Glamping in Carrizozo!

While riding at White Sands and Fort Stanton this weekend, we stayed at my friend's vacation home in Carrizozo. It was the perfect base camp for us to set up our horse corrals and do day rides, yet come back for dinner, a shower and a comfy sleep in real beds. We called it glamping, although there really wasn't any camping or roughing it going on at all.

The views from the back porch were stunning.

My friend's ranchette vacation home and barn. Very nice digs!

My rig parked beside the barn.

Judith and I brought our own corral panels and set them up attached to the main corral. Our three horses were very comfortable and content.

In this photo you can see Apache looking out towards something...that was the train about a mile away. Every morning and evening the train choo chooed it's way past the ranchette. All three horses watched and listened in curiosity.

All our rigs parked in front of the barn.

The humble vacation home. I took no photos inside because I just never even thought about it. We spent a lot of time relaxing, drinking and eating. It was very cozy and warm.

The barn...perfect set-up for my friend's two horses when she uses the ranchette as her vacation home.

We're already planning several trips down here to stay this summer. Can't wait!

Life is Good!

Bisti Badlands Day Two

One our second day camping and riding at Bisti Badlands, we woke up after a very cold night, and fed our horses then prepared our own breakfast.



It was surprising the extreme temperature differences between daytime and night time.
The day before, temps were in the 80's but by the time we crawled into our beds inside our horse trailers, the temps had dropped into the 20's!
And by the time we finished breakfast, we were peeling off warm layers, and I put on a t-shirt.

Loving on my one eye wonder horse!



Apache and I standing beside the Bisti Badlands Wilderness trail head sign.

We planned to saddle up and ride for a couple hours, then load up and drive home.

Apache didn't like this poorly designed equestrian entrance/exit gate. It is a very narrow box, with double high step-over rails, that were as high as Apache's knees. She literally had to slide her knees over the top of the rails.

And the gate made it impossible to open and close from horseback because of the chute-design. There were also a couple of low horizontal rails that were dangerous because they stuck out away from the vertical posts and threatened to grab lead ropes and reins. And you probably can't see them, but there is a bunch of thin wire criss-crossed under and all around the gate to keep the rails and posts secure, but they could easily get a horse's feet tangled up if a horse panicked inside this chute design.

Apache and I have ridden over and through and across many different equestrian gates and this was the worst designed one we have ever seen.

But after we led our horses through the gate, we mosied around the Bisti Bandlands looking for interesting formations.

On this day, Judith and I were on our own and it was very nice and laid back compared to the day before.

Cathy had invited several friends to ride with us and one of them had a hot-blooded exciteable gelding that couldn't manage walking. His rider had to direct his horse in constant circles, both large and small. This horse was literally running around our group and was soaked in sweat. The horse's high energy made all of our horses nervous and even Cathy's horse started bucking at one point.

But on this second day, it was just the two of us riding the Bisti, and we enjoyed the calm, quiet and relaxation.

 

Apache and I posing between two sandstone mounds.

We discovered many stunning rock formations and hoodoos.

And we both took turns leading and exploring the many small canyons.

The terrain is basically flat, so it's a very easy place to ride, which is a good thing, because you can focus on looking at all the amazing rock formations instead of worrying about steep areas to negotiate.

Looks like another planet!

Judith said this would make a great horse table. Bucket was waiting for treats to appear.

Bisti Badlands Selfie!

Bisti Badlands Between the Ears

There are also small hills to ride up to explore other areas. But only if you want to.

Judith and I did a little climbing.

Which made for some awesome photos!

Riding on Planet Mars

The color contrast between the black hills and white hoodoos was interesting.

Bad Ass Bisti Badlands!

Judith and I had a great time exploring and our horses seemed to enjoy our relaxed pace on this day.

But after a couple hours we headed back to our horse trailers so we could drive home and not get home too late.

We made it back to the trail head arout lunch time and noticed that the main parking area was packed full of vehicles! It's a good thing there is another parking area for overflow and horse trailers just north of the main parking lot.

What a fantastic experience we had at Bisti Badlands! And I marked off another Bucket List Ride!



Life is Good!!

Bisti Badlands Ride Day One

For a few years now, my horse friend, Cathy had been inviting me to come out to the Bisti Badlands to ride with her. She only lives an hour north of the Bisti and rides there several times a year, so she's very familiar with the terrain, scenery and most interesting things to see.
I had had Bisti Badlands Wilderness on my Bucket List for a few years, so, on an adventurous whim, I decided to finally take her up on that offer the day after Thanksgiving!

Cathy and I in the Bisti Badlands. We're both sporting our HellHats, too.

Since I was planning to camp overnight, because it's a 3 hour drive to get to Bisti from my house, and I preferred not to camp alone, I invited my fellow horse friend and adventurer, Judith.

Me and Judith at Bisti Badlands Wilderness.

Bisti Badlands Wilderness has no trails. It's the kind of place that brings out the explorer in you. There is always something amazing, incredible and breath-taking to see around every corner. The rock shapes and hoodoos are fascinating, and there are photo opportunities galore!

