Search for a New Sun Dagger Solstice Sunrise at Citadel

BLM’s El Malpais National Conservation Area presents the next chapter of
Walking with the Ancestors.

Celebrate Summer Solstice and beat the heat with a sunrise hike to possible
solstice-marking petroglyphs and the mesa top site, Citadel. Discover El
Malpais secret summer cool weather and the best time for wildlife viewing.

Solstice sunrise at this site has never been publicly described. You can
even be a citizen scientist and bring your time piece, still and video
camera, and compass to record any evidence we may find of an 800 year old
calendar. The more folks the better, so we can station ourselves at the
various petroglyphs then rush to gather around a discovery.

Citadel is an enigmatic mesa-top Pueblo III site with evidence of a unique
construction at a time of severe drought and political stresses throughout
the southwest. Come venture out in the predawn cool of El Malpais NCA’s
longest days. Experience the symphony of the bird’s dawn chorus. Walk on
Cretaceous rocks and watch for fossils. Stay vigilant for big game.

We leave from at the BLM campground near mile marker 45 along State Road
117 (Grants exit 89 off I-40) on Saturday June 19, 2010 at 4:30 AM sharp ),
then (for those coming from Quemado) at 4:50AM sharp at the Cebolla Canyon
road entrance (near Mile marker 30 on SR 117). Drive briefly on 2WD dirt
road and park. Hike to the petroglyphs and await the sun’s rays. Dine on
the cliff edge to the amazing sunrise panorama. Hike to the Citadel. The
entire hike is about 1.5 hours one way rising 400 feet and traversing 1.5
miles one way to a height of 7333 feet. We will walk leisurely stopping
often for birds, fossils, and everything else we discover. Then we return
to the parked vehicles by 10:30 AM, just as the day begins to warm. (The
solstice occurs at 5:28 AM MDT on 6/21/2010, but alignments should be
visible on 6/19).

Bring:
at least 4 liters of water and carry at least 2
day pack
breakfast
sturdy footwear
sun protection
Optional:
hiking poles
binoculars
camera