Five Things to Do In: Los Alamos, New Mexico

This edition of "Five Things to Do In" comes from Los Alamos, New Mexico.  Los Alamos is a center of science and technology.  It is home to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, founded to undertake the Manhattan Project.  However, this scenic city nestled in the mountains of northern New Mexico has more secrets than that of the scientific kind.

Are you planning a visit to Los Alamos?  These five things to do will show you the many sides of this extraordinary city:

Shop for a Conversation Piece at The Black Hole - An Unusual Place -- Arguably the most unusual retail establishment in Los Alamos, if not in the entire Southwestern United States, occupies what was once the town's Piggly Wiggly supermarket.  The Black Hole was a labor of love and compulsive salvage-sale shopping by local institution and peace activist Ed Grothus.  Ed, who passed away earlier this year, spent decades patrolling the sales of salvaged scientific wares from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which he used to stock The Black Hole.  Visitors will find an amazing array of scientific devices, instrumentation and supplies.  Called the Black Hole because "everything goes in and nothing comes out," the founder's goal was to put scientific items into reuse for peaceful purposes.  Ed's family continues to operate the business.  The Black Hole has provided materials to more than 500 universities and research institutions around the world, as well as technical props for four major motion pictures.

Soak and Soothe at McCauley Warm Springs -- For those willing to tackle a high-altitude hike or backpacking trip, this natural geothermal pool offers perfect 90-degree waters to soothe sore and tired muscles. You can start the hike to McCauley from either of two directions, from spectacular Jemez Falls to the east (3 miles) or from landmark Battleship Rock to the west (2 miles).  McCauley is one of several hot springs accessible to hikers in the Jemez Mountains near Los Alamos.  Backpackers can camp in the Ponderosa pine forest near the hot springs (not too near though) to take advantage of an evening and morning soak.  As night falls, and the stars come out in clusters, the warm water of the springs becomes an even more soothing pocket of warmth at a cool 7,350 feet.

Tranquility and Spectacular Panoramas Await You at Tsankawi -- A little-known, remote section of Bandelier National Monument offers a terrific 1.5-mile loop hike that snakes through pathways worn deeply into the volcanic tuff, climbs and descends wooden ladders and leads through an ancestral village site and past cave dwellings.  Abundant petroglyphs and spectacular mesa-top views in all directions provide ample opportunities for photographers.  In the Tewa language of the nearby Pueblo people, the name for Tsankawi means "village between two canyons at the clump of sharp round cacti."  Archaeologists believe the village of more than 350 rooms was built and occupied in the 1400s and 1500s.


Climbing Through Ancestral Pueblo Dwellings -- Forget about looking at archaeological ruins from afar. At Bandelier National Monument, about a 20-minute drive from Los Alamos, visitors can climb up recreated wooden ladders and actually walk in and touch the homes that ancestral Pueblo people built into the canyon walls centuries ago.  Stroll along the easy Main Loop Trail to see the fascinating main archaeological sites, or venture farther afield, away from the crowds, on more than 70 miles of trails through Bandelier's backcountry, with its waterfalls, wildflowers and Painted Cave filled with crudely drawn pictographs. The climb to Alcove House ascends 140 feet of wooden ladders and stone steps to reach a natural amphitheater overlooking Frijoles Canyon.  Within the alcove there is a reconstructed kiva that you can descend into by yet another ladder.  Don't just look. Climb and experience! 

An "electric" good holiday time at Winterfest -- Celebrate the arrival of Ol' Man Winter with a festival suited to young and old alike! With holiday crafts, local food and toe-tapping music, topped off by an amazing electric light parade and community tree lighting, the Winterfest is enough to get even the most humbug of Scrooges in the holiday spirit. Friends meet, neighbors catch up with each other, families hang out together and the community welcomes travelers and visitors to join in the holiday fun in a spectacular winter setting.