June 30, 2010
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hike to the top of the rim of a volcano....and then down into the crater? Well that’s just what we did today.
Capulin Volcano in northeast New Mexico to be exact.
First you drive up to the parking area near the lower side of the rim. No guard rails here
And up
Parking area overlooking the crater
Looking down into the crater
Elevation at the parking area....we’ll be hiking the rim trail up to 8,182 ft.
View from the parking area down to roads below.
It was a gorgeous clear day for viewing far away vistas. Here’s Joselyn starting up the trail.
Looking back at the parking area....Roe’s probably barking his head off...he’s not allowed on the trail.
View from higher.
Ladybug on lava
Lots of rest stops to enjoy the view and let heartrates go back to normal.
Looking down at the crater from the high side of the rim
Just strolling along
You can see 4 states from here: NM, OK, CO, TX
What grows on a volcano?
Cacti
Juniper and Pinion Pine
Thistles
Hairpin turn on the trail down.
View from the bottom of the crater looking up
After leaving the Volcano we chose a little used route 72 to Sugarite Canyon State Park. We passed through the historic town of Folsom, known for “Folsom Man” prehistoric remains of early man found here.
We know we’ve been going up in elevation, but...
Encountered a whole herd of pronghorn antelope.
This one appeared to be babysitting all the babies while the other adults grazed.
Daddy didn’t like us stopping for photos.
Abandoned farm buildings
Roe’s rest stop
The view
Our campground for tonight
Our site
The views
Oh, how homesick these photos make me.
ReplyDeleteThanks, again, for photos and narration. It's almost as good as being there. (Sometimes better with heat and elevation!)