Author: bjregan

Enjoying retirement activities. Main goals for retirement are to stay spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally healthy.

When Badlands Are Good Lands

When warmer weather finally arrives and we aren’t sure how much mud and snow might remain on hiking trails at higher elevations we are blessed with a number of nearby “badland” areas that are guaranteed to provide miles of dry, open country to explore. One of those areas is the Ojito Wilderness and we chose that for today’s hike. A very warm day was in the forecast but an advancing cold front was going to kick up the afternoon winds.

Fortunately, we got an early start and were finished by early afternoon when the winds began to get serious. After months of winter with very little hiking we didn’t pick a strenuous hike. Another advantage of the badlands is that other than some rock scrambles up and down arroyos and mesas the hiking is on the level.

There are only a couple of established trails in the Ojito but with the help of a collection of GPS tracks posted online by the ASCHG it’s possible to find your way around. Even we do get off track it’s such open country that we can eventually figure out where we are supposed to be.

For me, the best part of the badlands are the fascinating rock shapes hidden away in the canyons and on top of the mesas. I’ve collected so many photos of them over the years, but I still can’t resist trying to capture the beauty and the mystery. Our God is an amazing artist.

Here Comes the Sun

Winter days with their minimal number of daylight hours leave me craving warmth and sunshine more than ever. It’s especially difficult when it’s time for my morning jog and the thermometer reads well below freezing. But once I overcome my body’s resistance to get out and get moving there is generally some rewarding encounter that you won’t find any other time of the day. This morning that encounter was the opportunity to track the progress of sunrise in the mountains to the east as I made my way through the bosque.

We are rewarded with colorful sunrises on the days when there is some cloud cover. A storm system was moving our way which meant I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the sun’s warmth as it made its way over the mountain. It was definitely anticlimactic once the sun got here. Of course, by that time my loop through the bosque was complete and the viewpoint wasn’t the same. There’s always the warmth of breakfast to look forward to!