I loved El Malpais when we visited there ages ago! We never had time to hike the Acoma-Zuni Trail, although it intrigued me. We explored some lava tubes before a thunderstorm drove us back to the car. If you get a chance, visit Tent Rocks west of Santa Fe--another amazing BLM area.
Hi Lisa! Thanks for the tip -- Tent Rocks is on our radar! We looked into seeing the lava tubes but they're closed until May, darn! El Malpais is just so cool. Wish we had more time here, gotta come back!
How well I remember NM 117 from our visit in October 2022. Our first stop was the El Malpaís Ranger Station, where we ended up having a half-hour conversation with the ranger on duty. She was the first person we'd ever met whose native language was Navajo. She told us her father could get by in basic English but not her mother, who still spoke only Navajo. Later I was sorry that we hadn't chosen a sentence that Eve would translate into her native language (Cebuano) and the ranger into Navajo, to see how different they came out.
Also on NM 117 we stopped, as you did, at Sandstone Bluffs, and spent a couple of hours there. Later, on our way to La Ventana, we stopped at an eroded cliff whose markings struck me as natural hieroglyphics:
We stopped at the Ranger Station too -- so cool that we were both there -- walking in each other's footsteps!
We saw some similar rocks on our hike yesterday -- we got all excited at first but then when we stopped and looked at them closely we found that they were "just" natural hieroglyphics.
I loved El Malpais when we visited there ages ago! We never had time to hike the Acoma-Zuni Trail, although it intrigued me. We explored some lava tubes before a thunderstorm drove us back to the car. If you get a chance, visit Tent Rocks west of Santa Fe--another amazing BLM area.
Hi Lisa! Thanks for the tip -- Tent Rocks is on our radar! We looked into seeing the lava tubes but they're closed until May, darn! El Malpais is just so cool. Wish we had more time here, gotta come back!
How well I remember NM 117 from our visit in October 2022. Our first stop was the El Malpaís Ranger Station, where we ended up having a half-hour conversation with the ranger on duty. She was the first person we'd ever met whose native language was Navajo. She told us her father could get by in basic English but not her mother, who still spoke only Navajo. Later I was sorry that we hadn't chosen a sentence that Eve would translate into her native language (Cebuano) and the ranger into Navajo, to see how different they came out.
Also on NM 117 we stopped, as you did, at Sandstone Bluffs, and spent a couple of hours there. Later, on our way to La Ventana, we stopped at an eroded cliff whose markings struck me as natural hieroglyphics:
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2022/11/13/more-unexpected-stops/
Did you see it, too?
Hi Steve! (Tell Eve hi for me!!) Miss y'all!
We stopped at the Ranger Station too -- so cool that we were both there -- walking in each other's footsteps!
We saw some similar rocks on our hike yesterday -- we got all excited at first but then when we stopped and looked at them closely we found that they were "just" natural hieroglyphics.