May 20 Topography, Geography and Geology

May 20   Albuquerque to Gallup - 246 miles but still in NM.  Staying at the historic El Rancho Hotel in the Claude Akins room. 

We knew we were in for a long day today so decided best to stock up with a nice hearty breakfast.  The Central Grill and Coffee House just a few blocks from the motel did not disappoint.  Martha did her best to eat sensibly with the Avocado toast with tomatoes and greens while I completely misbehaved with the Bananas and French Toast.  Then, so I could say I was being healthy, I got a yogurt parfait with fresh fruit and homemade granola. To be fair - I didn't eat all the French toast and we both skipped lunch. 

Power Breakfast

So todays travels were all about topography, geography and geology.   First up was a tramway ride up to Sandia Peak.  Albuquerque proper is around 5500 ft elevation.  We drove to the base of the mountain around 6300 ft elevation and road the tramway up to the peak at 10,378 ft. About a 15 minute ride with 40 people packed in.  It was 65 at the bottom and 44 and windy at the top.  Amazing views as you climb over several peaks and up between canyon walls.  The back side of the peak is a ski resort in winter and there were still some patches of snow around. On our trip down we were able to see some shimmering  remains from an unfortunate airline accident.  Back in 1955 a TWA flight crashed into the mountain killing all 13 passengers and 3 crew.  

View down to Albuquerque from 10,000 ft

Road trip was a combination of interstate and old Route 66.  Our big stop for the day was El Malpais National Monument.  There is no man made monument - it refers to  all the natural monuments - the sandstone cliffs, the natural arch and the lava covered flatland.  Malpais is spanish for badlands - referring to  the  inhospitable lava flow areas which stretch for miles.   Thanks to our trip yesterday to the Natural Science museum we had a much better appreciation for the various layers and colors of rock in the walls.   As you're standing on the sandstone cliffs you realize they were formed some 110 million years ago when the area was inundated as part of a sea and then realize hundreds of feet below you lies another even older layer of harder and compacted sandstone that was laid there when the area was desert, and above you would be layers  (except they've already eroded here) from when the land was a super salty inland lake and another layer from when it was a tropical swamp.  And then you look down from that perch on the sandstone cliff and you see the lava flow area which is almost current history  dating back just 3900 years.  It really puts things in perspective as to the insignificant time man has been around and all the havoc we reek on this planet. 

There are just so many layers of history in these cliffs

Philosophy and geology aside, the monuments are  quite striking.  First up was the sandstone cliff.  Folks must not be as lawsuit happy here because I can't imagine  being able to walk right up to the edge of a cliff without any guardrails back home - but here you have it.  Get as close as you dare to falling off - it's all on you. 

All of  the dark area from our sandstone cliff to the hills on the horizon are a lava field

Next up was the Natural Arch.  Not sure if the scale can be detected in pictures, but it's pretty huge. Just natural weathering, freeze/thaw cycles, rain, wind and centuries after centuries of it slowly dissolving.  As the plaque said, given enough time it will all dissolve back into a pile of sand.   Surprisingly, they are building a restraining railing at the base of this.  Pretty rough terrain going all the way into it and I guess it always could break and fall down on you.

The Natural Arch

Hard to get proper perspective on things around here

Last up was the Lava Falls Trail. It sounded pretty simple.  Roughly a 1 mile trail over the lava beds. The even listed it as an "easy" trail. Simply follow the cairns.  Given that we're both having knee problems we still figured it was doable if we took it easy and took our time. Not sure who gave it that "easy" designation.    It was all up and down, jumping ravines, climbing over rocks, twisted knees and ankles, watching out for cactus barbs,  buffeted by winds, and looking all over for that next darn pile of rocks to guide us.  We finally made it back to the parking lot before they had to send out the search party.

Can you find the cairn?  This one was easy out in the open.

Oh.. there it is!!

Still had a bit more of old Route 66  to go.  This portion crosses the Continental Divide at 7295 feet elevation.  Water passes to the Pacific on one side and back to the Atlantic anywhere we already passed. 

 Then we finally made it to Gallup and the El Rancho for the night.  Built in 1937 by  D.W Griffith's brother in a rugged western motif it was used extensively through the 1960's  to host various  stars during shooting of western films and became a vacation destination for other stars including John Wayne, Humphry Bogart, Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Kirk Douglas, James Stewart, etc.. The full list is a who's who of a bygone era.  It has an impressive  rugged  ranch house style 2 story lobby with twin winding staircases. The 49'er Lounge was apparently the scene of many late night parties.  For us, we were just ready for a good nights sleep after all that fresh air and high altitude outdoor activity

Hotel lobby