Route 66 Day 30 Nov 7 2019
I set my alarm for 6am with the intention of getting an early start. But at 6am, I see that I'm sitting in a bed of fog. There is like 6 feet of visibility. Nope, I roll over and go back to sleep. Around 7:30am I start contemplating getting up and about anyway. I'm not on a time schedule, and if my goal takes me a couple of days that fine. I found out that there is public land and a free first-come-first-serve campsite where I'm going, so I don't need to be making great time. But at the same time, laying around in bed waiting for the fog to pass is getting old. So I figure, I'll head to the park and at least put myself in a position to take great photos the minute the fog clears. Luckily, about half way to my first photo op, the fog started clearing. It happened gradually but by the time I got to the Sandstone Bluffs, the fog was gone. I took a nice little hike, which my knees didn't like, and got some fantastic photos. Jumped back in the car and headed to the La Ventana Natural Arch, another short hike and some more interesting photos. Onto the Lave Falls, which were brutal on the knees. I walked until the third POI marker and then headed back to the car. Its irritating, ten years ago, I'd have hopped through this hike like a bunny, but now, everything hurts.
Back into the car and the next point of interest is the Fire and Ice property on the far side of the park. Its within the park but its also private property. Its piece of property that contains both the Bandera Volcano and an ice cave. The shortest route is to take a dirt road about 15-20 miles across the park. I arrived at the dirt road and there were big signs warning about driving on the road when wet. It wasn't raining anymore and it didn't look that wet at the entrance, but the signs also warned that the road conditions would increasingly get worse. It was a good long way back to the Grants to enter the park on the other side, so I decided to try it. That lasted about a mile and I decided it wasn't worth the risk. I didn't have cell service and if I got stuck, I'd literary be stuck until the road dried up. So I turned around and headed back to grants.
On the way to Fire and Ice, I passed another part of El Malpais NP hiking area that I'd forgotten about: El Calderon trail. There were a number of lava tube caves in the area and I did the parts that were flat and easy on the knees. One of the caves boasts a nice population of bats and the literature said they come out at night. It was tempting to go back at dusk but I chose not too. Onto the Fire and Ice. The volcano is a cinder cone that has blown out a side of it. The hike wasn't that difficult in terms of terrain, but it was steadily uphill, so took me longer than it should have. The volcano is roughly 1200 feet across and 800 feet deep. It is recognized as one of the best examples of a cinder cone eruption in North America. The views were spectacular and the vegetation around it is twisted and weird. It was pretty cool. Apparently, volcanic lava contains iron, which leads to a lot of lightning strikes in the area. Many of the trees showed evidence of lightning. Most didn't survive but a few did. After the volcano, I back tracked to the main building and took the second trail. This one leads to the ice cave. Apparently, due to the insulation of the collapsed lava tube and its air currents, the cave is at a constant 31 degrees. The small pool of water at the entrance of the cave was frozen solid and other ice formation were visible inside the cave. There are three flights of stairs to the cave and I'm glad I did it one, but this stop was really hard on the knees.
At this point it was getting quite late. I wasn't sure I'd be able find the free camping area the park ranger told me about in the daylight I had left. It was a 20 mile drive back to Grants. I debated and ended up going back to Grant. Without cell service, I didn't want to risk getting lost in the dark. Walmart for the second night. Again, a whole new group of RVs and campers greated me at the entrance of Walmart and I felt at home.
Back into the car and the next point of interest is the Fire and Ice property on the far side of the park. Its within the park but its also private property. Its piece of property that contains both the Bandera Volcano and an ice cave. The shortest route is to take a dirt road about 15-20 miles across the park. I arrived at the dirt road and there were big signs warning about driving on the road when wet. It wasn't raining anymore and it didn't look that wet at the entrance, but the signs also warned that the road conditions would increasingly get worse. It was a good long way back to the Grants to enter the park on the other side, so I decided to try it. That lasted about a mile and I decided it wasn't worth the risk. I didn't have cell service and if I got stuck, I'd literary be stuck until the road dried up. So I turned around and headed back to grants.
On the way to Fire and Ice, I passed another part of El Malpais NP hiking area that I'd forgotten about: El Calderon trail. There were a number of lava tube caves in the area and I did the parts that were flat and easy on the knees. One of the caves boasts a nice population of bats and the literature said they come out at night. It was tempting to go back at dusk but I chose not too. Onto the Fire and Ice. The volcano is a cinder cone that has blown out a side of it. The hike wasn't that difficult in terms of terrain, but it was steadily uphill, so took me longer than it should have. The volcano is roughly 1200 feet across and 800 feet deep. It is recognized as one of the best examples of a cinder cone eruption in North America. The views were spectacular and the vegetation around it is twisted and weird. It was pretty cool. Apparently, volcanic lava contains iron, which leads to a lot of lightning strikes in the area. Many of the trees showed evidence of lightning. Most didn't survive but a few did. After the volcano, I back tracked to the main building and took the second trail. This one leads to the ice cave. Apparently, due to the insulation of the collapsed lava tube and its air currents, the cave is at a constant 31 degrees. The small pool of water at the entrance of the cave was frozen solid and other ice formation were visible inside the cave. There are three flights of stairs to the cave and I'm glad I did it one, but this stop was really hard on the knees.
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