Nature's whimsy at Bisti Badlands...

I tried some new roads to get in to De-Na-Zin Wilderness, but despite, but all were fenced off.

So, I went to Bisti Badlands, where I found an entirely new field of sculptures in a different part of the park. The entire first part of this video swing is all of an area I hadn't reached yesterday.

 

That was a huge space to explore, and I spent four hours at it, until the heat built.

 

  After wandering for a while, I began to find myself seeing old friends in the stone. Nature hasher  bouts of whimsy, and after a bit of time in the Sun, here they came! Think of it as a Rorschach test, let your imagination free and see if you see what I did

 

Is that a drowsy sea lion up ahead, whom we have disturbed with our approach?

 

 

 

A cormorant watches a walrus scratch his back languidly on the rocks.

 

 

 

A huge Roman gladiator's size 24 sandal:

 

 

 

A Roman lady's more dainty sandal:

 

 

 

The King of the Cows:

 

 

 

The Queen of the Pigs with her tiara:

 

 

 

A graceful sea creature rising off the bottom:

 

 

A dinosaur parade?:

 

 

A hungry sea serpent?

 

 

 

And of course a great white shark on relentless patrol:

 

 

 

After this wonderful day of meeting new stone friends, I enjoyed the riot of color along the highway next to the Badlands:

 

 

 

Tomorrow is one of those days in which we pay for all the fun we've had. I'll persevere, and as always, 'There's no place like home'...

 

 

 

 

Bisti Badlands and De-Na-Zin Wilderness...

I'll bet you never knew there were such places! South of Farmington, New Mexico, they are oases of weird in an otherwise dull landscape.

I went to De-Na-Zin first. No road access. A gate to squeeze through, a dirt path, and 'yer on yer own.'

Being a stubborn wretch, I hiked in about three miles and realized I was nowhere near the good part. It would be a couple of more miles, and the heat was building.

Not wanting to end up face down in the dirt, I retreated with only a few glimpses of this extensive park:

 

There were scattered formations along the way, some of which were graceful and elegant:

 

 

While others only a mother could love...

 

 

So I took off to the nearby Bisti Badlands. Better luck there, as part of it is unfenced (I hate barbed wire on my skin), and a road runs through it.

 

Bisti has distinctive black, red and white sections. The most interestingly formed structures were in the white section:

 

 

The army of white gargoyles turn into distinctive groupings as we approach:

 

 

Wandering among the formations is fun. They remind me of Goblin Valley in Utah

http://www.divexprt.com/HDRphotography/Utah.html#Goblin and Fantasy Canyon up near Dinosaur National Park:  http://www.divexprt.com/HDRphotography/FantasyCanyon/FantasyCanyon.html

 

Nature has these fits of artistic fervor, lapsing into unhinged scupture...

 

 

She should keep her day job.

 

Oh, wait...

 

 

We even discover Captain Nemo's  Nautilus!

 

 

and a nice store with coffee tables:

 

 

 

OK. I'll stop--but not before showing you the red hills:

 

 

Going back in the early morning to wrap up in the better light. Have to get done, the radio says the monsoon is almost here!

 

The long drive home will take up much of Monday.

 

The end approacheth...

 

Finishing touches on Mesa Verde N.P....

I had missed a few places on my first day, so spent some time today making sure nothing important was missed. I do have 39 Gigabytes of imagery in which to wallow for the next few weeks, so what is here on my blog is a few quick grabs like an eagle swooping down from the sky to catch dinner...

I drove down Chapin Mesa to view the major settlement known as Spruce Tree House. It is very accessible, with asphalt walkways leading right down to the ruins from the visitor facility atop the canyon rim.

Unfortunately, the good news is the bad news, as the ruin is constantly filled with visitors. Those of us who work better amid peace and quiet have to really concentrate here.

 

This was also a fine day for Park Point, a turn-off easily missed as one enters the park. It leads to the best big views out over the park and the surrounding Colorado countryside. Fortunately, the clouds had not yet built up, and the views were colossal. I'll have some big panoramas in the web site galleries when they are done. This is just a single frame.

 

 

As a fitting hello or farewell, this huge bronze sculpture sits in a plaza in front of the Visitor Center at the entrance to the park.

 

The Anasazi struggling up to his kiva with what looks to be a load of firewood illustrates that life was no frolic for these farming/hunting tribes. The constant search for food, water and heat for the nights and long Winters were always pressing these tribes.

 

 

Farewell to Mesa Verde until I can lay out a spread on the web site.

 

Meanwhile, tomorrow a roll of the dice. It may be splendid or a waste, and I won't know 'til I get there.

Mesa Verde National Park and the Anasazi...

The story of the Anasazi spans hundreds of years, and as you can read on the park site, there is much archeologists still don't know after a century of study: http://www.nps.gov/meve/historyculture/people.htm

All I can do is offer a few scenes and hope to do more when I do my web site later. Here is the towering butte that greets you as you enter the park.

 

A number of the pit houses have been preserved atop the mesas from the agricultural eras. The houses would have been amid the cultivated fields. These holes were covered with slanted walls and roofs of sticks:

 

 

The final century the Anasazi spent at Mesa Verde before dispersing for unknown reasons to surrounding areas was the period of spectacular cliff house construction.

 

Amazingly, they built in alcoves high in sheer cliffs. For defense? One might suspect so, but nobody knows for sure.