Apache my One  Eye Wonder Horse looking gorgeous surrounded by a jumble of interesting boulders.

I met up with Judith just west of Albuquerque and we convoyed out to the Bisti Badlands together. As soon as we arrived at Bisti Badlands, Cathy and a few of her friends were waiting for us, so we quickly saddled up and headed out onto the wilderness lands.

Fascinating black cinders coat a small canyon's rock walls.

The scenery looks like Mars!

As everyone who knows me knows, I love to take photos and I take literally hundreds from the back of my very patient mare. But I rarely have photos taken of Apache and I unless I ask someone, because most people don't have horses they trust enough to take photos while in motion, nor are they very good photographers on a moving horse.

But lucky for me, my buddy Judith enjoys taking photos and is a great photographer. She uses a cell phone, but it takes great photos and she sets her settings to the highest possible, so her photos can even be printed.

Apache and I riding on the planet Mars. 

And I, of course, took a ton of photos, too!

Cathy and her mare beside some rock sculptures.

As you ride deeper into the Bisti, many small canyons veer off from the main wash and you start getting glimpses of white hoodoos, begging you to ride in and explore.

Apache and I standing next to some small hoodoos.

There are hundreds of tiny hoodoos, that resemble mushroom gardens.  

And before long you start seeing taller hoodoos that provide amazing photo opportunities.

Apache and I surrounded by hoodoos of all sizes.

Between the Ears Hoodoos

When you are a few miles into the Bisti Badlands, you also start seeing petrified wood, like this huge petrified log behind Apache and I in the photo below.

Petrified wood is fascinating to think about how it became petrified and ended up in the positions you find them in. And the petrified wood has an interesting smooth compressed texture.

The petrified wood was so fascinating, I made Apache get as close as we could to check it out.

We found more petrified wood as we continued to ride and explore.

This petrified wood was perched on a pedestal.

Judith and Bucket and me and Apache.

Between the Ears Petrified Wood

There was even petrified wood on the ground.

So, it's important to always keep your eyes searching around for interesting things to see, so you don't miss anything.

Like.....hoodoos galore!

Hoodoos of every size!

Riding and exploring Bisti reminded me of being in a Dr. Seuss book. The formations and natural sculptures are fantastical and other-worldly!

When I see a scene like this, what immediately comes to mind is.......

A horse and rider would make this scene look even more incredible!

Judith agreed!

See what I mean? Awesome!!

We did a lot of exploring, but we also took little breaks and just stood still allowing the place to soak into our souls. Sometimes you just need to stop and appreciate the beauty all around you and not speed through it.

Apache took the opportunity to take a quick nap.

Judith reminds me of myself as a photographer. She is always thinking of angles, light, perspective and perfect positions for poses. Here she was directing Apache and I to stand so she could take a photo of us. This is something I often do as well.

I think she set us up perfectly!

We eventually arrived at the famous Egg Hatchery. I had seen many photos of this area and I was thrilled to be able to ride my horse there finally!

The "eggs" look like alien pods to me. Some people have called them turtle shells, too.

And they are just all clustered together into this wide open area.

My Egg Hatchery Selfie!

We spent a lot of time just walking among the boulder formations and letting our imagination carry us away.

Looking straight down onto one of the oddly shaped and textured boulders.

A row of alien space pods.

Incredibly fascinating!



Between the Ears Bisti Badlands Egg Hatchery.

Apache didn't seem as impressed as we humans were.

To wake her up, we took a stroll by ourselves to explore some other hoodoos.

Judith took some great candid photos of Apache and I.

Besides the hoodoos, there were also many crazy rock formations. Notice this one even has a tiny arch!

Apache and I behind the arch.

Another amazing photo that Judith took of Apache and I.

Judith and Cathy just stopping to soak in the beauty that is Bisti.

Apache and I posing with hoodoos.

It was great fun to climb up and into clusters of hoodoos.

Another cool candid photo of Apache and I exploring the hoodoos in a small side canyon.

Apache and I just stopping to appreciate the fantastic hoodoos.

Most of the small canyons dead end with a wall of hoodoos, so it was never a disappointment riding into the end of a canyon.

Exiting the equestrian gate.

After unsaddling, we said goodbye to Cathy and her friends so they could drive the hour back home. Judith and I drove our trailers from the gravel trailhead parking lot, over to a sand-covered parking area nearby, where we set up our portable corrals and got our horses comfortable for the night, with water and hay.  

Our campsite with the Bisti Badlands Wilderness in the background.

After our horses were comfortable, we set up a place for us to relax, eat our dinners, stay warm and watch the incredible sunset.

We brought some adult beverages, too.

The sunset was gorgeous! And sitting beside the campfire watching our horses while enjoying the peace and quiet of the evening was absolutely wonderful. The perfect way to spend the end of a long and very exciting day!



And tomorrow, we will wake up and explore the Bisti some more!

To Be Continued......




Life is Good!