Around the first part of October, the Albuquerque area got quite a bit of rain storms. Since the weather had cooled off from those storms, I decided to go check out the Ojito Wilderness northwest of Albuquerque. This area is just too hot during the summer months.
On the day I went, it was still very overcast. Thankfully I had my Jeep, because most of the roads were still very muddy and required 4WD. Because of all the rain we’d had, the rocks had been saturated and their colors were very vibrant. I enjoyed hiking and exploring all the rock formations.
I thought you might like to see some of the photos I took during that hike.
The colors of the Ojito Wilderness are so beautiful.
Unicorn Horn Formation
This formation was HUGE
All the wind formed shapes are so wonderful
Scarlett enjoyed exploring that day
The white rock formation in the distance is so unique
I have often thought about joining a WordPress photo challenge, but most I’ve seen seemed to take more time than I was willing to give or covered categories that didn’t interest me. But recently I became aware of one that was a 52-week challenge. That seems more doable!
The first week’s challenge is entitled “New Beginnings”. Of course the first thing that comes to mind is a sunrise or a flower bud. But for me it means a new beginning for myself. I’ve made a new year’s resolution to exercise more this year. While I have always enjoyed getting out and doing short hikes for birding and exploring, I know I could do better by exercising more often during the week.
So my photo for this week represents my new beginning of getting out hiking more often every week.
My view of the White Mesa Trail in the Ojito Wilderness near Albuquerque, New Mexico
Revision: I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before I posted. But Scarlett does everything with me. So why not have her included in this challenge. So here’s Scarlett’s photo for Week 1. 🙂
I took advantage of a beautiful winter day last Friday and hiked one of my favorite trails about an hour outside of Albuquerque, NM. It’s called Hoodoo Pines because its one of the lowest elevations in New Mexico where natural growing Ponderosa Pines are located. Hoodoo is the name of a type of rock formation. The trail is located in the Ojito (pronounced OH-HEE-TOW) Wilderness, which means “little spring” in Spanish.
Not many people know about the Ojito Wilderness. It’s a very unique and beautiful place. The best time to hike it is in the winter. The summer temperatures there can get over 100 degree F.
Scarlett had been needing a good long hike to let out some of that built up puppy energy. We hiked for 4 hours that day.
The trail isn’t easy to find I think because it’s not hiked often. About a half-mile into the hike you start seeing some of the formations and Ponderosa Pines.
One of my favorite locations on this hike is an area that has sandstone pillars that look painted. They used to be bigger and more pointy but all the rain over the last year has eroded these fragile formations.
Me and Scarlett
A very determined Ponderosa Pine
About 3/4 of a mile into the hike you come to an area that looks like a moonscape.
I got a great photo of Scarlett in this area.
Then around the corner from here you get to see the main attraction of the hike. Beautiful Ponderosa Pines among the unique hoodoos (rock formations that are a pillar with a capstone).
The trail goes much further but I decided to turn around and visit some of the other areas of the Ojito Wilderness. My next stop was White Mesa. It’s a huge bowl formation that I swear is several stories deep. The colors of the soil make for a stunning view.
The day was still young so I decided to go to one more location. It has white formations that are made of gypsum.
On the way there I took a few photos of the other areas along the road.
I only more recently discovered the white formations. They are very pretty in certain lighting.
I found one hole I made Scarlett crawl into and look out at me 🙂
She’s getting better at cooperating with my odd requests. Lol! She’s a good girl!
