City of Rocks, Old Hachita, Aden Crater (Dormant Volcano) - February 2008

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Old Hachita ghost town. One lone ruin. There are many ruins in the area though. One of the most extensive ghost towns I've seen in New Mexico.

One of many mines throughout the area.

Main part of town.

Some nice tile at some of the dwellings.

I found Aden Crater, a dormant volcano. There are lava fields to the north where the lava flowed an estimated 80,000 years ago. The skeleton of a giant (Shasta) ground sloth, complete with some skin, hair and even some muscle tissue, was found in one of the lava tunnels in the crater. It fell into the lava tube approximately 11,000 years ago during the last ice age. It's currently in the Smithsonian. It was very windy that day so I couldn't explore much. I'll definitely devote some time to exploring it as soon as I can.

The road leads to the western side of the crater. This, looking from that rim to the northeastern side, where the tubes are supposed to be.

Shot of the crater from the road.