El Malpais

Thought for today:  
Travel ennobles the spirit and does away with our prejudices.

Oscar Wilde

This bird serenaded us through breakfast this morning. We think it's a Brown Thrasher or possibly a Curve-billed Thrasher.

We packed a lunch and headed out, first to the Grants Post Office to pick up our General Delivery mail and a gas station to fill up with diesel. Then we took Hwy 117 south into El Malpais, which is the name of the National Conservancy Area (BLM) and the National Monument (NPS).

Our first stop was at the BLM Ranger Station, where a friendly volunteer showed us a video and gave us some informative handouts. From there we went south to the Sandstone Bluffs, where we could see some spectacular views of the lava field and  cinder cones.

Then we drove on farther south to La Ventana, a large and quite impressive natural arch.

Farther south we came to the South Narrows Picnic Area. The Narrows are so called because there is only a thin strip of land between the sandstone bluffs to the east and the McCarty lava flow to the west. We ate our lunch at one of the five covered picnic tables and then started up the Narrows Rim Trail. The trail is marked by stone cairns and pretty well traveled, so it wasn't too hard to follow. As the name implies, it runs along the edge of the sandstone bluffs overlooking the Narrows.

The trail stays a safe distance in from the rim, but you can approach more closely at several vantage points. The wind picked up quite a bit while we were out on the trail, so we were cautious about going near the edge.

If you hike the entire trail, it's just over four miles out to a vantage point where you can see the Ventana Arch from above. We didn't go that far. It was late afternoon, and the footing is rough and rocky, so slow going. We went far enough to enjoy some spectacular views of the vast lava flows and the multicolored bluffs.

One young woman jogged past us on the trail, but we didn't see anyone else. She caught up with us again just as we were descending to the trail head. We chatted briefly. She lives in the area and hikes (or jogs) this trail about once a month.