Sunset Crater Volcano

YAY! I'm learning!

On our little tours of these parks I've become enthusiastically geeky about reading all the signs.

Over many years, life slowly returns to land once rendered barren by lava. 

 Sunset Crater

This has been my favorite park so far. The gorgeous volcanic landscape was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Learning about the geological workings of volcanos was really fascinating.

Oooh check out the lichens on this a'a lava

We learned that a'a lava is lava flow that that emerged from the volcano partially cooled and this gives it a clumpy, jagged shape. Pahoehoe lava is the hot magma that eventually cools like the smooth curves of Jabba the Hut's fat rolls. We didn't see pahoehoe here but will later at another site. Also, the lichens are the lovely organisms that break down the rock into soil so that plants can eventually live here. yay lichens!

Ponderosa pine- my new favorite tree

The ponderosa pine is cool because it's core spirals around from the roots to the top. This allow moisture at one root to curl around through the entire tree. The ponderosa is adept at living in dry climates and soils that don't hold moisture well, such as basalt or pumice lava rocks, because of this rockin feature!

Link: http://www.nps.gov/sucr/

Ruins, ruins and more ruins

In the area around Flagstaff/Sedona in Arizona there are a few different Native American ruins sites that Tony and I check out. Montezuma's castle is so well preserved it's really quite amazing - can't climb around in this one though. 

Montezuma's Castle

Tuzigoot Ruins

Walnut Canyon

Link: 

http://www.nps.gov/moca/

http://www.nps.gov/tuzi/

http://www.nps.gov/tuzi/

Alien World

Riding high winds back into Arizona we visited the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. The haunting landscape is at once alien and serene. The wind nearly blew us away as you can see by the picture of Charly below and as evidenced by the runaway grocery cart that hit us head-on in the parking lot. 

The alien landscape of the Painted Desert

Desert beauty

Mars?

Charly almost blows away

Windy day

Petrified logs

Cute women with ancient log

Wowza!

Link:  http://www.nps.gov/pefo/

Greater World in Taos

Entrance to an Earthship.

Tony and I visited the Greater World Earthship Community in Taos, NM. (Check it out at Earthship.net!) Earthships are present in every state in the united states. They are totally self contained and do not require utilities of any sort.

Windows utilizing solar energy.

Earthships utilize passive solar heating via the massive windows that line the south facing side of the building and a north face earth berm. Passive cooling is achieved through strategic ventilation in addition to the berm which uses the earth's soil for temperature regulation. They claim that in any climate these methods are able to maintain the house's temperature at 70F year round. You can imagine that being from Minnesota we are skeptical..what? no $400 heating bill???? But they insist...wow imagine this world!

Earthships are made with old tires, bottles and aluminum cans.

Earthships are made from earth packed into old tires and other recycled materials. The house's water is fully provided by a rain catchment and filtration system. Additionally the water is recycled 4 times: drinking water -> plant water (there is a green house planted along the south facing windows within the house) -> water to flush with-> yard watering (each after appropriate filtration, all filters within the houses system) Also, all energy comes from solar and wind power. 

SO COOL!!!

Grand Earthship plan.

I want one!

Spence Hot Springs

Found Spence Hot Spring in the Mountains near Bandelier. Went early in the morning and had the whole place to ourselves. Wasn't terribly hot more like warm maybe around 100 degrees, but it felt good and was an amazing view. 

Great place for a soak

Heating up

Cooling off

rah rah

Bandelier National Monument

Camped the Bandelier National Monument campground for a couple days. Took in the ruins.

Ruins

The long house

Checking out living quarters

The ruins below the cliffs a little city. I believe nearly 1oo people lived in this group of rooms

Link: http://www.nps.gov/band/

Truth or Consequences

Heading North from White Sands we stopped in Truth or Consequences for a dip in the hot springs at Riverbend hot springs. Nice vibe. They had pools at 102, 103, 106, 107 and 108 degrees. Relaxing yumminess. 

And Did You Know...

...You can go sledding on the dunes?!?!

Ready, Set...

...GO!

Looks like a good spot

WEEEEEE!!!

Video to come if I can get the flippin' thing to work!

Crossing into the Land of Enchantment

After the Chiricahuas we headed into New Mexico and to the White Sands National Monument. Dunes of white sand with the background of the dark mountains and blue sky. Serene and beautiful. We got to play in the sand like we were on a beach. 

Into New Mexico

Foot prints in the sand ripples

Photograph the photographer

Desert flowers

Charly with the dunes

Simplicity

Nature made sand castle

From the back you can see the plant and the roots of the plant go deep and when the sand drifts away it leaves these cool castle formations.

Serene Dunes

Rippled Dune

Chiricahua National Monument

Arrived Thursday night to our campsite after dark. A little spooky. Set up the tent while a 3-5 deer watched us in the dark. Their glowing eyes piercing the darkness. The next morning we woke to the beauty of the Chiricahua National Forest. Drove a difficult gravel road 30 miles to the Monument the next day and almost ran out of gas. Stayed in the campsite Friday night too. No deer tonight which for some reason makes us more nervous then the first night. There are bear in this neck of the woods. 

View directly above our tent

Campground

The Chiricahuas

Shazaam!

Alligator tree in Chiricahuas

Wonder Woman or She Hulk?

In the Grotto

Chiricahua National Monument link:  http://www.nps.gov/chir/

Leaving Arizona

Left Mesa today starting a little camping adventure. Setting forth for Chiricahua National Mounument. Then New Mexico. Then back to Arizona for the Grand Canyon. 

THE FLATIRON

...Or as we say, "The Flairtron" (an early error of pronunciation that stuck). To reach the Flatiron we take the Siphon Draw trail which is 1.8 miles from the trailhead to the top of the Flatiron. We start at an elevation of about 2160 ft and  end at 4,861 ft that's a 2,701 ft elevation gain in less then 2 miles. Challenging and fun!

We are heading way up there

Hiking up the trail (I'm wearing a new hat Charly made me!)

Rest time

Ahhh shade

Long way up here

Long way left to go

At the top

Collared lizard we found at the top.

Resting on a rock

Wow

At the top looking down at the trail head

Holy crap! We have to go all the way back down there?!

Climbing down

Beautiful Day