day morning and moved farther west. We are now in the Blue Spruce RV Park in Grants, New Mexico. We spent today out sightseeing with a little hiking and climbing thrown in. First stop was a place called Fire and Ice. This has the Bandera Volcano and a large Ice Cave and are located about 25 miles south of Grants. The Bandera Crater is the largest volcano in the region. It erupted around 10,000 years ago. This is a cinder cone volcano. When it erupted it sent these 'cinders', which are huge p
ieces of lava rock into the air. These cooled as they fell back to the ground and continued to build the cone. The look out point for the crater is 8,036 feet above sea level. The crater itself is nearly 1,400 feet wide at the top and roughly 800 feet deep. Over time, erosion and gravity has taken there toll and the crater is slowly filling up as cinders and rocks fall down into it. An interesting fact we learned is that the soil in this area is very rich with iron. Due to this the trees are very susceptible to lightning. There are many trees down due to lightning strikes. The hike up to the top of the crater took about half an hour. Fortunately the folks that developed this area placed benches along the path for us old folks to stop and take a breather. The trip down was much easier than going up.
ieces of lava rock into the air. These cooled as they fell back to the ground and continued to build the cone. The look out point for the crater is 8,036 feet above sea level. The crater itself is nearly 1,400 feet wide at the top and roughly 800 feet deep. Over time, erosion and gravity has taken there toll and the crater is slowly filling up as cinders and rocks fall down into it. An interesting fact we learned is that the soil in this area is very rich with iron. Due to this the trees are very susceptible to lightning. There are many trees down due to lightning strikes. The hike up to the top of the crater took about half an hour. Fortunately the folks that developed this area placed benches along the path for us old folks to stop and take a breather. The trip down was much easier than going up.After we returned to the Trading Post, at the foot of the volcano, we headed off in the other direction to the ice
cave. The temperature in this cave never gets above 31 degrees. As rain water and snow melt seep into the cave, the ice floor thickens. Currently the floor of the ice is approximately 20 feet thick. The deepest ice is the oldest and dates back 3,400 years. Indians and travelers through this area used to mine the ice but this was stopped in 1946. This has allowed the ice floor to continue to thicken, making the ceiling of the cave seem lower. It was a fairly short hike to the cave entrance but then there was several levels of stairs down to the viewing platform. The only problem with going down is you must go back up to get out.
cave. The temperature in this cave never gets above 31 degrees. As rain water and snow melt seep into the cave, the ice floor thickens. Currently the floor of the ice is approximately 20 feet thick. The deepest ice is the oldest and dates back 3,400 years. Indians and travelers through this area used to mine the ice but this was stopped in 1946. This has allowed the ice floor to continue to thicken, making the ceiling of the cave seem lower. It was a fairly short hike to the cave entrance but then there was several levels of stairs down to the viewing platform. The only problem with going down is you must go back up to get out.After our hiking we returned to the car for further exploring. The next stop was a
t El Morro National Monument. This is a beautiful rock formation. It is composed of sandstone layers deposited by wind, desert streams and an ancient sea. Sandwiched between upward pressure from underground forces and the weight of new rock above (since eroded), the sandstone developed cracks that gradually weathered into the long vertical joints prominent today. A large water pool at the base was a great stopping on the ancient trade routes. Today the pool waters sunflowers, cattails and native grasses on the shore. We stopped at the National Park Visitor Center but decided not to make the two mile trek to the base of the formation and the water pool.
t El Morro National Monument. This is a beautiful rock formation. It is composed of sandstone layers deposited by wind, desert streams and an ancient sea. Sandwiched between upward pressure from underground forces and the weight of new rock above (since eroded), the sandstone developed cracks that gradually weathered into the long vertical joints prominent today. A large water pool at the base was a great stopping on the ancient trade routes. Today the pool waters sunflowers, cattails and native grasses on the shore. We stopped at the National Park Visitor Center but decided not to make the two mile trek to the base of the formation and the water pool.Our next stop was the Pueblo of Zuni, about 45 miles west of El Morro. We were expecting to see some old puebl
o ruins from the Zuni Indian Tribe. Unfortunately, after the ruins were excavated early in the last century they were bulldozed over and back filled in the 1940's. This was unfortunate in that a great site was lost. The visitor's center in Zuni did have pictures of the site back when it was being excavated. Since there was not much else to see in Zuni we headed north to Gallup to stop for a late lunch. This took us through the Zuni Mountains which are very interesting formations. This is just one example of the formations that jut up from the desert floor. After lunch we decided to return to Grants via old Route 66 instead of Interstate 40. This was probably a mistake. As it turned out this section of Route 66 directly parallels the interstate and there was really nothing to see along the way. So, instead of returning at 75mph on the interstate we returned at 55mph on Route 66.
o ruins from the Zuni Indian Tribe. Unfortunately, after the ruins were excavated early in the last century they were bulldozed over and back filled in the 1940's. This was unfortunate in that a great site was lost. The visitor's center in Zuni did have pictures of the site back when it was being excavated. Since there was not much else to see in Zuni we headed north to Gallup to stop for a late lunch. This took us through the Zuni Mountains which are very interesting formations. This is just one example of the formations that jut up from the desert floor. After lunch we decided to return to Grants via old Route 66 instead of Interstate 40. This was probably a mistake. As it turned out this section of Route 66 directly parallels the interstate and there was really nothing to see along the way. So, instead of returning at 75mph on the interstate we returned at 55mph on Route 66.
3 comments:
So what was the hurry to get back
Rod, none dog owners don't understand the need to return and them out of the coach.
You do 75mph in that huge thing? No wonder you get tired! Amazing things can be found in the deserts, can't they? I still love those names: Gallup and Tucumcari!
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