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Four Corners, El Malpais, et al
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| Four Corners | El Malpais South | Ice Cave | |
| Lunch, San Juan River | Hotel Oct 1 | The Crater | |
| Natural Arch | Uranium Mine | ||
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The third person on this trip was supposed to be Tomita Itsuko, Noriko's lifelong friend. But she had to cancel at the last minute. Our daughter Kay was able to join us, two days into the itineary. The first time in 10 years that Kay has traveled with us, we could not get over the novelty of her company. There were other places. The Uranium "mine", an underground simulation in Grants. El Malpais is a vast landscape of volcanic desolation which includes cinder cones, lava caves and debris fields. The women insisted on the photo-op, "Four Corners." | |||
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Four Corners
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997 _18Sep29-SW18_1010 There is a line for this five minute photo-op.  |
998 _18Sep29-SW18_1011  |
999 _18Sep29-SW18_1011a  |
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1000 _18Sep29-SW18_1014  |
1001 _18Sep29-SW18_1131  |
1001 _18Sep29-SW18_1132  |
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Lunch alongside the San Juan River
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1001 _18Sep29-SW18_1143  |
368 _18Sep29-SW18_1144a  |
368 _18Sep29-SW18_1144b  |
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1004 _18Sep29-SW18_1203a  |
370 _18Sep29-SW18_1154  |
1003 _18Sep29-SW18_1145  |
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"The largest natural arch in ___" - the Southwest? Adjacent to El Malpais.
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823 _18Oct01-SW18_1636  |
826 _18Oct01-SW18_1756  |
828 _18Oct01-SW18_1757a  |
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The track traces the east perimeter of the vast lava field.
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319 _18Oct01-SW18_1536  |
320 _18Oct01-SW18_1542  |
820 _18Oct01-SW18_1551 Beyond the sandstone is the vast lavafield. It reflects almost no light and appears almost as a black hole.  |
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320 _18Oct01-SW18_1543a  |
824 _18Oct01-SW18_1719 Kay exploits a dramatic backdrop to advance her "selfies" project. Behind the camera is the vast lava wasteland of El Malpais.  |
829 _18Oct01-SW18_1800 "Any landscape is improved by the insertion of self."  |
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322 _18Oct01-SW18_1621  |
826 _18Oct01-SW18_1725  |
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Hotel Oct 1
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831 _18Oct01-SW18_2026 The devil-mark of our dinner - typical of the whole trip. Eating good food means taking time to find it. We had no time.  |
832 _18Oct01-SW18_2028  |
838 _18Oct01-SW18_2202  |
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839 _18Oct01-SW18_2215 Noriko had paid for a place with a jacuzzi. We're damned well going to use it, even though it was late and we were tired.  |
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Uranium Mine simulation, Grants. This is actually located underground, accessed by elevator. Modern youth have no notion of how hard people had to work for a living.
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840 _18Oct02-SW18_0810  |
841 _18Oct02-SW18_0821  |
842 _18Oct02-SW18_0922  |
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842 _18Oct02-SW18_0926  |
843 _18Oct02-SW18_0928  |
844 _18Oct02-SW18_0930  |
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844 _18Oct02-SW18_0937  |
844 _18Oct02-SW18_0945 I need this at Nash Mill.  |
844 _18Oct02-SW18_0952  |
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844 _18Oct02-SW18_0952a  |
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Ice Cave
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845 _18Oct02-SW18_0955  |
846 _18Oct02-SW18_0959 The ice persists year round. Its age is at least several hundred years.  |
848 _18Oct02-SW18_1002  |
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858 _18Oct02-SW18_1115 "Any landscape is improved by..."  |
858 _18Oct02-SW18_1117  |
859 _18Oct02-SW18_1118  |
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The Cinder Cone, El Malpais
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851 _18Oct02-SW18_1039 The largest cauldera in El Malpais. Its large eruption yielded a vast lava field including that containing the ice cave.  |
852 _18Oct02-SW18_1040  |
853 _18Oct02-SW18_1043 The four common color reflect the four elements most common in this debris. (for example, yellow=sulfur)  |
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854 _18Oct02-SW18_1046  |
857 _18Oct02-SW18_1114  |
857 _18Oct02-SW18_1114a  |
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865 _18Oct02-SW18_1205 The mineral colors are pretty evident.  |
855 _18Oct02-SW18_1053  |
865 _18Oct02-SW18_1213 Unexpected large arachnid steals the show.  |