Believe it or not, we almost didn't go down to the Bisti Badlands. It seemed like there were so many interesting things to do on the property (like horse-back riding and goat-milking!) that we didn't need to go! But we took our opportunity to get away from some of the younger members of Grandma's homesteading partners after a train-wreck of a game--Mexican train. (When it comes to games, I can tolerate people who take extra time on their turn in order to strategize, but I absolutely cannot stand it when people waste my time because they are not paying attention to when it is their turn!! /end rant) In any case, I'm glad we went, although if we'd gone a day or two earlier, we might've gotten some cloud cover, making for better photos.
Then, after we decided to go after all, we almost didn't make it!
I hadn't printed the directions from Mapquest, thinking I'd just use my phone. But when we went to pull up the directions on my phone, we had no cell service! "We'll check again when we get to Farmington. I should have a signal there and we have to stop for gas anyways." With that, we turned up the tunes and kept driving. The sign Welcome to Farmington greets us as we pull off La Plata highway. "Check it again." No signal. By this point, I'm not quite freaking out, but the pull of two different things to focus on (my phone signal and finding a gas station) were making an impact on my driving. Meanwhile, the road through Farmington is 45mph and I'm trying to focus on two things at once! We tried the Wal-Mart parking lot, but Wal-Mart does not offer free wi-fi. (Noted.) I was afraid to go too much farther into Farmington in case we were going the wrong way (which, if we had done so would've been all too correct). "Wait, did we just pass a McDonalds?" I asked. "Yeah I think so..." "McDonalds! They have free wi-fi! We're going there!!" I whipped a (mostly safe) U-turn and we pulled into the McDonalds parking lot. Blessed wi-fi! Never have I been more grateful. We mapped the directions and took a screenshot of it, so that we could access it without cell service; and it was a good thing too, because we didn't have any the whole trip! Crisis averted!
If you ever go, there is a cool little guestbook by the "map" (which looks like a map that you'd find in a national park or historical monument or something, but when you walk up to the board, there's nothing on it) where you can sign your name and the date and write where you're from! I flipped through some of the other pages and people from all over the country and the world have visited in the last three months! France, Belgium, and Switzerland were just a few that caught my eye.
You cannot imagine how vast these lands are. They sprawl across a New Mexican wasteland and the terrain is so interesting! There were three major areas to explore: one area on the other side of the gravel road, this one ^ and to the far north, a different area of red rock. You can kind of see it in the horizon of this picture ^. That little speck towards the bottom is Cameron bending down to pick up a rock. Not quite as vast as the Grand Canyon, but still pretty vast.
What I found most intriguing about these great black mounds was what they were made out of! In the photographs, they would appear hard, as if sculpted from rock. However, they are actually made out of dried mud! The mud crumbles underfoot (which probably means we shouldn't have been tromping all over them, but it's too late now).
Other parts of the Badlands were made out of hard rock, probably sculpted by a large body of water at one time or another. It was incredible to imagine this place underwater. What must it have looked like?
Although this canyon looks high and deep, it was actually only waist-high!
Same in this picture.
There were few signs of life except a lizard, and this bird's nest:
Plus a mysterious circle:
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| Cult maybe? Or just a visitor playing tricks? |
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