2006/03 Southwest USA trip (AZ-MN) - Valley of Fires |
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As there is no camping at White Sands, we drove back through Alamogordo towards the Valley of Fires, about sixty miles north. The other side of Alamogordo looked a bit more prosperous, but the town still looks like a relic of the 1960s. I guess the Cold War was Alamagordo’s heyday, and the supply of military money has slowed in recent years.
The Valley of Fires is a national recreation area, recently spiffed up by the look of it, with new roads and 
camp sites. The valley is famous for its lava fields, which were spewed out of the ground about 5000 years ago. So, after spending the day in a wholly white environment, we were now camping in a sea of black basalt.
The campground is situated on a ridge, on an island that escaped the lava flow, so it has great views, but it is exposed to the winds, and we had a sou’wester howling around us, rocking the camper. For once I was happy to have a few hundred pounds of Sandie’s rocks anchoring us to the ground. We took a short walk through the lava field. It was interesting with its caves and tubes, but we’d have enjoyed it more without the howling gale.
Monday February 20th
The wind dropped a little overnight, but the temperature dropped too, so it was a cold, breezy morning, but with plenty of sunshine. As we left the Valley of Fires, we passed a herd of pronghorn, a sign that we’d passed from the desert into the grasslands. We saw more herds later in the day.