Lincoln State Monument
We got an early start since we were still on central time and were quickly headed west on US 380. We soon encountered Lincoln, NM. There were many signs to the Lincoln State Monument. I did not realize until later that the "monument" essentially refers to the entire town. Essentially every building is historical and frozen in time--in the 1870's and 1880's. I have to admit it was very different than the buildings of the 1870's and 1880's I was used to from the midwest. Nor did it have the feel of what I think of as a stereotypical old west town as portrayed in the movies. Since we were at a higher altitude there were more trees and it mostly felt like a small town. We were so early that nothing was open. I am sure there would have been much to see and learn, but we had a lot more planned for the day, so kept moving westward.
Lincoln National Forest and Smokey Bear Country
Although the scenery along the road was still incredibly dry and "deserty", the signs referred to the Lincoln National Forest. The picture is from a pull-out along the side of the road. The Capitan Mountains are in the distance and appeared to be tree covered. The notch in the mountains is Capitan Gap, which is where the real life Smokey Bear was found as a little burned cub during a forest fire in 1950.
A few miles further was the village of Capitan, NM and the Smokey Bear Historical Park. This is a small museum and park run by the New Mexico State Forestry Service. Included is Smokey Bear's grave site. After being found in Capitan Gap, he was nursed back to health and then taken to live out his life at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. It was a rather interesting little museum, especially for those of us who grew up with Smokey and his famous "Remember.....only YOU can prevent forest fires". (A whole lot better, I might add, than the original slogan which originated in 1944: "Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires". The current slogan is slightly modified to include more than forests: "Remember......only YOU can prevent wildfires".) It was interesting to learn there had been a real bear. The small park with its many interpretive signs about the trees and plants would have been better in the summer when the plants were growing. At this altitude, it was still cold and the deciduous trees had yet to leaf out. We tried hard to find the correct answers to solve a geocache related to this site entitled 'Smokey's Home', which would have given coordinates to the final cache at the end of a jeep trail at Capitan Gap. Unfortunately we could not come up with the correct coordinates. However, just finding the answers to the questions about Smokey Bear was a very interesting exercise.
We got an early start since we were still on central time and were quickly headed west on US 380. We soon encountered Lincoln, NM. There were many signs to the Lincoln State Monument. I did not realize until later that the "monument" essentially refers to the entire town. Essentially every building is historical and frozen in time--in the 1870's and 1880's. I have to admit it was very different than the buildings of the 1870's and 1880's I was used to from the midwest. Nor did it have the feel of what I think of as a stereotypical old west town as portrayed in the movies. Since we were at a higher altitude there were more trees and it mostly felt like a small town. We were so early that nothing was open. I am sure there would have been much to see and learn, but we had a lot more planned for the day, so kept moving westward.
Lincoln National Forest and Smokey Bear Country
Although the scenery along the road was still incredibly dry and "deserty", the signs referred to the Lincoln National Forest. The picture is from a pull-out along the side of the road. The Capitan Mountains are in the distance and appeared to be tree covered. The notch in the mountains is Capitan Gap, which is where the real life Smokey Bear was found as a little burned cub during a forest fire in 1950.
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| Capitan Mountains and Capitan Gap in Lincoln National Forest outside of Capitan, NM |
A few miles further was the village of Capitan, NM and the Smokey Bear Historical Park. This is a small museum and park run by the New Mexico State Forestry Service. Included is Smokey Bear's grave site. After being found in Capitan Gap, he was nursed back to health and then taken to live out his life at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. It was a rather interesting little museum, especially for those of us who grew up with Smokey and his famous "Remember.....only YOU can prevent forest fires". (A whole lot better, I might add, than the original slogan which originated in 1944: "Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires". The current slogan is slightly modified to include more than forests: "Remember......only YOU can prevent wildfires".) It was interesting to learn there had been a real bear. The small park with its many interpretive signs about the trees and plants would have been better in the summer when the plants were growing. At this altitude, it was still cold and the deciduous trees had yet to leaf out. We tried hard to find the correct answers to solve a geocache related to this site entitled 'Smokey's Home', which would have given coordinates to the final cache at the end of a jeep trail at Capitan Gap. Unfortunately we could not come up with the correct coordinates. However, just finding the answers to the questions about Smokey Bear was a very interesting exercise.
