El Malpais - June 2023

 We visited El Malpais National Monument and El Malpais National Conservation Area with Ana, Kevin, and the grandboys. Sadly, the NPS chose the same weekend to close down the side of the park with the bat cave and other caves, but we still had a good day exploring.

First stop was the BLM Ranger Station, where we were treated like honored guests by the person on duty. The boys explored the bugs, rocks, pictures, video, etc. Then we went on to the Lava Falls Trail. The software on our Pixel 6s didn't process the pictures of the lava properly, so not too many of those. Here is Kevin and Jackson in the "Lava Bowl."

And here is Spyros by a Piñon:

Oh, no! The Piñon got Spyro!

We stopped at La Ventana natural arch: 

And here is the Murphy family Christmas photo for this year:

And a rock that looks like someone painted it, but these colors were natural:

The views from the Sandstone Bluffs was cool. You can see "new" lava flows below:

This is your brain on lava:

And goodbye the second day from the BLM visitor center and the nature trail there: