I’ve been on the road a few days, and I have a good feeling about this Scamp. I’ve had no major mishaps, no losing my iPhone on the trail, no killer bee stings, no potentially dangerous Elvis-obsessives, no getting locked out of Sadie and crying in an Applebee’s parking lot, no need to turn around and head home for repairs.
Or maybe my standards for a “good” Scamp are now incredibly low because of all that! Ha ha!
First stop was Capulin Volcano National Monument. The park ranger at the visitor’s center warned me that a storm was rolling in, so I should unhitch (you can’t drive a trailer to the rim) and get up there. Which I did.
I was expecting a landscape similar to what I’d seen in Hawaii, but since Capulin is a long-inactive volcano, vegetation has taken over and the look was very different. But still beautiful.
It’s a steep climb to the top rim of the cinder cone, and clouds were rolling in, thunder booming in the background, and lightning in the distance. But I wasn’t deterred, despite the fact that I was effectively making myself a human lightning rod. (This resistance to deterrents may have something to do with previous mishaps, but I’ll leave that alone for now.)
An older man was hiking up the trail ahead of me, and after a particularly loud crack of thunder turned and said, “You know we’re both crazy, right?”
Yeah, I know, I said. We laughed, and kept going.
The Trail
One View from the Top
And Another
The upshot is I did not get struck by lightning, and if that’s not the definition of a good Scamp, I don’t know what is.
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Yes, good Scamp! Looks like a lovely spot, too.
Emilie Vardaman recently posted…Pieces of Lives
I climbed a volcano in El Salvador and got to about 100 yards from the crater but just couldn’t climb another step. I could see the steam in the air from the crater, and a few of the guys I climbed with actually went down into it. I wouldn’t ever climb another one with the possible exception of long extinct Cinder Cone at Lassen Volcanic N.P. I loved your photos and congratulate you for hangin’ in there.
Martha – I’ve never been to Lassen, but it’s on my list. Thanks for the kind words and virtual high five!
Emilie – More goodness on the way, since I’ve already seen three more national parks since Capulin!
Did you get caught out in the rain (free shower) or was it one of those situations where you got to see the beauty of the storm, all of it before the raindrops came in?
Manisha recently posted…Rodrigo y Gabriela
Manisha – Narrowly avoided the rain, though god knows I could probably have used the shower, ha.
Such a beautiful sky and dramatic light! Worth the risk.
Glad
You are having a safe trip.
Catherine – Agreed! And thank you.