail.com. |
| August 11 | SJBAS annual picnic – San Juan National Forest – Junction Creek Group Picnic Ground – Reserved for fully-vaccinated SJBAS members and invited guests. RSVP required to Michelle or Mark McKibben, michellemckibben56@gmail.com or maypo1054@gmail.com. |
| August 16-19 | Tavaputs Ranch and Range Creek Fremont Sites Tour – Trip is full as of July 9th. One-night stay at Green River 8/16, two-night stay at Tavaputs Cattle Range 8/17 and 8/18 with an all-day tour of Range Creek Valley, a pristine Fremont Valley, led by the Tavaputs owner in their Suburban. 8/19 USU Prehistoric Museum in Price. Optional visits 8/20 to Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry at Jurassic National Monument and the Rochester Panel requiring an additional overnight stay in Price. Cost is $400 per person for two-night room and all meals at the ranch and $150 per person for the tour in addition to stays at Green River and Price. Easy Active trip, limited to 10 fully-vaccinated SJBAS members with a deadline to sign up by July 1st. Contact Lorraine at lorraine@bike-durango.org for information or sign up. |
| September 3 | Durango Walking Tour – Enjoy a 1.5-hour downtown Durango walking tour with historian Andy Gulliford beginning at the train depot, walking north on Main Ave., walking up to 3rd Ave. from El Rancho, and then south on 3rd Ave. Participants will learn about Durango’s commercial and residential district and colorful local history. Easy Active trip, limited to 18 fully-vaccinated SJBAS members. For more information or to sign up, email Andy at andy@agulliford.com. |
| September 8 | SJBAS meeting – Wirt Wills, UNM Professor will present: “Reconstructing the Pueblo Bonito Mounds: New Data and Models.” |
| September 25 – 26 | Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park Service Day and Site Tour – On Saturday, participants will work on a service project with light manual labor involved. On Sunday, they are invited on a guided tour of Ancestral Puebloan sites in the Tribal Park. Participants may camp out Saturday night in Mancos Canyon in a primitive campground which has vault toilets, tables and drinking water. Trip is open to fully-vaccinated SJBAS members. For more information or to sign up, contact trip leader Jim Shadell, shadelljim@gmail.com. |
| October 13 | SJBAS meeting – Douglas MacDonald will present: “Before Yellowstone: 11,000 Years of Native Americans in the National Park.” |
| October 17 | Bluff Rock Art Day – Trip is full as of July 9th. We will hike to a sand dune site and sites along the San Juan River, and will conclude with a site just north of Bluff before having a wine and cheese reception at Andy Gulliford’s house in Bluff that afternoon/evening. Easy Active trip, limited to 10 fully-vaccinated SJBAS members. Contact Andy at andy@agulliford.com for information/sign up. |
| November 10 | SJBAS meeting – Dr. Stephen Lekson will do presentation about Paquime. |
| December 4 | SJBAS annual holiday brunch (tentative) – Fort Lewis College |