Tuesday July 16: Tsankawi

The weather was perfect today! It was not too warm and perfect for our adventure on the top of a beautiful mesa. We began the day talking about flint and steel and how to put out a fire safely. We also spoke about why we cannot use fire in New Mexico because it is too dry and too dangerous. Both groups did a lot of hiking. The Bobcats did the whole loop, stopping for lunch on the trail and time to play in the caves. The Otters went up a few of the ladders and visiting the ancient pueblo ruins. Lastly (and for you to practice at home if you want), we learned an acronym about what to do if we are lost. It is SAFER:

S: stop and stay put

A tell an adult (where you are going)

F: go with a friend (never alone)

E: bring an equipment kit

R: make sure you rest

This first slideshow is of the OTTERS:

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The slideshow below is of the Bobcats. Enjoy!

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Week 3. Day 2. World's Largest Swim Lesson! Tsankawi!

Tuesday, June 18th

We started the day by offering kids an opportunity to participate in the World’s Largest Swim Lesson. We had twelve kids participate: both BIGS and LITTLES.  It was chilly but a great opportunity to practice a really important survival skill!  Mountain Kids joined swimmers around the world to make it the largest simultaneous swim lesson ever. We hope. 🙂

Afterward, we headed out to hike and marvel at Tsankawi, a part of Bandelier National Monument. It was a beautiful and perfectly cloudy day for such an adventure (for the morning anyway)!

The paths there are grooved three feet deep in places (!) and there are many, many caves from the “masters of survival skills”  – the Ancestral Pueblo people. It was a big hike for the LITTLES but we took plenty of breaks along to way to drink water, and to look for pottery shards, apache tears, petroglyphs, and hollow rocks!  We all climbed several ladders and got to enter several big and small “cavates.”  We learned that Cavates are caves that were dug out by the Ancestral Pueblo people. They were not naturally formed.

The BIGS did the same loop and stopped to eat and listen to a story told by Ashley in one of the caves.  They had fun exploring and imagining what is was like to live here.  In the van everyone enjoyed listening to My Side of the Mountain, a great tale of survival to complement our day!