Volcanoes in New Mexico!?

Impulsive. Just across the Texas-New Mexico border, I started seeing mounds of dark rock rising up from the surrounding grasslands. I was about ten hours into a fourteen hour drive from my home in east Texas to Buena Vista, Colorado for a white water rafting trip with Megan. I'll write about that adventure in a week or two, but before I even arrived in Colorado I had a mini side adventure in New Mexico. Like I said, I had been driving and driving, stopped for the night and a few hour's sleep, then drove some more. I had (finally) crossed into New Mexico when I noticed the mounds, and they became more pronounced the farther northwest I drove. Eventually, I pinpointed what they looked like, rising up out of the prairie without a mountain range close by: volcanoes. And I was pretty sure the big one I was staring at and driving directly towards was a shield volcano, with it's broad, gently sloping sides. Easily the largest formation around, it kind of draws your eye.

Soon enough, I started noticing the more severe cinder-and-spatter cone volcanoes with their steep slopes capped by caulderas. Just outside the town of Capulin, NM I saw a sign for Capulin Volcano National Monument. I'm pretty sure I said "What the hell, why not?" out loud, and turned down the monument road. After my customary stop at the visitor's center I wound my little car around the flank of the volcano, circling up toward the rim. There were times where I couldn't see anything out my passenger window except open air and land far, far below. I love roads like that!!!

Once at the dead-end parking lot, I got out and marveled at the view. On one side, there was an ancient volcanic field laid out in front of me for miles. You could even see the Rocky Mountains from way up there! On the other side, the rim of the volcano rose up away from the parkinng lot, with a trail appearing here and there among the rocks. There was also a trail to the bottom of the crater of the volcano, and the volcanic vent that marked the center of the crater. I hiked the steep trail to the vent first, following behind a trio of high school graduates out on their first big adventure (I know because I asked-small talk, ya know?)

Leaving them at the bottom of the crater, I climbed back up and started around the rim trail. Capulin and the surrounding volcanic field is long dead, the product of shifting tectonic plates that have since settled down in that area. From up on the rim, you can see for miles in all directions, and get a sense of how the area would have looked when the volcanoes were active. Everywhere you look you could spot the dark volcanic rock, Cinder-and-spatter cone volcanoes, several shield volcanoes, rippled earth where the magma had once flowed hot under the ground, and is now hardened and proping up the covering soil and grass.

In all, my little side trip only took about an hour of my time, but it was well worth it. I had visited that National Monument with my family when we first started taking yearly two-week vacations every summer, but honestly had forgotten about it until I saw it again. It was neat to revisit and see things through adult eyes, especially on my own. Soon after arriving I got back in my car, thoroughly enjoyed the drive back down the volcano, and headed on my way to Buena Vista. I do have to say once again, it's the little things that make the journey!

What I'm listening to: The Medallion Calls by Hans Zimmer