48.6/15 The Valley of Fires

View over badlands, Opuntia imbricata in foreground

We headed south on the I-25 (speed limit 80 m.p.h.) from Santa Fe then turned almost due east on a lesser highway, the SR 380, to get over to the US 54 which would take us to Alamogordo and White Sands the following day.

We had decided a convenient lay over would be Valley of Fires Recreation Area, 4 mi. west of Carrizozo. The BLM campground is on a bluff overlooking the lava flow to the west, where 1500 to 2000 years ago magma flowed from Little Black Peak, traveled some 44 miles and covered 127 square miles. When we arrived toward mid afternoon, we were greeted by the shrill trill of cicadas.

The cicadas hummed everywhere in what seemed a bleak, rocky terrain. A myriad of no-see-ems and sweat flies swarmed about me, getting into my eyes and buzzing in my ears. Insect repellant was removed with the sweat flowing off of me. How glad we were that BLM provided electricity which ran our root-top air conditioner and kept us comfortable in-doors.

Cicada on Yucca leaves

Bugs or not, there were new and interesting plants for me here.

Talinum aurantiacum

Its roots may be eaten cooked; it is in the same family as the common weed Portulaca oleracea.

Kallstroemia parviflora

I believe this is the correct name. My only technical reference is Kearney & Peebles, “Arizona Flora.” and already it’s getting out of range.

Hoffmanseggia densiflora, hog potato

It is considered a troublesome weed by farmers, but isn’t it gorgeous. It’s tuberous roots are used for hog feed and were roasted and eaten by Indians. I knew this member of the Mimosa section of the Legume family already from our Carlsbad NM visit in May 1998.

Evening sky

No, it didn’t rain, but a terrific wind came up during the night. Was I grateful that Bill had chosen a sheltered site; we rattled and shook, but didn’t have to fear being blown off the cliff. (None of the other RVs had disappeared from their high perches when we looked out in the morning.)

A light breeze kept the bugs at bay, so I went out again to see if I had missed any plants. I found half a dozen more species, including this dainty blue gilia, Ipompsis longiflora. Without a digital camera with image stabilization it would never have been caught standing still.

Ipomopsis longiflora, blue gilia

Although the park had a wide boardwalk nature trail, with guard railings, zigzaging down the bluff into the lava beds below, it was just too hot and buggy to contemplate the walk.

After Bill accomplished the necessary weekly duty of “dumping” and replenishing our water supply, we retraced our route a mile to see the lava bed from below, and then continued our journey to Alamogordo.

Lava bed from highway 380, Valley of Fires, NM