Tag Archives: Natural or geologic feature

100-Alamosa, CO

The Great Sand Dunes in Colorado

Our first stop in Colorado is Alamosa, the nearest town to the Great Sand Dunes. The area is in a huge, almost totally flat valley. When you look closer you’ll see that what seems flat is really low dunes, held in place by the vegatation. The valley is ringed by the San Luis Mountains on the west and the Rockies on the east. The prevailing winds come from the west blowing sand and grit from the San Luis mountains across the valley floor, but is then diverted north and back to the west by the tall mountains. Any sand and grit that blows all the way across the valley is deposited in one area by the winds, forming the dunes. The dunes are held in this one small area of the valley by these winds.

It is estimated that the dunes are over 300 feet deep (below what we see as the surface, and the tallest dune rises over 750 feet high. It is also estimated that the dunes are over 440,000 years old.

Two rivers run down from the peaks of the eastern mountains and help form the boundary of the dunes. The one on the south is shallow and wide, and can be crossed by visitors to the sand dunes. This time of year the deepest part was about 2 inches, barely covering the toes. But the sand is deep and smooth.

We crossed the stream and walked around on the dunes. We didn’t hike up any – we are at over 8,000 feet and walking in sand is hard enough, but add a 40 degree upslope and it’s almost impossible!

Here are some pictures we took:

99-Capulin, NM

Capulin Volcano

We drove from Santa Fe to the very northeast section of N.M. to see another volcano. As we drove into the Capulin area it started turning very green…so different from the rest of New Mexico! We learned that it’s the wettest year in this area in a long time.

The weather was interesting…every day it was clear with blue skies and warmed up fast, hitting the 80s by noon. But, at between 3-3:30 every afternoon the sky would cloud up and it would rain. It would RAIN! Huge raindrops, some hail, lots of thunder and lightning! After a couple of hours of that it would clear up and you could see stars at night.

Capulin volcano is a fairly recent cinder cone – about 65,000 years old. The region is all volcanic, with activity from 1-3 million years ago that shaped mesas and ridges to recent activity in the area about 30,000 years ago.

A cinder cone is formed when ash and gasses along with chunks of lava spout out of a crack in the earth’s crust. Over time the ash and gasses and chunks build up the land from being flat to being a round cone. Usually it’s concave in the center and often it’s lower on one side and higher on the other because the prevailing winds will push the ash and gasses as they spurt out. Capulin volcano is a very prime example of this type of volcano.

A unique feature of this volcano is that you can drive to the low side of the rim and hike up and around the whole rim! We did that hike – at 8,000 feet and very steep sections of about 45 degrees, we took it slowly but it was well worth it!

The 360 degree views from the rim area are fabulous and show how the whole area is volcanic.

We saw some deer that live in the cinder cone (they leave often to get water etc. but are in the cone almost every day); and we saw lots of antelope as we drove through the area. We were driving down a narrow road from a mesa into a valley and got stopped by a cattledrive; the cowboys (and cowgirl) were expert at getting the cattle into one lane so we could pass.

Overall, a lovely part of this state.

Here are some pictures we took:

98-Santa Fe, NM

The Rio Grande Gorge

During our stay in Santa Fe we drove up to Taos. It’s a quaint town but the real attraction in this area is the Rio Grande Gorge! At this point in the river’s travel to the Gulf, it goes through a wide flat plain with volcanos dotted around the edges. The plain is very flat, and unless you look closely you won’t see the gorge! As you drive up to the gorge and the very high bridge that crosses it you see how deep and steep it is! On the bridge there are call boxes to suicide hotlines – sadly I guess that some people decide to end it all by jumping off the bridge onto the rocks 250 feet below.

But the gorge is very awesome. Deep and steep all through the plain near Taos, then as the land develops into rolling hills the gorge isn’t as steep. We drove across the bridge, stopping at the rest area right on one side to take pictures and see the vendors selling jewelry and pottery. Fairly close to all the traffic and noise were two mountain sheep grazing on the hillside! A vendor told us they are always nearby, often crossing the hiway and jumping the fences to get to the land on either side of the hiway.

