Adventure! It is the spice that makes the dish of life worth living. We rolled into the Valley of Fires Recreation Area campground on Bureau of Land Management property in New Mexico and were not quite sure what would await us! There are several things to do in the close (for this part of America, a 1 1/2 hour drive is “close”) area and we were excited to get out and see some of it!
Blazing a trail for Adventure!
Shortly after arriving, we met up with the Camp Host who let us know he was definitely going to hike to Little Black Peak – a big Adventure by our scale! More on that in a second because a little explanation may be in order. Valley of Fires is the most recent lava flow in North America. It is roughly between 2,000 and 5,000 years old! In geological timeline terms, this happened yesterday afternoon! There is no volcano, per se – the lava literally flowed directly out of the ground through vents!
We decided to take the nature walk to learn a little about this amazing landscape. It is a short walk on a paved trail – so minimal adventure time. However, since it is BLM land, you are allowed to wander anywhere you like, just try not to get maimed (or litter, tear up the landscape, etc…).
Learning is half of the experience!
Walking the nature trail, and the trail to the top of the sandstone outcrop, gave us an opportunity to learn quite a bit about the landscape and what lives here.
Flora (“plants” for my one dictionary challenged friend!)
We learned about the Sotol plant. It looks very similar to a yucca, produces one long, hardy stem and is federally protected! This plant can withstand the heavy wind and wildly varying temperatures of the high desert.
Juniper trees, while not indigenous, abound and flourish here. The oldest juniper tree in the park is over 400 years old! It is a little twisted by the wind, and has been blasted by sand and lava rock over the centuries of wind.
There are also banana yucca, salt cedar, tundra grass, walking cacti, barrel cacti, hedgehog cacti, prickly pear cacti and some stabbing plant that is everywhere that I have not gotten the name of just yet.
Fauna – we did not get as many great pictures
It is the wrong time of year to truly capture pictures of the abundant wildlife in the area. We actually saw; elk, mule deer, deer, a fox, cactus wren, red tailed hawks, desert quail and ground squirrels. There are also skunk, coyotes (we did hear them a LOT), the occassional bobcat, owls and several types of birds, a variety of snakes and lizards and several I am sure I am leaving out.
Landscape
The park itself is a sandstone hill that was just a little too high to be engulfed by lava. The lava seeped out of the ground through vents; created gas pockets and lava tubes and flowed downhill in a generally southern route. The flow extends from about 10 miles north of the park almost all of the way to White Sand, NM extending approximately 44 miles!
The lava flows are like any other lava environment, and therefore take their structure names from Hawaiian terms for lava. There are the pahoehoe (paw-hoy-hoy), the ropey shaped lava, a’a (ah- ah) blocked and jagged lava as well as curled lava, lava tubes and gas pockets.
Preparing for Adventure
The evening before our Adventure hike to Little Black Peak, the last lava flow location, we gathered at a campfire with the Camp Host (who happened to be my brother), feasting and talking about the day to come.
Let the hike begin!
I want to be extremely clear. There was no trail. The terrain was possibly the most extreme I have ever been in (and I have “hiked” through the mountains in Afghanistan). There was no trail. It was approximately 2 1/2 miles in and the same back out. There was no trail. The landscape precluded any chance of seeing the starting point with our vehicles once we were less than 1/4 mile in and the tall cinder cone that was our destination was only visible when cresting a lava tube, roll or edge of a tall gas pocket. Did I mention there was no trail?
It was simply an amazing adventure. Little Black Peak is a large cinder cone 8 miles from the park. 8 miles was a bit too far to try, but thank to the Corrizozo Land Partnership we were able to use ranch roads and drive within 2 1/2 miles of the cinder cone.
We saw massive collapsed gas pockets, walked across what I am convinced are UNcollapsed gas pockets (we could hear the echo under our boots!). There was beauty in the hellscape, and nature, uh, found a way.
Little Black Peak!
Once we finally arrived, many scrapes bruises (physical and to our pride) later, we learned another interesting fact. The term “Cinder Cone” is not just a random name, it is quite literal. Little Black Peak is entirely comprised of small ground up cinders, like the small lava rock people buy and put in their landscaping. It was a scramble on all fours just to reach the top.
Our Guide and I counted 4 other smaller, more weathered cinder cones surrounding Little Black Peak. It must have been and extremely active area during its eruption. He also discovered a partially collapsed gas pocket to the northeast and was determined to investigate. We followed and it was extraodinary.
The gas pocket must have been enormous and had at least 6 lava tubes radiating out from it. We explored some of these on hands and knees and one (that went back towards Little Black Peak) was large enough to stand upright inside!
A fine Adventure
Coming back out was exhausting and a little brutal. We made it with about 45 minutes of sunlight left in the day. It was thoroughly exhausting and an adventure we will never forget.
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