Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Hello there, and thanks so much for joining us here! You are probably wondering what this podcast is all about? In this podcast, we will talk about all sorts of outdoor adventures, but primarily, for now, we will focus on hiking and backpacking. No other outdoor adventure is so accessible to so many people! So please join us as we talk about how to hike/backpack and learn how to hike any length trail from your local neighborhood parks to those long trails such as the Appalachian and others worldwide! Remember... "in every walk with nature; one receives far more than he seeks... - John Muir " See you on the trail!
Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Exploring the Lava Falls Trail: Nature's Resilience and Historical Echoes at El Malpais
Note: Audio Only. Please see YouTube Video for Visuals
Explore the rugged beauty and historical significance of the Lava Falls Trail at El Malpais with me, the Natural Medic. Witness the extraordinary resilience of nature as stunted trees thrive amidst the harsh volcanic terrain. We journey across the captivating landscape, marked by fascinating formations like squeeze-ups and lava toes carved by the contrasting flows of Pahoehoe and Aa lava. As we traverse this unique environment, the stark reminders of the area's past as a World War II bombing range are ever-present. The shadows of history linger, with the chance of encountering unexploded ordnance adding an element of caution to our adventure.
This episode is not just a hike but a vivid lesson in both geological wonders and historical echoes. As we navigate the crunchy, rugged terrain, we pause to marvel at McCarty's Crater, a vital landmark for bomber pilots during their training runs. With an eye out for potential dangers, we emphasize the importance of recognizing, retreating, and reporting any suspicious finds to park rangers. Join this unforgettable journey into nature's raw power, where every step on the young lava surface tells a story intertwined with the legacy of wartime activities.
Hello, this is the Natural Medic. I'm at El Malapai in New Mexico. I am starting the Lava Falls Trail and this is the youngest of the volcanic exposures or volcanic eruptions here at the park and we have the opportunity to hike onto a young lava surface here at the park and a rare opportunity to hike onto a young lava surface. I hope you'll join me as we go through, hoping to see some of these trees. It's a 1.1 mile round trip. It's marked by cairns along the route, it's about 3, and it's two different types of lava. Here You've got the Pahoehoe and the Ah. Because of the nature of the soil, you have trees like this which could be hundreds of years old even though they're very small, just because they're studded in their growth because of the harsh terrain. As always when you hike at El Malpais, it was a former bombing range for US Army Air Forces during World War II. Keep in mind the three R's recognized retreat report.
Speaker 1:This is day two that I'm hiking and the type of flow here is dubbed by geologists, maybe volcanologists. I don't know if there's really a difference between that. I guess volcanologists study volcanoes. You have what we call hawaii flow or hawaii, I guess, hawaii style flow which basically flows out like a river. Now, in the winter time, you have frozen. The rivers up north get frozen. That's similar to how this volcanic flow formed. As you can see, you have lots of sheets of of this flow here and it formed all over the land like like a river of molten rock, unlike what you would think of in a typical volcano, where it spews out ash and all kinds of crazy stuff. Oh and, by the way, if you're enjoying this video, make sure to give it a thumbs up so that YouTube knows that you approve of my content and it gets out to more people. Thank you, it helps so much. Okay, we're at stop number two here and you'll notice there is not really a well-marked trail here throughout the lava field, but you have large piles of rock similar to this one that you can follow. I'm going in a counterclockwise motion because that's how the self-guided tour which you can find on the NPS app I'll put a link to that in the description for you Literally right here the ground is lava, like the game that maybe you've played before called the floor is lava Similar type deal.
Speaker 1:So you have a bunch of different features that can form. You have what's called squeeze ups, which are small mounds or thin ridges where our still hot lava was pushed up between the two pieces of already cooled lava. You have lava toes, you have ropey pahoehoe, you have pressure ridges, you have collapse features. I think over here we definitely have a collapse feature and this lava very crunchy underfoot. But if you can see over there which I think over here we definitely have a collapse feature and this lava very crunchy underfoot. But if you can see over there which I think you can it's like a collapse feature Over there. Let's get a little closer to it. Take a look. Don't want to wear your Sunday best hiking shoes here. The ground texture is very rough, as I found out yesterday when I was hiking the El Calderon, so it looks like a bubble area right there. So in this particular case you had lava bubbled up like when you're making bread, and then the gas bubbles popped and then it caused a collapse. Let's continue on, Okay, this next stop here looking at McCarty's crater and it was actually prominent enough that bomber pilots could see this when they were training.
Speaker 1:The post is directly behind me, so if I'm standing in the center of the clock the 11 o'clock position over here probably see it. I'm having trouble seeing it myself. It's a vertical position. According to the description they were able to do bombing runs on thinking it's between these two bridges right here. That's where it is and I don't want you to go over there to check it out too much because there could be unexploded ordinance over there. As they bomb this area for about 10 months straight, despite two projects where they removed unexploded ordinance, there's probably still some pieces out there. If you see a piece, mark the place. If you can safely exit the area and call a park ranger. I don't know about you folks, but I'm feeling a little cracked up.