Then we took a side road, parts of it dirt and VERY STEEP with switchbacks going right down into the gorge. At the bottom it crossed the river and there was a parking area and boat ramp where lots of people start rafting trips down the Rio Grande. We saw many people launching their kayaks and inflatable boats We saw one guy run up to the bridge and jump into the water about 25 feet below!

Here are pictures we took:

98-Santa Fe, NM

Valles Caldera – a supervolcano that exploded 1 million years ago!

Over 1 million years ago a volcano near Santa Fe erupted, and the core collapsed creating a huge caldera. This was a super volcano and the caldera is huge! Up to about 50,000 years ago there were magma ‘leaks’ that caused several dome-shaped hills within the caldera, separating the caldera into several areas.

The caldera is at 8,500 feet and the surrounding peaks are up to 11,000 feet. There are grassy meadows in between the dome-shaped hills, and is home to the largest herd of elk in the state. There are also bears, cougars and coyotes in the caldera along with thousands of prairie dogs.

Ranchers used to live in the caldera and there used to be a lot of snow in the caldera…up to 5-6 feet that would last all winter. Now there’s little snow and it doesn’t last more than a week.

Here are some pictures we took:

97-Farmington, NM

Shiprock – WOW!

We’re staying in Farmington, NM for a few days to see a few geographic items. First is Shiprock – the most prominent geological feature of northwest New Mexico. It is awe-inspiring! It is a plug of volcanic lava that formed about 27 million years ago. The lava did not erupt through the earth but instead got plugged up and cooled and formed inside what was probably a hill. Over time the hill eroded leaving the lava plug standing exposed. In this Shiprock is similar to the Devils Tower as they were both formed when lava didn’t erupt through the earth but cooled/formed in vertical shafts inside the earth which later eroded away leaving it exposed.

In addition to the large vertical thrust of Shiprock peak, there is a rift in the earth alongside the peak where lava tried to erupt through the earth but didn’t. This has left a vertical wall of lava that is miles long. We were able to climb up the hillside to the top and peer over … on the west side of the lava wall the wind has eroded much more of the hillside, leaving a much steeper wall on the west side than on the east. In some places the lava wall is so thin that there are chunks missing giving the wall a lacey appearance.

I was much more impressed with the lava wall, called the dyke. I could imagine the lava rising through the crack in the earth trying to break through the top layers but unable to and then cooling and hardening in place.

The ancient Puebloan people say that the peak was formed when a giant eagle landed and turned to stone. From some angles the peak does look like an eagle that has landed, with his wings folded back and sticking up behind it’s head.

Here are some pictures we took:

96-Grants, NM

Land of Fire and Ice – a volcano and ice cave in near proximity

In the northwest part of New Mexico is “The land of fire and ice” – the Bandero Volcano and Ice Cave. This is a privately owned piece of land that contains BOTH a volcano that erupted about 10,000 years ago spewing out lava in all directions as well as a lava tube containing an ice lake!

The volcano was very interesting. We hiked up into the blown out caldera where we took pictures showing the crater. The lava flows all around the trail were interesting, chunks of rocks just strewn around and some huge formations where lava bubbled up.

The ice cave was really cool – literally! The cave is an old lava tube that was blocked up not too far into the cave, and water poured into the cave and froze. The lava keeps the cave so well insulated that the frozen ice has never melted, simply growing new ice on the top as more water flows in. Now, the ice is about 20 feet deep and the ice at the bottom is 3,400 years old! The temperatur on the ice never goes above 31 degrees! It was a very warm day when we were there, probably mid 80s when we descended the 70 steps into the cave and every step got colder and colder. It was okay to stand on the viewing platform for a few minutes and then I started to really feel it. Most people only stay down there for 10-15 minutes, the owners told me. The owners are descendents of the Mexican family that discovered the place in the late 1800s and opened a trading post at the site. They were able to offer travelers through the area cold beer that they kept cold using ice from the cave. What a novelty at the time!

