Bandera Volcano, New Mexico

10,000 years ago in the "land of fire and ice", Bandera Volcano erupted creating a cinder cone 800 ft. in depth and a half mile wide. It is one of the finest examples of an erupted volcano in the country, and truly an enigma to behold. New Mexico is truly a beautiful place filled with stark contrasts.

Here is something called a lava spout. As lava flows from the volcano, the surface cools faster than the flow beneath, creating lava caves and tunnels. When the lava beneath bubbles to the top it forms these lava spouts.

Here is the Monkee on the trail up to the cinder cone. You can see the cooled lava has been eroded into sharp little pebbles that were nasty to walk on. We were at about 8000 feet altitude, so as you can imagine, we had to stop frequently to catch our breath. It was worth it.

On one of our stops on the way up to the cinder cone, Monkee snapped this shot of yours truly out of breath...

As you can see, the trees continue to take root in the lava rock. Unfortunately, the lava rock erodes quickly from rain and wind and exposes the roots of many trees. In addition to this, trees that take root in the cooled lava flow are constantly hit by lightning due to the high iron content of the soil.

Here's Monkee in front of one of the 26 volcanos in this area of New Mexico - yes that is 26 volcanos.

At last after a half mile hike we reach the cinder cone. Here you can see the 60 foot pine trees growing right in the mouth of the volcano. This cinder cone is 800 feet deep!

Here I am, out of breath and very out of shape, standing on the rim of the cinder cone.