2016 Mtns & Mesas with covers

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you miss the fork, don’t worry, follow the loop and
merge going left, then stay on the right branch, turn
right, and follow the road back out to Highway 160.
Table top mountains...what’s the deal?
Another trip option is to start out in Trinidad.
Visit the Louden-Henritze Museum, located at 600
Prospect Sreet within Trinidad State Junior College.
Admission is free, so take the chance to head in and
learn about the history of the area from the dinosaurs
through the paleolithic people of the area. From
Trinidad, drive south along I-25 to head past Fisher’s
Peak and over Raton Pass.
Fisher’s Peak is part of Raton Mesa, a broad
overarching group of mesas in the area. Their formation
is credited to more igneous activity in the region
from about the same time period as the
mountains and buttes a bit further north. As mountain
ranges lifted up, the Rio Grande Rift began tearing
a hole in the continent to the west (the rift has
since healed and is known as the San Luis Valley).
Not all of the magma was trapped below the surface
however, and some of it reached the top to spill out
over the landscape. It cooled into hard basalt, resting
in patches on top of softer rock below. Over time, the
areas not capped by basalt eroded down, but the
basalt protected the underlying rock and kept it
standing up taller above the valleys below. You can
see the flat tops protecting the towers beneath as you
drive through the pass and look out south across the
landscape.
Mountains & Mesas
Everything is dead (almost)
Once you’re in Raton, you’re in a prime position
to see one of the most dramatic events in world history:
The K-T mass extinction. Sixty-five million
years ago, more than three quarters of all life on earth
died. This was the end of the dinosaurs, and the
event marks the boundary between the Tertiary and
Cretaceous time periods. To witness it for yourself,
head west on Moulton Avenue in Raton , then turn
left onto Hill Street. Drive up to the intersection, then
turn right onto the scenic highway. Follow that to the
KT Boundary Trail parking lot, then follow signs for
a short hike to the boundary. For such a huge event,
the boundary can be hard to see: a thin layer of Iridium
is all there is to mark it. There are signs in the
area telling you where to look. Head back to the
parking lot, turn left, and follow the scenic highway
past the Hill Street turn off to the top of Goat Hill for
some spectacular views of the region.
Into a volcano
For more igneous activity, start heading south
out of Raton. Turn left onto US-64/Clayton Road
and follow that road for about 28 miles. Turn left onto
NM-325 N and follow that road for another 3 miles of
so, and follow signs for Capulin Volcano National
Monument. The cinder cone volcano has been dormant
for the last 60,000 years or so, which means driving
to the top and hiking around and into the crater
is totally safe. From the top, on a clear day, you can
see four or five different states, including New Mex-
The distinctive flat top to Fisher’s Peak,
which looms over Trinidad.