9-24-2016 Gallup, New Mexico

Last night we arrived in Gallup, New Mexico, with its signature red sandstone mesas.

This morning we hiked up the Bandera volcano in El Malpais National Monument, the largest of more than a dozen in this area.  When Bandera erupted around 10,000 years ago, one side of its crater broke open and lava flowed for 23 miles. 

The crater edge and beginning of the lava flow.

Part of the lava field.

A spatter cone, formed when hot air rushes through molten lava and breaks through the surface.

Bandera Crater, 1400 feet wide and 800 feet deep.

Near Bandera volcano is an ice cave.  The temperature of the cave is a constant 31 degrees.  As rain water seeps in it freezes and the cave is slowly filling up.  The ice is green because of Arctic algae.

We had dinner at a restaurant outside El Malpais.  There is an artists' colony here...

...and a friendly rooster.

At sunset, we visited Gallup's Red Rock Park...

 

...and Church Rock.

9-23-2016 Flagstaff, Arizona

Walnut Canyon National Monument, located east of Flagstaff, is lined with limestone cliffs and blanketed with trees, shrubs and other plants.

Over millions of years, flowing water eroded the softer rock layers of the cliffs creating shallow caves and overhangs.

We hiked a trail to an "island" of limestone in the center of the canyon.

Here we saw the overhangs created by erosion and some of the homes built by the Sinagua people  from 1100 to 1250 AD.

Rooms on the island have been restored, but there are many other cliff dwellings in the valley that have not been excavated.

Plant life clings tenaciously to the limestone cliffs.

9-22-2016 Road to Flagstaff, Arizona

NOTE:  We published two posts today, so check out the one that follows.

We left Death Valley in a sandstorm...

...and stopped at Zabriskie Point, an overlook into some of the valley's sandstone peaks.

On our way to Flagstaff we drove by the Colorado River...

 ...and left as a storm approached.

9-21-2016 Death Valley, California

No, we did not bake to death in Death Valley.  We got up at 4:30 a.m. in the cool of the morning (80 degrees) to drive to the salt flats at Badwater, the lowest point in North America (282 feet below sea level).  This huge area is often covered by a shallow lake in the spring that evaporates quickly in the summer heat.

The irony of bone-dry Death Valley is that its stunning colors, textures and forms were created by water.  The valley itself once contained a 300-foot deep lake that deposited salt and sand, storm waters eroded the canyons, and its colors resulted from mineral salts deposited by ancient springs.

Further up the valley, Artist’s Drive winds through an area of multi-hued sandstone. 

Desert scenes in the first Star Wars film were filmed in Death Valley.  Luke Skywalker rode his Landspeeder along the valley floor…

…and through Golden Canyon.

In the evening we visited the sand dunes at Mesquite Flats.