Rugged canyon country at the base of Navajo Mountain, which the Mountaineers searched for where David Roberts had been. Exploring this country is a ‘how hard can it be’ type of adventure. Courtesy/Mountaineers

By BILL PRIEDHORSKY
Los Alamos Mountaineers

The June 24 Mountaineers meeting will feature a talk by Norbert Ensslin. Over many years, some members of the Mountaineers have been exploring the maze of sandstone domes and slot canyons surrounding Navajo Mountain. This rugged area does not get many visitors, except for backpackers on the trail to Rainbow Bridge. But it has a rich history of discovery, adventure, and prospecting. In 1863, the Navajo chief Hoskinini took his band into these canyons for 5 years to hide from US troops.

In 2013, author David Roberts and his friend Greg Child set out to find Hoskinini’s hiding place, as described in one of his books on the Southwest. Roberts did not say exactly where they had gone but gave some tantalizing clues. This inspired the Mountaineers crew to undertake a series of trips to see if we could locate where they had been. It turned out to be a fun, complex puzzle, with many missteps, but some successful discoveries. In this program, Norbert will describe this search and show photos of what they found, along with parts of the story that still elude us.

Norbert Ensslin joined the Mountaineers in 1973 and has been active in many Club activities since then. In 2008 and 2023, he gave programs on the history of the Mountaineers.

We welcome all to this Mountaineers’ meeting, held on the usual fourth Tuesday of the month. The social hour, with cookies, begins at 6:45 p.m., and the program at 7:00 p.m. The presentation will be in person at Los Alamos Nature Center; the slides will be live streamed on Zoom but not recorded. Registration is required to Zoom and recommended for in-person – we would love to see your smiling face. Registration details can be found here.