Here are some photos with an actual story:) Here it is:
On the way to Colorado, we were driving through New Mexico. Christopher looked out the window and said, "Look, a volcano!" Of course I had to correct him and tell him that it was not a volcano, it was a mountain. Everyone knows there aren't volcanoes in New Mexico, right? So we drove a little farther and what do you know, there was a sign that said
Capulin Volcano National Monument. Imagine my surprise, so I told him he was right, it was a volcano. Fast forward to the trip home. I asked Daniel to stop at the monument so we could see if it was really a volcano or if it just looked like one. Being the great guy he is, he said we could.
So we start to drive toward it thinking we'll get to read a plaque about what it is and the history behind it. We keep driving and get to the Information Center and pay $5 to actually go up onto the volcano. I have no pictures of the drive up the volcano, I was too busy holding on and trying to keep my breakfast down. I don't handle the car being at an angle very well, especially when there is a huge drop right beside me. Well, we made it safely to the parking lot.
Now we see a trail that goes around the rim of the volcano, looks like a fun thing to do, right? I was in flip flops (I really had no plans to go for a hike that day) and since it didn't look like a big deal, so we grabbed the tripod (and of course no water) and started up. It wasn't too bad the first 1/4 mile or so, then Natalie decided she wanted me to carry her.
Then I really started to get tired and now Christopher is asking for water. Daniel the eternal optimist says that we are almost to the top... I don't think he was being entirely truthful, but it really still didn't look to bad. Then we finally make it to the top and if I wasn't already out of breath, I would have been from the view, it was just beautiful. Here is the view from 8182 ft.
If you can see the parking lot, you can see how far from the car we are and it was all uphill. It really was worth it, though. So now we get to go down and that is the easy part, or so you would think. Now we have walked 3/4 of a mile mostly uphill and are having fun going down. Then we ran into some guys on the trail... they were painting it and said we had to go back.
Ummm, did we miss the sign? Nope, there wasn't one. Hmmmm, Christopher really wants some water now and there was no way I was carrying Natalie all the way back around. So he gave us the option of just walking off the path around the wet paint.
We decided that was the better of the 2 options even though the terrain was pretty rough. Now remember I said that I was in flip flops? Well, after I kicked the second cactus
I really started paying attention to where I was placing my feet. Didn't really matter though, because there were still quite a few that were short enough to hide below the grass and I just kept on kicking and scraping them. My right foot was actually bleeding and I was in pain. It all turned out ok, though we were allowed back on the path and we saw some cute ladybugs.
Then we finally made it to the end of the path.
It was fun, but I recommend being prepared if you decide to trek around the rim of a volcano. Don't wear flip flops and take some water. All in all, it was a great experience and lots of fun. I would love to do it again! I've been chattering a lot, so I'll quit. I hope you enjoyed the story!
Mary
