El Morro and More

Today I took a day trip down to El Morro, NM.  I hiked around the El Morro National Monument.  It was a place where travelers would stop and sign their names in the stone, starting in the 1600s.  Here are a few examples

E. Pen Long

Spanish Adventurer

The history was pretty neat, but there was some great scenery as well:

El Morro

El Morro

On the way back to Albuquerque, I stopped at the Bandera Volcano and ice caves.  I met a nice German gentleman there who informed me he was spending 1.5 months driving around Colorado, New Mexico and South Dakota.  Rather interesting choices I thought.  Here are some pics:

Bandera Volcano crater

Ice Cave

The ice cave was pretty cool.  It stays at 31 degrees year round.  The crater was ok, kind of a long walk to look at a hole in the ground. 

I was really tired, but decided to stop at El Malpais.  It turns out that on the west side of El Malpais Monument/National Conservation area there is not much to do unless you want to take a 15 mile hike across lava, which was tempting, but I didn't have the time.  There are a few shorter hikes, but the lady at the information center warned me that they were all very difficult.  She recommended that I go check out La Ventana and the Sandstone bluffs on the east side instead.  I decided to go for it, and I'm glad I did.  See below:

Right next to La Ventana

La Ventana

Sandstone bluffs

The views were amazing, and well worth the 20 mile drive from the highway.  Exit 89 in New Mexico if you are driving across on I-40.  I just wish I had had more time to look around Grants for once!