Around Flagstaff - SUNSET CRATER VOLCANO NATIONAL MONUMENT

Born in a serise of eruptions 900 years ago,

Sunset Crater is still the youngest volcano on the Colorado Plateau.

Lava can be found in Lava Flow Trail.

Lava is sharp, brittle, unstable and ... not "handsome" at all :)

Black sands can also be found in this area.

Black sands are exactly like lava :
sharp, brittle, unstable and ... not handsome at all :)

Lichens, in a myriad of forms and colors,
are the result of a symbiotic association between algae and fungi.

Those you see on rocks here neon yellow and soft green,
may have befun forming not long after the lava cooled.

Life and landscape were transformed after the earth cracked open. Probably the branch of this tree shared the same fate - being transformed.

And ... may be more and more branches will be transformed in the future since ... there are still volcanoes around here ...