Geology west of Grants, New MexicoMay 6, 2007. We are staying in the Blue Spruce RV Park $13.50 for 50-amps, water & Cable TV with central dump. Blue Spruce is located on the south west corner of the I-40 exit 81 intersection. This was our last day in Grants and we took the opportunity to drive up and into the Mt. Taylor area. Mt. Taylor is one of the highest points in New Mexico. I will show you another picture of Mt. Taylor from Sandia Peak in Albuquerque over 60-miles east of Mt. Taylor in a later travelogue. The Mt. Taylor footprint and awesome height make it visible from a large portion of New Mexico.
View of valley west of Mt Taylor
After all this climbing we pop out into a clearing where we get this magnificent view, to the west, of a wonderful valley stretching to the west of Mt. Taylor.
Sandstone bluffs and mesa to the southwest of Mt Taylor
As we are making our way down to the valley west of Mt. Taylor we begin to get glimpses of the valley and magnificent sandstone mesas that border the western edge of that valley.
Old cinder cone volcano southwest of Mt Taylor
By this time we are 20 or so miles west of Mt. Taylor. We stopped and took this picture looking to the south. The community in the valley is San Mateo while the volcanic cone in the distance is probably Bandera Crater located some 25-miles south of Grants and I-40. Note the mine derricks located above underground mine shafts. If you still have not spotted those mine derricks they are located a little below the center of the picture with a large tan building between them. That is a large uranium mine that is currently closed until uranium prices improve. I will share some better pictures of this uranium mine and equipment later in this travelogue.
Old cinder cone volcano
This is an old cinder cone volcano visible to the southwest of Mt. Taylor. I suspect this is the Bandera Cinder Cone which we wrote about in a previous travel log.
Sandstone bluff and mesa in distance
Sandstone mesas and cliffs on the western edge of the valley as seen from Mt Taylor.
Sandstone bluff and mesa in distance
We have been dogging down this steep grade for the last 15 to 20-miles and we still have not reached the valley.
Sandstone cliff protected by hard caprock
I included this picture of a sandstone cliff to show the many different layers of sedimentary rock. The layer of sandstone on top is called a caprock. It is very hard material and is protecting the underlying sedimentary layers from erosion.
Volcanic ash deposited on top of much older sandstone
The gray rock is a layer of volcanic ash that at one time formed a layer of sediment. It is now crumbling and mixing with the much older sandstone sediments.
On the plain southwest of Mt Taylor where old and new meet
New and old technology meet. The old reliable windmill with a modern steel holding tank.
More New Mexico AdventuresSome Exciting Drives** More 2007 Travel Adventures
Mike & Joyce Hendrix
Mike & Joyce Hendrix who we are We hope you liked this page. If you do you might be interested in some of our other Travel Adventures: Mike & Joyce Hendrix's home page Travel Adventures by Year ** Travel Adventures by State ** Plants ** Marine-Boats ** Geology ** Exciting Drives ** Cute Signs ** RV Subjects ** Miscellaneous Subjects
We would love to hear from you......just put "info" in the place of "FAKE" in this address: FAKE@travellogs.us Until next time remember how good life is.
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