Tuesday, October 28, 2008

27 Oct – Holbrook




Last night there was a dust storm and boy did the wind come up. In the morning everything was covered in a film of brown dust. The ride to Carrizozo was cold despite it being sunny and it got colder as the elevation increased. A few miles later and just before you get to Socorro there is a marker indicating that nearby is the Trinity site where the first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945. The road leading to the test site has a locked barrier as it enters the missile range so I could go no further. There is nothing much to see anyway but it would have been a good photo opportunity. The site is open to the public twice a year.
More dead stuff on the roads in the last few days so I can add further species to the road kill list – fox (2), Coyote (1) and snake (1).
Except for a couple of mountain ranges in the far distance the area is largely flat and certainly no volcano's. Which makes the presence of a large magma field all the more curious. The stuff apparently just oozed out of the ground – they use the Hawaiian name of Pahoehoe to describe the type of magma. I was amused at an American couple trying to pronounce Pahoehoe. The rest of the ride to Holbrook was largely without interest, though some of the minor 'towns' were pretty much on their last legs.

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