October 15, 2026
- It’s my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to
- “And you decided to trust Google?” – Guard at the Los Alamos National Laboratory gate
- Ima go live at Smith’s Marketplace in Los Alamos
I awoke before sunrise, which is apparently what I do now. It was definitely cold overnight, in the mid-30s. My side still ached from laughing so hard we cried the night before, when Lindsey wrote the finest piece of poetry ever in diamante-style in her Junior Ranger book (sad, yellow, cuddly… you just really had to be there for it). I snuggled in my quilt until the alarm stirred Lindsey at 7am.
On tap for the day was the most popular hike in Bandelier National Monument, and then jaunting over to Valles Caldera National Preserve for an afternoon ranger program. After an oatmeal breakfast and getting ready, we hit the visitor center to get sworn in as Junior Rangers (it was disappointing the ranger did not read Lindsey’s poetry…) soon after opening.
Now with all the Junior Ranger authority, we set out on the day’s hike. The Pueblo Loop Trail is about 1.4 miles long, and meanders by Big Kiva, Tyuonyi, Talus House, and Long House, giving a great overview of the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people in the area. Adding on a mile, and an exciting trip up four ladders, Alcove House can be added onto the hike.
After winding our way up, around, and through the awesome Pueblo Loop Trail, we entered the trees, and turned off on the spur trail to the Alcove House. Lindsey loves trees, I mean LOVES them, so we enjoyed hiking underneath the towering ponderosa pines on the flat trail.
Ladders done for the day, we hiked back on the Nature Trail, a wide and flat trail under the trees. The crowds had definitely showed up, and I was thankful we did the hike early in the day (traffic on the ladders at Alcove House would’ve sucked!). We picked up some snacks at the cafe, and then headed out of Bandelier for our next stop for the day, Valles Caldera National Preserve.
The Valles Caldera National Preserve is one of the most geologically unique and significant areas in North America. The preserve encompasses much of the Valles caldera, a huge volcanic crater that formed 1.2 million years ago during an enormous volcanic eruption that spread ash over large parts of New Mexico. The caldera is located near the summit of the Jemez Mountains, a large volcanic complex in north-central New Mexico. The Valles caldera exhibits world-class examples of the landforms produced by a very large, explosive volcano, and the preservation and exposure of geological features within the Valles is spectacular. Much of what geologists know about large-scale explosive volcanism began with detailed studies of the rocks in the Valles caldera and Jemez Mountains, and the area continues to draw geologists from around the world. Since the eruption 1.2 million years ago, there has been uplift of the crater floor, followed by the eruption of smaller, younger volcanoes called “domes” within the crater left by the large eruption. Since then, the caldera has from time to time been home to a series of large lakes. This dynamic geological history is responsible for the beautiful and unique landscape that we see in the region today.
New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources
Supervolcano, let’s go!!!!!!
While there are plenty of hikes and outdoors activities to do at Valles Caldera, while researching for the trip I saw that there would be a 2pm ranger program involving bio-sonification. Why not do something new and unique, in a supervolcano caldera on my birthday, right?
The Volcano Discovery Center is the visitor center and gift shop at Valles Caldera, and also was the meeting point for the ranger program. We took our times picking out trinkets to buy and stamping passports, along with playing with the large volcano exhibit (oh yes, I am sure there was a photo of Mount St. Helens somewhere, too… continuing the theme from the previous day).
Ranger Corey led the bio-sonification ranger program, and was his first time hosting it. He seemed very excited to conduct it, which made it more awesome, as enthusiasm is contagious. After setting us up with headphones and clipboards with a guided meditation, we set out on a half-mile walk to the trees.
Bio-sonification (or biodata sonification) is the process of translating real-time electrical activity, micro-fluctuations in conductivity, or bio-rhythms from living organisms—such as plants, fungi, and slime molds—into audible sound, MIDI data, and musical notes.
The first part the electrodes were hooked up to a bluebell wildflower. Since we were all having a good time, we all agreed to stay out a bit longer, and Ranger Corey chose a mushroom for our next listening experience. We had colored pencils so we could color a mood gradient while listening (the bluebells were a lot “lighter,” while I found the mushroom to be dark and moody, for what its worth).
Overall, the program lasted about ninety minutes. I really liked being able to experience some new that I did not really know existed, and Ranger Corey was a great guide. I haven’t done too many ranger programs before (outside of guided cave tours, honestly), so this was a nice introduction. He also leads the “silent disco” events that Valles Caldera puts on, and I think one of those would be fun to attend one time.
Our visit to Valles Caldera wrapped up decently early, we decided to head into Los Alamos to visit the town’s visitor center and shop for some groceries. The next day would start off the “nukes” part of this adventure, and it was nice to grab the passport stamp for the Manhatten Project National Historical Park and get a lay of the land. Turns out everything from the NPS visitor center to the bagel shop we wanted breakfast at to the Bradbury Science Museum was all next to each other, which meant the next morning would be low stress, woohoo! I love when I only have to park once! I found Los Alamos to be a chaotic place to drive in, so the less driving the better.
We then headed to Smith’s, which turns out to be the absolute best grocery store I have ever been in. I can’t describe it, but it was awesome! We picked out sushi for dinner and some cake slices (did I mention it was my birthday?) for dessert. I was quite pleased to find some green chile bagels, so we nabbed those along with some other grocery essentials and ice. While reorganizing the cooler, I realized the container of spinach artichoke dip got breached with melt water, and I started gagging (I am very weird about wet cheese-like products) and tossed it at Lindsey, who dumped out the water half on my leg. Oh the funny things that happen along the way on a trip!
There had to be one last hiccup on our way back to the campground at Bandelier, and that would be the pesky Google Maps habit of trying to direct me to drive onto Los Alamos National Laboratory property. I had read a quick sign at the visitor center that said it is okay to drive through if you stop and show ID, so I shrugged when Google Maps told me to head straight towards the guard stations and figured YOLO.
“Hi! Google Maps told me to come this way!!” – Me
“And you decided to trust Google Maps?” – The guard, chuckling
All I had to do was show my driver’s license and we were directed through, with instructions to not make any left turns. “I’m driving into Los Alamos National Laboratory” I giddily yelled probably want too loud as we entered. What a fun treat! (Am I weird for being so excited to do this?!)
The rest of the trip back to the campsite was uneventful, and we set about eating our sushi and birthday cake while the sun was up (the #1 downside to an October road trip is the early sunsets and late sunrises!). We then were treated to a nice sunset, and then the family at the next campsite over broke out in singing like a modern-day Von Trapp family. Lindsey and I held in laughs as the vocal harmonies drifted into our tent. We both side-eyed my giant stuffed banana slug (which I brought along to sleep with as I need a pillow to prop up my right arm post shoulder surgery) as Lindsey whispered, “sad, yellow, cuddly…”
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