Getting Lost in Bisti

Rock Formations, Bisti Wilderness Area, New Mexico © Jay Goodrich

I have navigated through Denali National Park for 10 days and maintained my whereabouts. I have flown multiple aircraft across most of the United States and arrived at my destination without fail. This past weekend was a different for some reason, maybe some weird star was misaligned in the universe. I managed to visit a place that has been on my list for over a decade. A place I have researched and read about since then. I listened to all of the warnings and all of the advice. I brought plenty of water, the map I found online, the directions I found online, and my Brother-in-Law’s GPS, which happens to be the same GPS that I own. And what happened, that’s right, I GOT LOST!

Now getting lost is a state of mind. Was I really lost? My personal definition of lost is finally getting found by search and rescue with little to no food and water after spending a few unprepared nights out in the cold. If I put it that way then I was not lost, but I still didn’t find what I was looking for, so yes, I guess I was lost. I am not sure if the map is a bit off, or my navigation skills a bit off, or the fact that this is a desert with rolling hills and what I was looking for could have been right there behind me like that Predator thing in the jungles of South America.

I looked and walked and looked and walked, but to no avail the Egg Factory that many others have seen in the Bisti Wilderness of Northern New Mexico managed to keep its place on my photography wish list. I did still photograph, there were formations all over the place, just not those eggs which to borrow from another movie look like they came from Aliens. This is all okay, I know I will return because I have family in Albuquerque. One thing that will definitely happen is that I will return in the fall or even the winter when it is a bit cooler than the balmy 100 degrees I got to walk around in. Oh, and I will bring a friend or my wife so we can argue about what direction we need to go. Then after an hour or so I will finally listen to what she has to say and then there will be those eggs right before us to photograph just in time to be eaten by an Alien.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 8:00 am. It is filed under lighter side of life, short stories and tagged with Bisti Wilderness Area, desert, landscape, New Mexico, rock formations, The Egg Factory. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.