Pullin' Chocks

Valley of Fires, Carrizozo New Mexico

The Valley of Fires is considered to be one of the youngest lava flows in the continental United States.  Approximately 5,000 years ago, a volcanic vent now known as Little Black Peak, located nine miles northwest of the windswept town of Carrizozo, erupted and filled the Tularosa Basin with many square miles of buckled, twisted basalt lava, part of an extensive flow up to 165 feet thick and over 45 miles long.

Valley of Fires recreation area is located three miles west of Carrizozo, New Mexico.  If you’ve seen the movie Cars, this is where Lightning McQueen was lost. We will be moving on through Santa Rosa and into Tucumcari soon.  Tucumcari is the town of Radiator Springs in the movie Cars.  This is also the country where Billy the Kid rode a hundred and sixty years ago.

From a distance, Valley of Fires appears as barren rock but when you walk through the nature trail there are many varieties of flowers, cactus, trees and bushes typical of the Chihuahuan desert. Animals include bats, roadrunners, quail, cottontails, mule deer, barberry sheep, and lizards.  It's also a virtual birdwatcher's paradise with great horned owls, burrowing owls, turkey vultures, hawks, gnat catchers, cactus wrens, sparrows and golden eagles.

We enjoyed our short stay at Valley of Fires.  It was dark, quiet, and very peaceful here; a stark contrast from Elephant Butte!

Below is what we saw as we rounded the moutain and began our decent into the valley.  The ribbon of dark area is the lava rock. You can just see the road cutting right through the lava field.  The Valley of Fires recreation area was on the far side of the lava flow.

Entering the campground

 Looking over the campground from the obervation hill

 There we are set up on Site 5.

Not a bad back yard view for $18 a day!

 Front yard, that's the lava field.

Looking to the north in the front yard we can see the nature trail going out into the lava field.

 We might see a black collared lizard!

This sight tube along the nature trail helps to locate Little Black Peak, the volcanic vent that spilled the lava.

Gari getting some shots along the nature trail

 Looking back up the hill at the campground, you can just see Pepe' & Penelope at the right.

 Sotol plants, not to be confused with Yucca, spring up out of the lava bed.

Steve examining the leaves of a Sotol plant.  They had little saw teeth along the edges of the leaves

A lava bubble that collapsed.  This was a common feature.  The collapsed bubbles formed caves and the bats live in there.

Looking back toward the campground from out in the lava field.

The plants seem to grow right out of the rocks!  The rock creavases capture water and soil and the plants move right in.

Kokopelli Shadow in a lava bubble

No introduction needed.

We walked up the observation hill and just after this picture a Whip Snake whipped by me; I jumped over Gari in the next picture!

Gari seconds before I jumped over her!

And that is the peaceful excitement at Valley of Fires!