One thing that is happening on this trip is that we are not just visiting areas we’ve dreamed of visiting but we’re visiting places we’ve never even heard of before. El Malpais is one of those places. About 3,000 years ago lava flowed over this area. We took a hike on top of the lava (now basalt) today. It’s bizarre and a bit scary since there are cracks all over that you just have to step or jump over. Also, while a path on dirt is fairly apparent, it's hard to mark a path on lava. They put cairns (piles of rocks) along the path. You're supposed to keep at least one in sight at all times so you don't get lost. Well, we didn't get lost, exactly, but we skipped over a major portion of the path then had to back track. Either way, it was a different type of hike for us.
The area also had sandstone cliffs including a large arch. Bizarre mixture of geology in this area.
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