Bisti Wilderness, Part 2 (Hunter Wash)

                                                                  Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit,

                                                                  and as vital to our lives as water and good bread.  A civilization

                                                                  which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original,

                                                                  is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of

                                                                  civilization itself.

                                                                                                       -- Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

This is Part 2 of a two-part post.  Part 1 was posted on February 7.

The two most accessible areas at the western end of the Bisti Wilderness are the Alamo Wash and the Hunter Wash.

Hunter Wash is the less-visited area, in part because its access road is not well-marked, and in part because its formations are not as weird and accessible as those in the Alamo Wash area.

In addition, the topography of the Hunter Wash area is different from that of Alamo Wash.  Whereas the features in Alamo wash are relatively small, uncluttered, and primarily at ground level, most features in Hunter Wash are large, high, and surrounded by debris . . .

Of course Hunter Wash has its hoodoos, but compared to those in the Alamo Wash, they are bigger . . .

taller . . .

higher above ground level . . .

and in some cases, simply gigantic:

One of the iconic hoodoos of the Hunter Wash area is called "Wings" -- indeed, there are many hoodoos in the Bisti so named.  We visited the Hunter Wash area specifically to find and photograph this amazing hoodoo, which National Georgraphic used to represent Bisti in its "Best Trips of 2019" promotion - click here to see it (#13 on the list).

It's deep into Hunter Wash, and perched with a couple of other, similar hoodoos on top of a 40-foot high hill:

Having reached our goal, we headed back to the car, encountering more hoodoos and weird formations along the way.

. . . including more petrified wood . . .

and some lonely limestone caps waiting for their hoodoo columns to emerge beneath them . . .

Finally, as we returned to the car, we noticed some clever person had created their own rock formation:

If you would like to see these images and more in a larger format, please visit my photography website, Todos Juntos Photography, by clicking here.

Enjoy!