Apparently many places are scary-looking enough to earn the name "badlands" and El Malpais earned that title from the many lava flows that make the area treacherous.
There's a one-mile hike at the edge of one of the younger flows that takes you through several different features of lava (falls, bowls, collapses..) and points out how dangerous it can be to take off over lava without a clear path and a good plan. I stayed the night on the edge of the flow.
A picnic area near the middle of the monument is the first place I found any real shade and it came from a cliff on one side and deep lava on the other. It's also the trail head for a hike over the cliff that provided some great views of the lava and La Ventana at the end.
The trail was sunny and hot, and came with companions.
Also a spectacular sunset.
La Ventana is the largest natural arch in New Mexico. You can't reach it from the lower path the cliff hike looks like it may have had a way down if you continued around the cliff to the arch.
This is the cliff from which the earlier pictures were taken
El Malpais is around 7000 feet and I was hoping that the high elevation was contributing to the truck running rough. Once again she's stalling every time I stop. Time to head out and try to run every stop sign without getting caught.
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