YOLO folks visited the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, aka the Bisti Badlands
on the recommendation of family in Farmington. My neice and nephew, Megan and Brian, live there with their families and told us of this relatively unknown attraction, just 35 miles south of town. The family gathering after a big pizza dinner.
The area looked pretty barren as we drove to the site, which is managed by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management).
At a junction of dirt roads, this white stuff covered the mushy wet ground. It's not snow. More like alkali or salt that is wicked out of the soil or dries above the ground. Strange.
The landscape starts to take on different colors and textures.
This topo map of the Bisti Badlands was our primary guide. It was posted on the internet but there are no signs or guide posts out on the land. There are no services at all available, so we had to pack in food and water as we expected to hike for several hours to see these amazing rock formations.
After signing the BLM register on site, Jason heads off towards where we think we'll find the 'Hoodoo Gardens' and the 'Cracked Eggs'.
We started to see weird rock formations in the wash pretty quickly.
The rock colors were segregated. Red and white didn't mix to be pink; they stayed separate layers.
The harder rock on the top (usually the lighter color), remained while the lower rock and soil was eroded away, leaving unusual pillars of unusual shapes. The upper one on the left reminds me of a turtle.
This one looks like a shark as seen from below.
I wonder if these darker globs of rock are actually coprolites, aka dinosaur poop. They were rounded and darker than anything around, and usually stood out on their own.
This layer of different rock sported a covering of yellow crystals. Another anomoly.
Jason wandering among the loose rocks.
You can see the orange hills in the distance, where the stuff we're walking on is creamy white to yellow to grey. The sun washed out most of the color in these photos from my phone.
Odd how a slab of rock can balance sticking out like that.
A hodge podge of shapes and sizes and positions.
Jason trying to find a path through the boulders.
If you get up too high, it may be difficult to find your way back down to the floor of the canyons or wash.
How many more years will this slab balance on this spire of soft rock?
A different view from on high.
Don't take that next step, Jason! The crumbly, soft earth or rock under the top layer is not to be trusted to be stable enough to walk on.
Some pieces of petrified wood that are weathering out in the open.
The chips and splinters of petrified wood surround the old trunk.
A remnant of an old petrified log sticks out of this mound of rock.
Jason can't move this big chunk of petrified wood.
We see a hoodoo garden before us below.
We had to climb down a small cliff to avoid having to backtrack to where we could get back down to the dry wash. Slippery, loose, crumbly rock on a steep slope was a danger and we had to be very careful. Nobody out here to rescue you.
Some big formations in the distance. Other places call these formations 'tent rocks'.
The bands of different colors are evident here. The bright sun washed out much of the color from these phone photos, but the place was gorgeous!
This looks like a giant toad or lizard to me. Perhaps a gargoyle.
'Hoodoos' is the name given to these unusual structures with the hard tops and the eroded pillars of earth/rock beneath them.
These stand alone rocks display almost magical balancing powers.
Some of these look like the tops have fallen and are just spikes now. They'll erode quickly in the future.
These fabulous formations are all along this dry river wash. Tributaries form little canyons that just beckon for discovery
This rock displays the layered look.
Another layered rock nearby. You can see how easily it flakes off and falls to become dirt around it.
A whole row of hoodoos perched on the top of a long gully.
This tunnel under the rock looked inviting, but the rock is really nothing more than compressed dirt/clay that could so easily collapse that we didn't dare stick our bodies under it.
Around one side, Jason found a firmer footing to climb up to determine which direction we should go next.
A Karen selfie at Bisti (prounounced Bist-Eye).
Has anyone see the Flying Nun lately? Did she turn to stone?
Each new valley presented a new set of hoodoos to admire.
You can see how the water rushed in on the right and washed out the soil in a curve to the left. I think I could easily have stomped the tunnel into just another pile of dirt. Just looked so delicate and crumbly.
Some nice big plates of rock on top of some hoodoos-in-the-making,
The different colored layer here really stood out and represents different sediments being laid down by the water eons ago.
This thin white line is actually a skinny tree that was petrified thousands of years ago.
After a couple of hours of walking and climbing, Jason hiked to the top of the rise to see what was beyond and the best way to proceed.
Another dark blob of ??? Just sitting on the softer sandy soil below it. I still think it might be a dinosaur turd.
A view overlooking the wash, with more orange hills in the distance.
Jason heading down into the valley to see more hoodoos. The dark rocks scattered in the foreground are probably chips of what was once a petrified tree. It has weathered and the little chips are all that is left of it.
Some really unusual shapes and colorings make us believe we are nearing the 'Cracked Eggs'.
Another balancing slab on the softer rock below.
An unusual splash of color in this red rock, laying on the lighter rock/sand/dirt/mud all around. It too could be the remains of petrified wood that has weathered.