Speaker 1:A good navigation idea for moving forward is always have the next set of cairns in front of you before you move on. Not sure how deep this crack is. We can look down in here in a second. Yeah, it looks deep enough that if I stood up in it, if I could get down in there in the first place, I would probably not have my head sticking up over the top. Let's put it that way Got a nice row of cairns here you can follow. Long as you keep those things in sight, you should be in good shape. That's a really nice one right there, almost like an eerie silence down here I'm in amongst all these stunted trees, like this one behind me, and look out here landscape itself Isn't that crazy?
Speaker 1:It's certainly not a barren wasteland, but you have all these stunted trees and not a whole lot of vegetation like you would in a normal forest. It's just really quiet out here. Take a look at this little stunted forest. You've got a Ponderosa here. Doesn't appear to be very big, very old. However, as they were saying in the beginning, that one may be a hundred years old or hundreds of years old, and then behind it you got another one. They're stunted in their growth because the landscape is so harsh here. It's almost like a little pygmy forest, isn't that crazy?
Speaker 1:Right here you have what's called a lava fall, and just like a waterfall, just like water follows the path of least resistance liquid rock or magma, in this case, lava does the same thing. So you can see where the lava kind of flowed over itself and right there, as that underlying level of rock rock cooled off, it was able to flow over itself. So you have almost like a natural amphitheater here. In this area you had, just like I explained earlier, you had gases that expanded, just like when bread, when bread bakes in the oven. When bread bakes in the oven, it is expanded and the loaf, so to speak, rises, forms this bowl shape. It's almost like a natural amphitheater as those gas bubbles pop, then the bubble goes to the ground About halfway through the trail. At this point this part returns back over to the parking lot. We're going to go this way. See some more things.
Speaker 1:Even though the lava rock does not provide a lot of nutrients that plants need to survive no organic matter, really whatsoever it does provide a natural catchment area for water. You notice where most of the plants are growing. They're growing in a crack or what was a crack, and the water collects into that area like a bowl and allows plant growth. How cool is that? Look at that cool gnarled one right in front of us. How cool is that? Look at that cool gnarled one right in front of us, closer up view of old gnarled sparkly.
Speaker 1:Himself used to get turned around following these cairns, but for the most part you just follow them straight out. As long as you keep those in your sight, you should be fine. Check them. Take a look at this rock that I'm walking on. It's crazy, otherworldly rough stuff. Since I'm having a look at that.
Speaker 1:Why don't we have a transition here? The blue or kind of grayish is more manganese. The reddish color, of course, is more iron, as reddish color, of course, is more iron as far as the mineral composition of the magma. Life always finds a way right. If you're looking at the surrounding terrain, you have a number of sinkholes, not lava tubes necessarily, like we saw the el calderon Trail, but you have sinkholes and if enough water can form, those can be places that life can develop as it's natural bowl for water and is able to hold its own, so to speak, in the ground.
Speaker 1:I tell you it's an otherworldly experience to walk along this trail in this kind of alien biome or whatever you want to call it. It's pretty crazy to think about Wow, very large and deep crack here. I'm estimating how deep it is. I'm not sure if you can see it on camera, but I would say eight to ten feet, something like that. It's crazy. There's no clear definition for wilderness, and what wilderness is? Holy crap. It's a long way down. This trail is managed as a wilderness. A large portion of the National Monument and the surrounding lands from the BLM, the National Conservation Area are managed as wilderness, although there's no clear definition. I'm curious to what you think. Leave your comments below about what you think a wilderness is and what it comprises, etc. Etc. Thanks, interesting side note to finish up this hike In human years, thousands of years ago, when this erupted, somewhere around 2,000 to 3,000 years ago, the native tribes in the area the Navajo, the Zuni, etc.
Speaker 1:They all have stories of a volcanic eruption in their oral histories and they also talk about a huge monster rising up from the earth that was slain and the monster's blood dried black. Case in point, the lava here is mostly black black. So what do you think about that? Hey, I hope you enjoyed this hike today. I thought it was interesting to hike on an area that you don't normally get to hike on. You don't normally get to hike on relatively quote unquote new geologic material that just came out of the earth a couple thousand years ago. As far as geologic time, that's not very long ago. Human time, yes, but humans did witness it. The native tribes that were here probably saw that, but I bet they were fascinated about seeing that. They probably didn't know what to think. What would you think if you saw a volcanic eruption in your neck of the woods, in your hometown, your area that you like to frequent? Let me know in the comments below, and would that conjure up stories of monsters or creatures, or what do you think? I'm interested to hear your thoughts.
Speaker 1:Hope you enjoyed this. If you did, make sure to hit that thumbs up button to let YouTube know that you like this. Make sure to subscribe to the channel for more great adventures. Enjoyed this. If you did, make sure to hit that thumbs up button to let YouTube know that you like this. Make sure to subscribe to the channel for more great adventures like this. And until next time I will see you on the trail. Bye-bye.