 

The climbing skills and physical condition needed to reach these settlements are dizzying. There are at least four communities high in crevices in the cliffs seen here. 

 

 

 

Some of the larger settlements are very sophisticated. This is Balcony House as seen from Soda Canyon Overlook . A park ranger is explaining the settlement to visitors:

 

 

 

This smaller community is Square Tower House:

 

 

 

And here, a large group visits the Cliff Palace:

 

 

Much more to come!

The One-trick Pony...

A short day today, going up over the Lukachukais and on to Ship Rock and Farmington. Today is a short day, because tomorrow at Mesa Verde will be a long one.

Here we go into the colorful foothills of the Lukachukais:

 

There are many miles of these tremendous sandstone formations, the result of eons of erosion in an ancient sea floor. The sandstone freezes, thaws, cracks and crumbles into phantasmagoric shapes.

 

 

 

At the top, there is that reminder again of Ship Rock off to the East. Admittedly, it looks pretty big on the horizon, but much bigger as you get closer. It dominates the entire landscape around Farmington:

 

From Buffalo Summit, the drive to Ship Rock is a straight shot on Indian Route 13.

 

 

Without anyone in the picture to give some idea of the size, it's hard to appreciate just how huge Ship Rock is.  So, I used Vince's trick and scooted out into the image while the timer ticked:

 

 

There was not another human being at Ship Rock the entire time I was out there. And yes, it is a one-trick pony, but with a spectacular trick.

 

 One final, lingering look back at the towering spire, and it was time to drive on to Farmington.

 

 

 

Tomorrow, Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado!

 

Lukachukai and Chuska Mountains...

Please see yesterday's post for some enjoyable updates.

After yesterday's hiking, today called for the car to do the work. So, I went back Round Rock, passing some immense buttes on the way:

At Round Rock, I hung a sharp right and took Indian Route 12 toward the mountains. As the road entered the range, the formations were lit by strong sunlight;

 

Sometimes as with clouds, we see creatures in the stone. This was for me a crocodile: For the stone, it was a lot of stone...

 

 

At the summit, there was a vast view which included tomorrow's target--Ship Rock.

 

 

Think of it as the Navajo's Google Maps...

 

Returning through Round Rock, I couldn't help but revisit Los Gigantes in the proper light:

 

 

Everywhere you go here, the erosion of the ancient sea bottom has created art works of colossal scale.

 

 

On to Farmington, New Mexico and new wonders!

 

 

Angels come in many shapes and sizes...

I'm beginning to believe in miracles. I crossed fifteen miles of dirt road to the hogan where my new Navajo friend Vince lives during one of his seasons..

He and I piled in my car and drove down a number of dirt roads that finally led to a wire fence, where we parked. Gathering gear and water, we took off on the long hike to Los Gigantes Arch. Only after we had hiked around a big butte did I see the distant arch. Oh, boy. It was a long way, and it was hot and dry out there.

 

While I was taking a shot on a delayed timer, the camera fell off the lousy lightweight tripod I use on hikes and took Vince's picture as it fell.

 

 

When we had reached the base of the arches butte, the final section was a very steep scree with no path--just climb up the loose dirt and stones.

 

 

 

 Even I realized that it was a definite health risk for me to climb that final cliff at this altitude:

 

 

As I contemplated expiring on the slope, Vince said, "I've been watching you with the camera. Let me take it and get your pictures."

 

I hesitated. Three things could happen, and two of them were bad.

 

In the end, we did one last review of how to use my camera. Vince began climbing and I began praying.

 

Here's how the quickest student I ever had did:

 

 

Every shot he took came out perfect. He even knew I wanted him in a picture to show the arch's size, so he set the timer and ran out to be in the picture!

 

 

When he returned he told me that as a teen and young adult he had hunted out here, scrambling up hills like these easily. Then he admitted that it was a lot harder now.

 

We made the long trek back to the car. It is on the other side of that distant butte in the center of the picture.

 

 

My parting remark to my sheepherder friend Vince who has no Internet access in his life was, "I built an entire business just by finding men like you all over the world."

 

As I drove out through the buttes, I understood why the Navajo Code Talkers were heroes of World War II.

 

 

Vince called this morning to ask how his pictures came about. I awarded him a battlefield promotion to Professional Photographer. With oak leaf cluster.

 

Then he said, "Did you see that I shot a jetliner up in the sky through the arch?"

 

Sure enough. It's faint, but he got it dead center.

 

 

 

And now for the Lukachukai Mountains!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driving Indian Route 12...

After yesterday, this was a day to avoid exertion.

I drove from Window Rock North on Indian Route 12, eventual destination a soothing lake with scattered campers and fishermen on the shore. A beautiful place to listen to music, read or just relax.

 

Along the drive going up to Wheat Field Lake I had noticed dozens of sandstone formations. The morning light was behind them, so I made a trip back in mid-afternoon. I have lots of panoramas to process, but I'm too wiped out to do a decent job on them.

 

Here are a couple of samples, this one on a curve in the road. It will be the left of a panel of three that I'll merge:

 

 

Here's the Great Eye of Sauron:

 

 

I think the Balrog is the one on the left.

 

That's it for today, a very successful haul. By the by, while I was taking that picture on the curve, the little Red Wagon with the flashing lights came screaming by.

 

Makes one think...