Gallup to ABQ

I left Gallup, NM, this morning and headed toward ABQ.  But first, I had to make a few stops along the way.  Just a note about driving and finding places in New Mexico.  Whereas in Arizona once you get off the ramp, there's a sign telling you which way to go, left or right.  In New Mexico, you're expected to know where you're going.  What?!  So, I started out a bit frustrated this morning when I went exploring off the Interstate.

Although I have been to the Continental Divide in Colorado, it was a must stop today.  Yep, this is it.  Exciting, huh?

I saw a sign on the Interstate for Ice Caves and the Bandera Volcano, so I decided to check it out.  The first picture is the museum.  You can see they have tons of Hummingbirds flying around, and the grounds are wonderful for a picnic lunch after your hikes to the ice caves and volcano.  Today the smell of smoke in the air was very noticeable on my hikes.  The smoke cloud can also be seen in some photos along the path.

There were two separate trails, the volcano trail and the ice cave trail.  The first photos are on the volcano trail, with comments.

Lightening trees (photos above and below).  Trees that grow in lava tend to draw lightening strikes due to the iron in the lava. 

The brochure points out that this is a great place to see wildlife.  I didn't see anything in the way of wildlife, and was especially glad I didn't see the mountain lion or bear they said occasionally wander through.

 The path was rocky/sandy and all up hill.  Quite a climb!

 Lava fields.

Cinder cone.  A crack in the volcano swelled, sprayed lava into the air which hardened in mid air and fell to the ground as cinders.

Inside the volcano.

Along the path.

After a time out to get the rocks out of my shoes, and a bottle of water, it was on to the ice cave.

Bandera lava flow.

 In a forest I found cacti?

Example of twisted trees.  As you might imagine, trees have a hard time growing in lava and, therefore, have very shallow roots.  This results in the trees growing twisted.  And another cause of shallow tree roots is a lot of fallen trees in a wind storm.

Outside entry to the ice cave.  I counted over 50 steps down (and up!) to the ice cave.

The ice cave maintains a year round temperature of 31 degree or lower.  The ice in the cave is currently over 20 feet thick and as snow and rain fall in the cave, the ice builds up and deepens.  Some of the ice is over 3,400 years old!  The green on the ice is Arctic algae.  This ice cave served as a natural ice box for settlers and the Pueblo Indians in the area. 

After hiking out to the ice cave, the 31 degree temperature felt refreshing.  I sat for awhile in the peacefulness of it all and was rewarded by a bird flitting about the cave area.

 Another black bird.

You can see the smoke from the Arizona fire in this photo.  The tree in the photo is a Douglas fir and one of the oldest trees in the area.

Cattle on a lava hill?  How do they find stuff to eat?  This was taken back on the highway from the ice caves/volcano.

On my way back to the Interstate I checked out the sky and saw that the smoke was worse than yesterday.  Today, the clouds are not just white.

I decided to stop at the Zuni Canyon.  The views, as you can see, were spectacular.  Part of the road was rock and kicked up a bit of dust (you should see my rental car, uff dah!).  I was disappointed to see that the signs on the side of the road had multiple bullet holes in them.  One sign on the side of the road was difficult to read due to the bullet holes in it.  I didn't stay long.

My last stop of the day was the Pueblo of Acoma.  Prior to taking photos, photographers are required to obtain a permit and then you must keep it attached to your camera until you reach the Interstate.  The beauty of the area requires that a permit be obtained.  It is, needless to say, stunning.

The above photo is my favorite.  I came up a hill, turned a curve and there it was, this beautiful vista.


When I stopped to take the photo, I noticed a panel truck.  A voice called out to me to come and check out the jewelry.  I did and met Joe, quite the flirt.  :0)  He very graciously allowed me to take his photo, even though I didn't buy any of his jewelry.

As I continued my drive into ABQ, I counted no less than 7 State Patrol cars writing tickets to speeders.  One patrol car sat at the bottom of a hill where the speed limit dropped from 75 MPH to 65 MPH, on the way down.  The State of New Mexico made out like a bandit on speeders today!

Tonight I'm in ABQ and fly out at about 1:30 tomorrow afternoon.  There is a bit of a haze here in ABQ from the fires in Arizona, but I don't think it will be an issue for flying.  I'm expecting a long day tomorrow as my flight arrives in Milwaukee at 8:30 p.m., and then I'll have the drive home.  I'm not ready to come home...I just got started exploring!