Vacation 9: Bandera Volcano and Ice Cave

For today we had planned a longer drive to get further south. However, on the way we wanted to stop at two sites: El Malpais National Monument with the Bandera Volcano and Ice Cave, and El Morro National Monument with petroglyphs. The Bandera Volcano and Ice Cave are privately run, which means it costs extra entry fees. There is a short trail to the volcano, and then another one to the ice cave...

Neil said I have an obsession with dead trees.
Oh well, they just photograph well ;-)

The Bandera Crater

Nice camouflage

and the (unimpressive) ice cave

The ice was actually quite dirty, and the cave was small... Nothing to write home about. The only impressive part was the temperature: Despite hot air outside (must have been in the mid to high 30s), the open cave keeps a temperature that allows the water to stay frozen. Early settlers used the cave to carve ice for cooling food and drinks...