Capulin Volcano NM
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(12)Capulin Volcano National Monument
Capulin Volcano is a perfectly formed cinder cone volcano that rises on the Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field of Northeastern New Mexico, which contains about 120 volcanic formations total. Capulin is a young one in geologic time, “just yesterday” as the NPS brochure tells us, which is still 58,000 to 62,000 years ago. I’d say that’s a little before the time of Columbus. The monument was established in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson, and was chose because of it's almost perfectly symmetrical shape, which it retained because it’s eruption didn’t take place through the cone, but through a vent, or Boca, at the base of the mountain. Capulin Mountain rises over 1,300 feet from the plain around it to an elevation of 8182 feet, with a 415 foot deep cater at its middle. I could see the mountain from over ten miles away.
The sides of the mountain are covered in vegetation, giving the mountain dark green color, which was almost black this morning in the soft light of the early part of the day. The vegetation is a nice mixture, because of it being in a place where the grasses of the plains meet the forest of the mountains. The soil on the mountainside and its surrounding area is quite fertile since lichens and mosses have had plenty of time to break down the volcanic mater. Native American in the area used to visit Capulin for the product of two of the mountain’s tree species, pinyon pine and juniper. Pinyon Pine is a fragrant tree which produces a nut favored by Indians, and juniper berries have been used as a treatment for urinary tract infections by generations of Native Americans. Also prevalent on the mountainside are chokecherry trees, for which the Spanish word is Capulin, the mountains namesake. Other trees populate the monument, including Gambel Oak, Mountain Mahogany, and the colorfully named Skunkbush Sumac.
I startled the ranger who opened the visitor center door that morning. He was surprised because few people showed up so early, especially in May. I looked briefly around the visitor’s center, grabbed a brochure, and headed back to the car for the winding two mile drive on the circular road that wraps around the crater. The ranger had told me that a hike around the Rim Trail would be especially rewarding this clear morning, so after parking in the small lot near the top, I set off to walk around the rim.
The first stretch of the Rim Trail lets you know immediately that you are hiking in elevation. As I trudged upward, my lowland lungs screamed for air. I have to admit I was not in the best of shape and that combined with being over 8,000 feet above sea level left me out of breath and a little dizzy. I kept thinking to myself “What view could be worth this?” As soon as the trail leveled out, I found out the view was in fact worth the forced march. I could see for miles and miles, to Sierra Grande, the largest volcano in the field, 10 miles to the North, and to the Rocky Mountains, some 40 miles west, hazy yet foreboding in the bright early morning sunlight. A sign helped me pick out Black Mesa, the highest point in Oklahoma, located in the western part of the state known as the panhandle. The NPS guide had a map on one side showing where each of Capulin’s four lava flows had taken place and what area they covered. From this vantage point I could clearly make out each of these. I was surprised to find cactus around the top of the crater, which I came to learn later where known as opuntia cactus, small and round, clustered in groups.
I completed the rim trail finishing the complete circle around the crater with a nice down slope back to the parking lot. I briefly debated hiking the steep two-tenths of a mile hike into the crater. Despite the opportunity to say I walked into the crater of a volcano, I could not bring myself to venture down when I knew I would have to hike back up. As I was getting ready to leave, another car, the first besides me pulled into the parking lot. The pleasant couple wanted to know which trail I would recommend. I told them how much I had enjoyed the Rim Trail, but gave them fair warning as to the grueling nature of the beginning of the hike. They decided to do the Crater Trail.