The orange/rust color on the top of the hill represets a different layer that has now deteriorated. We thought the rock in the foreground looked like a seal.
The spiky hoodoos in the distance remind me of elkhorn coral.
The various rock formations just never seem to end. We walked miles.
Looking across the wash to another set of hills and hoodoos.
Spectacles in rock along this valley.
These rocks weathered in really bizzarre ways, giving them variegated colors and layers. I don't know if they are rock or petrified wood chunks?
Many of the hoodoos were made up of the light colored rock. Even if the rock was the same color, it could be of different hardness and could form the layers needed to become hoodoos.
You can see the hard layer of rock that was above these hoodoos.
And off in the distance is the prize we seek--the Cracked Egg formations! If you Google these, there are some great photos of them that do far better justice than my Android phone.
This was the first one I encountered. It looked like a giant shell fossil at first glance.
The wiggly layers and the changing colors make these rocks really different!
They almost look like flowers caught in rock. There were dozens of these unusual rocks sitting in the middle of the wash.
Such a bizzarre shape and color! They look like alien pods of some sort.
Layers reveal themselves in a totally different way in these rocks.
Strange shapes and coloring make these formations worth the long hike to find them. I just hope they don't get destroyed before folks get a chance to appreciate them.
This unique bed of rocks was the highlight of our hike in the Bisti Badlands.
I don't even begin to be able to explain these oddities.
Fascinating shapes have been eroded into these fabulous rocks.
These 'cracked eggs' could easily inspire some science fiction stories.
Most of the 'eggs' were scattered in one area of the wash. Very strange.
The strange swirly colorations make these rocks extra special.
This one truly looks like it cracked open.
Such strange erosion patterns here.
How did these funky things get her like this?
Each one is sodifferent.
I can't imagine the devestation if people aren't careful when coming out to view these oddities.
Hoodoos are found in several places in the southwest, but nobody else seems to have these types of formations for the public to just wander around in.
Sweeps and swirls are common and noticeable in these.
The outer layer of rock here looks like the outer petal of a flower.
The designs of the different layers revealed by different erosion patterns is interesting.
One of my favorites, with banded color like the elusive agates I seek.
Nothing about these is worn evenly.
More great coloration that the phone camera just doesn't do justice.
Even their spacing is odd.
Another couple of hikers found the site about the same time as we did. It's a destination highlight here.
A turtle's helmet shell? Such strange shapes for rocks.
It's hard to get the entire field of 'Cracked Eggs' in one shot.
Another one up fairly close.
The sides of the valley in the distace.
Another cracked egg rock formation.
Dips and divots in the rock give them all unique textures.
The dark swirls or layers give this one special beauty.
The gathering.....
Almost a bull's eye.
Lots of color and contrast in this one.
Jason admiring the field of 'Cracked Eggs' at Bisti.
My favorite. So much variation in the design.
Mother Nature's art in rock.
Looks like it is emerging from the sandy wash.
Quite the collection, eh?
Jason blowing into a 'bottle'. Such unusual shapes got even him excited.
These almost remind me of bota bags, the goatskin wine holders.
Just wandering around in this cluster of rocks was special.
What an amazing site!
These layers are really eroding at different rates.
Eerie formations from Mother Nature.
Ripples and bends in the rock...cool.
More hoodoos at Bisti.
More chunks of wood turned to rock.
You can still see the structure of the cross-section of this petrified wood.
Some tops are rounded, some are flat, but all are strange and wonderful.
This one reminds me of a Mexican straw hat.
These sort of look like pancakes in the desert.
Sometimes, the top of the hoodoo is a chunk of petrified wood, not just other rock layers. Jason looks at this hoodoo pillar protected by the rock wood.
The colorful lichen that grow on this rock may be the same as the ones that grow on wood???
Whether the cap is petrified wood or just harder rock, these hoodoos look alien, like a long-necked creature.
The balanced slab is staying put so far as the rock under it erodes to create a bridge/arch.
Jason still can't move the chunks of petrified wood. It's sometimes hard to believe they are now rock, not wood.
This entire tree is petrified and protecting the ground below it. It's breaking into chunks and wearing over time.
A view of the petrified log in a valley of hoodoos.
We felt pretty special to be able to see these wonders of nature up close and personal.
A grouping of grey hoodoos stands out in the wash.
Jason out amongst the hoodoos at Bisti.
This formation reminds me of giant teeth.
A flat version of the cracked eggs style of rock. Different layers and colors and swirls. Does that make this 'Scrambled Eggs'?
It was a long trudge back along the wash to where we'd parked the van hours earlier, but the wash made for a flat path that was much easier than climbing through the valleys and around the hoodoos. It was a very special day in this special place!
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