Sacred Places: El Malpais

Edge of Crater, El Malpais, April 2013, (c) Nancy Charak photograph

I have an affection for plants that anchor themselves into seemingly hostile environments. Here's this little guy who has decided, "Okay, I'm going to put down roots and try to earn a living here." This is the edge of a volcanic crater in El Malpais, which translates from Spanish to "the bad country." This crater last erupted 3,000 years ago, which in geologic time is just a split second ago.

Sacred Places: El Malpais

Vicinity El Malpais, April 2013, (c) Nancy Charak photograph

It shouldn't take a linguist to decipher what El Malpais means, the badlands.