This is what it feels like to hike on top of a volcano

Everything is the sun.

The sweet soaking rain that bathed the city last week must have stopped at the West Mesa escarpment. The prevailing colors are buff (the grasses), blue (the sky) and black (the hole-riddled chunks of basalt.)

Rocky paths circle the flanks of the volcanoes, climb to ridges. Calves burn. Feet seek stable purchase on the ever-changing terrain.

Red, gray and white pebbles surround an old quarry. I pull the brim of my hat to its rarely-used lowest setting.

The west wind blows, the only coolness to be found here. A crow rolls along buoyantly on it, cawing. We look down at small planes that lift off the runway at Double Eagle Airport and climb into the cloud bank.

A lizard’s yellow-and-white chevron stripes flash through the dry grass. He stops, does a few pushups, repeats and disappears under a bush.

A shade shelter we passed earlier looms before us on the return. All I can think about is how good it will feel to rest beneath it. But when we get there, the  benches are baking in full sun. We keep walking and find another shelter, this one in actual shade.

It’s cool under the portal, staring out at one of the cinder cones.

I think of walking along the tumbleweed-lined jeep road now that I’ve had a chance to cool down.

But when we emerge again into the sunlight, it’s clear the trail will end just as we’ve received the maximum amount of sun possible before it becomes too much.

P.S. It was partly cloudy today.

Hike length: 4 miles

Difficulty: moderate

Trail traffic: low to moderate

Wildlife spotted: crow, lizard, grasshoppers, dark-eyed juncos