El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico

Tuesday, June 16

It's only a 150 miles or so to our next stop, so there's plenty of time to explore on the way. We had a leisurely morning in Datil Well, and then headed for El Malpais National Monument.

El Malpais translates as "The Badlands", which is a fairly accurate description of the terrain. Beautifully rugged, it is especially so today as the backdrop is a mixture of billowy white and threatening black storm clouds. As usual we come in through the back door, and start at the opposite end of the scenic drive from the visitors center.

We enjoyed the scenery anyway. As we passed a massive sandstone arch and beautiful colored layers, eroded into fantastic shapes, raindrops began spattering the windshield. We weren't too worried. A few bolts of lightening livened things up a bit, but not much rain was produced.

The monument includes huge lava flows, lava tube caves, ice caves, and cinder cones. There are miles of trails and area to explore, but we aren't up to that today. We stopped for lunch at the Lava Falls area and enjoyed a short jaunt over the lava flow. Blooming cactus and shrubs have established themselves in this very hospitable environment, softening the effect, but lava is still very unforgiving.

There is a deep, nearly bottomless crevice that one has to step across and cool air drifts up from it. Much of the lava is a frothy, glass-like structure, hard on shoes and even harder on a dog's feet, so we had to be careful where we went for our walks.  It was too hot by then anyway, to spend much time exploring black lava under the blazing sun but there was plenty to admire as we drove the winding road through the park.
There are a few more shots of the Lava Falls area of the park in the album. 

Stop for the night is the RV park at the Sky City Casino, owned by Pueblo Acoma.