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| Smokey Bear's grave in Capitan, NM |
Valley of Fires
We continued west on US 380 with our next major stop being Valley of Fires Recreation Area and the BLM maintained nature trail through the Malpais Lava Flow just outside of Carrizozo, NM. We went to the ranger station for more info. Since this was the first (of many) federal lands on this trip, we bought an America the Beautiful pass, the annual pass for $80 which provides entrance for a person and up to three accompanying adults at National Parks and many other federal lands. Coming from Texas, with almost no federal land, it seemed really amazing to encounter so many different federal sites. (By the way, this is the last year we will need this pass. Staring next year, we will be eligible for the Senior Pass, which is good for life with a one time cost of only $10, maybe.)
We had only heard about the Valley of Fires and did not know what to expect, but it turned out to be a major highlight of the trip. The lava flow (a 125 sq mile area of very sharp, black, rugged rocks clearly visible on the satellite view in Google Earth) originated from the eruption of Little Black Peak approximately 5,000 years ago. One of the youngest lava flows in the continental U.S. (Mount. St. Helens did not have a lava flow), the lava flow is 44 miles long, four to six miles wide, and up to 160 feet thick. We walked the very well maintained nature trail and then climbed over one small portion of the lava flow to get to an unmaintained trail. It would have been impossible to do much more than that without a LOT of effort, since the lava is very rugged and very sharp.
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| Looking out across the lava flow and the nature trail from above |
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| Thank goodness for the path...off trail hiking through this mess would be nearly impossible |
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| Lots of plants somehow find a way to thrive in this environment |
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| A 400 year old juniper tree |
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| Exploring the ropey-looking lava called Pahoehoe |
The BLM maintained campground at the top overlooking the lava flow also looked quite nice and would certainly be an interesting place to stay if we are back this way with Silver. All in all, we were very glad we stopped at this interesting place.
National Radio Astronomy Observatory -- Very Large Array
Continuing westward, we found our motel room in Socorro, then headed west for another 50 miles or so for the Very Large Array.
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| The VLA from the west. Note the orange transporter next to the nearest antenna. |
The Very Large Array consists of 27 radio antennas (antennae??) in a Y-shaped configuration. They are readily identifiable from many different TV ads and movies, including "2010" and "Contact". Data from the individual antennas is combined such that the entire array is really one very large instrument. The antennas can be positioned in one of four different spacings. Fortunately we were here when the individual antennas were in their most close-in or D-configuration where each of the arms of the Y was only 0.4 miles long. In the most extended or A-configuration, each of the arms is 13 miles long! The observatory is used for a variety of different astronomical studies, but not looking for extraterrestrial life as described in Contact.
Each of the antennas is HUGE....235 tons by weight and 82 feet in diameter!
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| One of the many interpretive signs on the self-guided tour |
Note the shoulder-high sign next to the frog in the picture below.
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| In front of one of the antennas looking towards the center of the array. |
The same sign (sans frog) is the right-most of the two tiny signs to the right of the antenna in the picture below.
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| Antenna at end of Y next to the transporter |
As impressive as the size was, I was most impressed by the transporter used to move them from one pre-installed base to the next when changing the configuration (spacing) of the antennas.
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| Transporter details |
The transporter is a self-propelled railroad car that travels on two parallel, standard-size railroad lines. It moves under the antenna, picks it up, moves out to the main railroad line and changes directions by 90 degrees!! Yes, really. We saw a film of this operation, but I would love to see it in person.
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| Side view of transporter |
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| View of transporter from under the antenna, looking down one of the two parallel railroad tracks |
As we were making our way back to the main road from the VLA visitor center (but well within what would have been the larger configurations of the antennas), we encountered these antelope along the road. You can also get a sense of how flat the plain is here.
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| Antelope at VLA |
Other than the long trip back to Socorro....now finally with the strong winds to our back, which is significant when driving the very UNaerodynamic geojeep....that is all for Day 2 of the 2013 Trip to Trinity.
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