El Malpais - New Mexico's Badlands

Yesterday, I decided to head west from here and visit the "Badlands" of New Mexico -- only 60 miles on I-40 and some short drives south on 117.  First, I went to the NW New Mexico Visitor Center at Gallup just one more exit west of the one for El Malpais.  Like all the Visitor Centers I have been to here in New Mexico, it was worth the stop to see the exhibits there -- and I also found out about that butte I had seen on the way back from Chaco Canyon (it is called Cabezon Peak).

After a quick stop at the Walmart at Gallup to restock my Coors Light supply and a couple more weeks of catfood, I headed back to exit 89 and then to the BLM Ranger Station just a short drive down from I-40.  This was a smaller Visitor Center but, again worth the stop to see the exhibits there and gather a little more local knowledge of the places to stop and hike.  Then, I drove down the paved highway to the first dirt road and pullout to Sandstone Bluffs Overlook where I hiked a little along the bluffs and took in the views (while holding tightly onto my hat as the winds were sometimes intense).

 

The views of the valley and the lava covered floor were spectacular with the sandstone in the foreground making a stark contrast.  Some of the darker areas were, I think, lava that hadn't sprouted any significant growth on top -- a problem early settlers and depression era homesteaders had to deal with (and lost most often). Sometimes, the odd shapes of the sandstone were comical and great for framing the views as I hiked around -- one formation almost looked like a giant squirrel standing in the distance and another looked like a "sock puppet" (to me).

 

 

After this short hike, I headed for La Ventans National Arch a few miles farther south and on the way I passed the trailhead for the Zuni-Acoma Trail (some significant sandstone formations marked the entrance).  Since I came alone, the 10 mile roundtrip hike across the lava fields did not have my interest and no one else had parked at the trailhead either.

When I arrived at the parking area for the arch, there was a small truck-camper and a motorcycle parked there but, I met no one on the short trail up and back.  Maybe they had climbed farther up or off to one side of the arch.  The pictures I took hardly showed the arch and I climbed beyond the trail barricades hoping to get closer and get that more defined shot -- didn't happen as it turned out and the picture I took an the way out seemed to be the best I had.  Truck and motorcycle were gone when I got back to the parking lot.

A couple more miles down the road, I pulled into the picnic area for The Narrows and took the trail up onto the cliffs but, most of the trail was like loose beach sand and with the winds beginning to increase again, I decided to only go about half the distance to the point or distant cliff.  There were more miles of paved roads to the south but, no additional overlooks or pullouts -- just 20 plus miles of 4-wheeler roads running out into the lava fields and to the chain of craters on the other side of the valley (already had enough 4-wheel roads during the past week).

 

Time to get back to the RV and batten down any loose items -- I could see what looked like dust clouds blowing in from the northwest and the beer needed to get chilled too.  Tiger and Molly needed some time out between the heavy gusts.  Next trip will be Cabezon Peak.

 

Note too that this area of volcanic activity occurred some 115,000 years ago and the ranger at the station told me too of a huge caldera to the north of I-40 that is some 50 miles across (you can see it from the roads in the park as you head back to I-40 then you seem to lose sight of it).  That's bigger than the one in Yellowstone but, certainly not as pretty as Lake Yellowstone to see.