RED MOUNTAIN: VOLCANIC WONDERLAND

How would you like to walk-at groundlevel-into the very heart of a volcano? In Northern Arizona there is an extinct volcano into which you can enter and see before you the entire cone in sectioning which gives a graphic story of how the volcano was formed.

Situated on the peripheral portion of the San Francisco Mountains, Red Mountain is similar to several hundreds of other cinder cones in this volcanic field. Many of these cones are from 500 to 1,000 feet above the surface of the plateau, have the characteristic conical shape, and are usually covered with a growth of scrub trees.

From the southeast or northwest Red Mountain looks much like any of the many other cones in the region. The cone rises about 800 feet above the plateau to reach a height of about 7.750 feet above sea level. Juniper and piñon trees grow thickly over the surrounding area, and the larger Ponderosa pines grow near the summit.

When viewed from the northwest side, the unique character of Red Mountain becomes evident. Erosion has cut away the cone in such manner that its internal structure is clearly shown. The upper part of this funnelshaped sectioning is visible from a distance of several miles but becomes hidden to some extent, as the mountain is approached, by the two large cinder hills that lie on either side of the wash issuing from the central amphitheater.

The wash narrows into a gorge that leads to a gateway between towering black forms. Across this entrance there is a small dam, built by someone many years ago and now filled with silt. Climbing the dam and following the gorge a short distance farther leads one into the large funnelshaped amphitheater, the southwest wall of which rises almost vertically to the top of the mountain. The central amphitheater is a labyrinth of strangelyshaped erosion-forms through which narrow passageways wind to end in box canyons. On projecting spurs sharp pinnacle-like forms capped with angular lava blocks loom above the floor. The back wall is marked by great pits from which large masses of lava have weathered out. Weird and massive ribs, arches, and columns soar upwards for hundreds of feet. The numerous pillars are in various stages of development, some being just separated from the main mass of the mountain, and others standing isolated above their surroudings. The cap rocks responsible for the development of the spires are firmly in place on the tops of some, while others have lost the protection of these lava blocks and are slowly but surely melting away. Some of these once-lofty pinnacles have been reduced to mounds that in some areas look like a jumble of bee-hives.

If one enters the amphitheater quietly, he can sometimes observe one or more of the deer which frequent the mountain drifting ghost-like up the faint trails they have worn into the cinder slopes. Bats hang in many of the deeper caves and pock-marks, and hawks nest in some of the holes high on the face of the inaccessible cliff. Smaller animals scurry for cover at the approach of the visitor, and skeletons and other signs give evidence of use by coyotes.

The material of which the mountain is composed is a volcanic tuff of a coloring that shades off from yellowbrown and orange in the lower strata to quite brilliant reds near the top. Coloration varies considerably with the time of day and the quality of the sunlight. Imbedded in every visible part of the tuff and strewn along the bed of the wash are myriads of small crystals. These are mainly of two kinds-clear, glassy plagioclase feldspars, ranging up to one inch in diameter, and jetblack pyroxenes and hornblendes, which are somewhat smaller in size.

True volcanic bombs-indicating that molten lava must have risen well up into the crater-can also be found. Tremendous blocks and boulders of lava have fallen to the floor or hang suspended in narrow passageways between the formations. On the southwest side of the mountain there is a lava The flow which is exposed about 100 feet below the summit in several places. This compact lava is imbedded between scoriaceous zones. It is not too difficult to climb about halfway up Red Mountain, but climbing to the summit will test one's stamina-especially if one is foolish enough to carry a heavy view camera and equipment along with him! There are no trails, the footing is treacherous, and the angle of the slope increases with elevation until near the summit it must be 45 to 50 degrees. The summit is a narrow, crescentic ridge having along much of its length not more than twenty feet of level surface and sloping off steeply at the edges. At the time the photographs graphs were taken, there was absolutely nothing on the summit to indicate that any other human