Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness

We visited the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness in NW New Mexico, about 35 miles south of Farmington. There are three major areas with access. Two are accessible with <3 miles of dirt/gravel roads. The other, Valley of Dream, is a much longer dirt road drive. We opted for the two easier drive access points. 

The first area we visited departed from the main Bisti parking area. This area has many miles of interesting geology. There are no trails, you just roam around toward anything interesting. There are red hills, that look like crushed up brick. Turns out it is clinker - which is coal that burned at some point, perhaps in an underground coal seam fire. There are odd hoodoos scattered about, along with enormous petrified logs and trees. We had a perfect day - sunny and about 58ºF for a high temperature. We roamed around for a few hours and over 5 miles, and we just saw a sampling.

Paul & Elena in the Bisti Badlands

Rock window

Elena examines a large petrified log.

Petrified log (left) and Paul (right).

Bebop examines the cracked egg rocks.

Little wing with Bebop checking the rock behind it for lizards.

Bebop and Elena in the Bisti Badlands.

Then we drove up to the smaller North Bisti parking area and boondocked for the night. There was no one out there but us. It was completely silent and the stars and Milky Way were bright overhead. It dropped to 30ºF overnight, but we were comfy and warm in our camper van.

Our camper van in our boondock location.

The next morning we hiked a few miles and visited the wings. I think the wings are my favorite formation that I've seen so far. There are also some really cool formations in the Valley of Dreams, and perhaps I'll make it there someday.

Paul and Bebop next to one of the wings.

Delicate rock bridge

Rock wing looking like an alien spaceship.

Wings above  Bebop.

Large wing.

After the wings, we scrambled over to an area with many large hoodoos.

Nature's hoodoo architecture.

Paul's wing span under the hoodoo.

Bebop among the hoodoos.

Delicate hoodoo.

 

- Paul

Read More

Big Bend Big Blog

We started a 24-day fall tour on Nov 15th. 

 

Fall 2024 Trip Route

The first destination was Big Bend National Park. We broke the 600-mile drive into two days. At one of our stretch breaks, we stopped at a park in Early, TX. They had a really cool Sound Garden with a variety of items to make music with.

Sound Garden Park in Early, TX

The halfway stop was San Angelo State Park where we had a nice quiet campsite. We also got to view their bison herd from a distance.

Bison at San Angelo State Park

Day two took us into the park. Big Bend NP has three different campgrounds. On the east side is Rio Grande Village. On the west is Cottonwood. In the middle, and at a higher elevation, is the Chisos Basin.

We were in Rio Grande Village for the first two nights. Before going to our campsite, we headed straight for the hot spring and Rio Grande. The natural spring, which was a resort early last century, is now part of the park. It’s a perfect temperature - probably about 102ºF. The river water temperature was very mild as well - in the 80s. The air temperature was near 90ºF, so it was a great afternoon to be in the water. We spent about an hour soaking and swimming, then headed to our campsite in the Rio Grande Village. The nearly full moon rose over the mountains that evening.

Natural Hot Springs in Big Bend along the Rio Grande

Sunset on the Boquillas

The next day started cloudy with temperatures in the 60s. It stayed in the 70s for most of the day - very nice hiking weather. I hiked the nature trail next to our campsite up to the overlook to watch the sunrise - which was mostly behind the clouds. I watched several cows scale up the hills to eat cactus pads. Back at the campsite, a roadrunner stopped by for a visit. We took the short drive to the Boquillas Canyon Trail and hiked into the mouth of this sheer wall canyon.

Sunrise in Big Bend

Chisos Mountains in the distance

Cow eating Prickly Pear (the kind without spikes)

Roadrunner at our campsite

Boquillas Canyon

We hiked back up the nature trail at sunset for a nice view of the mountains to the east.

Another lovely sunset in Big Bend

The next morning, I hiked up the nature trail once again for a clear view of sunrise. It cooled off overnight, with temperatures in the 50s. We would have beautiful clear skies with cold nights and mild days for the rest of our Big Bend visit.

Sunrise hits the Chisos Mountains

Sunrise hits the Rio Grande

The next morning we drove up to the Chisos Basin. On our way out, we saw six different roadrunners along the highway. Then we saw a coyote near a pullout. When we slowed down, it began coming toward the van. We turned into the pullout, and it came up to the van and sat there like it was waiting for a handout. Bebop saw it and started barking, but it was not concerned. It definitely has developed some roadside begging skills.

A very wily coyote asking for food at a pullout

In the basin, we hiked to The Window. The Window is a drainage channel for the basin, and the periodic stream has carved many interesting rock features over the years. The wind was blowing so hard through the gap that if you slipped and fell off, it’s likely the wind would have pushed you back up on the ledge. We were the only people there. You could see for well over 100 miles thanks to the clear skies.

The hike down to The Window

The Window

Elena & Paul at The Window (where it was windy)

The next morning we hiked the Basin Loop trail, then hiked the Lost Mine Trail. Both were great hikes. We drove down to Cottonwood Campground near Santa Elena Canyon, with the obligatory stop at the Mule Ears viewpoint. It was a clear, calm night, which was excellent for stargazing.

Lost Nine trail (not lost mind!)

Mule Ears - who wore them best?

Dark skies - many stars

The overnight temperature dropped to 35 degrees F. The next morning started with a gang invasion of our campground. Nine collared peccary came grazing through next to our van. We headed up to the Tuff Canyon hike in the morning, then hiked into Santa Elena Canyon in the afternoon. It was a perfect day, with highs in the 70s.

Visit from some collard peccary

Tuff canyon

Santa Elena Canyon with Elena

After another crisp night, we drove out to the metropolis of Terlingua, TX.

- Paul

 

Read More

Summer Trip 2024 - Wrap Up

Once again, we used our Winnebago Travato camper van as a heat/humidity escape pod from DFW. Our plan was a 5-week route through NM and CO to escape some of the summer heat. We departed on Monday, July 8th and returned home on Saturday, August 10th. Obviously, we didn’t stay long enough, because it was still hot and humid on our return home - but at least we had a nice break.

Summer 2024 Trip Route

We threw in a mix of old favorite locations and some new places. I didn’t write very many blogs this time, but I did cover a couple of areas in detail (many photos on each post):
Jemez Mountains
Maroon Bells and Buckskin Pass Hike 

A few other favorite photos:

Molas Lake, CO

Ice Lake, CO

Beark Creek Falls

Cornet Creek Falls

Colorado National Monument

Rifle Falls

Hanging Lake

Independence Pass

Great Sand Dunes NP

Rio Grade at Del Norte Monument

We had no major issues on the trip. Elena, Bebop, and I travel well together, and it's a pleasure to spend time with them.

Here’s the data summary for our trip:
Days on the road: 34
Miles Driven: 2,961 miles
Average miles/day: 87
Time Driving: 70.5 hours
Avg Speed: 41 mph
MPG: 17.1 (vehicle calc); 16.3 (actual)
Gas Used: 175 gallons, average of 5.2 gallons/day
Gas Cost: $566 ($17/day) - avg of $3.23/gallon 

Updated data is posted here: https://enerjazz.com/travato/

- Paul

Read More