Off the Grid - Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness New Mexico

Today was one day I have been looking forward with nervous anticipation.  I had discovered this Wilderness area while doing internet searching for our trip.  The hike I wanted to take was at least two miles one way through an area with no marked trails.  We were able to get a brochure at Aztec Monument yesterday.  The ranger there told us that the parking lot is at the west end of Bisti and that if we kept the sun in front of us, we would be able to find our way back to the car.  That reassured me a little bit.  This would be the longest hike we would have taken.

We decided that we needed a good breakfast before we hiked four miles.  We got a good breakfast at this restaurant.

Here we go out into the wilderness.  Fortunately, it had rained a couple of days ago and we could see footprints of previous hikers.

This area is made up of several "washes" between high mesas and rock formations in the canyons. These pictures show the type of terrain in which we were hiking.  Thankfully, most of the time, it was flat.

We saw several interesting rock formations.

This is not Carol on top but he and I did do some climbing in the canyons.  Sometimes you had to climb up high to see what was on the other side.  This guy was looking for a formation called "the camel."  We never did see it but didn't care because we had seen "kissing camels" in the Garden of the Gods.

We were specifically looking for a rock formation called "cracked eggs."   These were boulders that looked like eggs that had been cracked open.  

There were other people walking in the canyons and washes which was a comfort to me to know we weren't alone in the wilderness.

After about an hour and a half of walking, we decided that to turn back.  We ran into a photographer and he told us that the "eggs" where back where we had just come from only a little bit farther. Even though we were tired, we decided to give it one more look so we turned around walking back to where we had been.

We are so glad we backtracked because we found an area known as "stone wings."  We would never have seen this area had we not kept on hiking.  It was a neat place and we enjoyed walking among the "wings" and taking pictures.

We decided that the "wings" area would be just as good as seeing the "eggs" so we turned back to find the parking lot and our car.

We think we may have hiked four or five miles.  I know that we were in the Wilderness area for three hours.  By the time we got back to the car, we were both tired but it was a good tired.

Above and below:  a final couple of pictures from the parking lot.  If we were ever back in this area, I would like to return to Bisti for more hiking and this time, find those "eggs!"  The hike was long but over mostly flat terrain.  

The only negative to visiting Bisti is the road into the place is gravel, but it was worth the drive.

This is Route 371.  We took it south to Bisti and we will be taking it tomorrow morning heading south to Albuquerque.  Despite the rough roads that we traveled these last two days, it was worth seeing what we did.  Carol is chomping at the bits to get the car washed.  It is very dusty from the roads we have been on.  I am sure one of the first things he does after we get set up in Albuquerque is to find a car wash.  It was cool all day.  We wore our jackets even as we hiked and felt comfortable.  We have enjoyed the  cooler temperatures.  We just don't want it to get any colder!