The trails to both the volcano and cave start from the trading post/visitors center and while the trip up to the volcan takes about an hour (you’re at 8,000ft so you go slow!) the ice cave is only about 10 minutes from the center. Easy to see both fire and ice at the same time!

Here are some pictures we took while there:

95-Alburqueque, NM

We hiked around some small volcano cones near Albuquerque

Just west of the city of Albuquerque and near the Petroglyph National Monument are three small volcano cones.  There’s a hiking trail that takes you past all three and up to the top of two.  We decided to do this hike one morning before it got too hot.

The volcanos are about 130,000 years old and came up through a long rift that parallels the Rio Grande river (which runs right through the city).  There is very little vegetation on these three cones so it’s real easy to see the formation and rocks.

Here are some pictures:

93-Roswell and White Sands, NM

White Sands National Monument – impressive!

We stayed in Alamogordo NM for a few days and visited the White Sands National Monument while here.  I was surprised that it is a sand dunes area; for some reason I thought it would be like a dried up lakebed, flat and crusty.  It was very impressive!  There is quite a bit of vegetation living in the dunes and some plants have adapted to the constant shifting of the sands by putting out a large web of roots so when the dunes shift, they hold onto a small pedestal of sand and stay put.  There are lots of animal life as well, we saw lizards and bugs during our trek through the sands.  Laddy caught the scent of animals but we couldn’t find them and he had to stay on leash.

Here are some pictures:

93-Roswell and White Sands, NM

We’re visiting Roswell – no aliens but we did see some strange and beautiful lakes

We’re visiting Roswell, NM for a few days.  The downtown area has lots of shops related to the alien crash that allegedly happened here in 1947.  We visited the Roswell UFO Museum and Research Center which had lots of stories and affidavits from people who were involved in the crash, the military takeover of the area, the removal of the debris and bodies and the subsequent coverup about it.  The stories, news articles, affidavits etc. do tell a compelling story.  A local rancher noticed a brightly lit object in the sky and saw it crash onto his land.  He drove out to the site and saw wreckage that he didn’t recognize.  He picked up a small piece of debris and drove to a neighbor who had a phone to call the sheriff.  The sheriff and other people went to the site and described in their affidavits what they saw.  The military showed up really quickly and cordoned off the area, debriefed the locals and apparently threatened them and their families if they told anyone about what they witnessed, removed all the debris and bodies.  A nurse at a nearby hospital who saw the bodies (and apparently one that was not dead) and an undertaker who was ordered to supply child-size coffins told stories about what they saw too, and then were threatened.  Several military personnel as well as the locals told deathbed stories that seem to match – what they saw, what the military did, the coverup and threats etc.  Interesting! We also visited the Roswell Museum and Art Center.  It contains lots of southwestern motif art pieces and a large collection of historical items from the 1800s including lots of weapons, uniforms and items of clothing, saddles etc.  It also includes lots of native american artifacts, several full headdresses, beaded clothing, weapons, bison hides etc.  Very interesting, and what I found the most interesting was that it was ALL from one man’s collection.  WOW! We found that there is a small series of lakes just a few miles out of Roswell, called the bottomless lakes.  They aren’t really bottomless, but are instead a series of sinkholes that are fed under the ground from a mountain range several miles to the west.  Most are about 30 feet deep, the largest is about 70 feet deep and has a shallow ‘lip’ that has been used as a beach for swimming and small boating for over 100 years.  There are several covered pavillions with picnic tables for parties etc.  We visited it on a Sunday and it was crowded!  Here’s the website about this state park: http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD/bottomlesslakesstatepark.html

Here are a few pictures of the bottomless lakes that Jeff took: