Created fairly recently (2005), Ojito is one of New Mexico's lesser known wilderness regions, occupying 11,000 acres of the high desert west of San Ysidro, bordering the Zia Indian Reservation. This part of the state lies right at the edge of the Colorado Plateau, a vast area of layered sandstone rocks of different colors, and as with other nearby sections also protected as wilderness such as Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah, Bisti and De-Na-Zin, Ojito features beautiful eroded rock formations including hoodoos, caprocks, cliffs and solidified dunes, together with petrified wood and other fossils, plus occasional petroglyphs and ancient ruins. Unlike the more well known areas further northwest (all within the San Juan Basin), the Ojito Wilderness is more overgrown and less remarkable at first sight, as the interesting locations are generally small, isolated and take some effort to find - most of the region is a rather nondescript mixture of bushy flats, twisting ravines and low mesas, not much different to the land at either side, which is similar in appearance for a hundred miles or more in some directions. Perhaps the single most impressive site in the locality is just outside the wilderness - the San Ysidro Anticline, where the sandstone strata have been pushed up to create a 3 mile long band of colorful ridges and ravines.

My good friend showing the way!

Ojito Wilderness Area

Stepping back in time to the ancient oceans of the Southwest!

Ojito Wilderness Area

A private cemetary in Madrid, New Mexico

"Land of the Dead"

A friend pondering life's mysteries in Madrid!

Crow Mesa, New Mexico

Crow Mesa , New Mexico

Canyon de Chelly National Monument was established on April 1, 1931 as a unit of the National Park Service. Located in northeastern Arizona, it is within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation and lies in the Four Corners region. Reflecting one of the longest continuously inhabited landscapes of North America, it preserves ruins of the indigenous tribes that lived in the area, from the Ancestral Puebloans (formerly known as Anasazi) to the Navajo

Canyon del Muerto Canyon de Chelly

White House Ruin Canyon de Chelly

Sunset Canyon de Chelly

My wife and I just returned from a 4385 mile trip..here are the highlights!

Crater Lake National Park is located in southern Oregon and was established in 1902, It is the fifth-oldest national park in the U,S The park encompasses the caldera of Crater Lake, a remnant of a destroyed volcano, Mount Mazama, and the surrounding hills and forests.
The lake is 1,949 feet (594 m) deep at its deepest, which makes it the deepest lake in the United States, the second-deepest in North America and the ninth-deepest in the world.

West Rim Drive Crater lake National Park

Sunset West Rim Drive Crater lake

“Sometimes I get to places where God is ready to have someone click the shutter! “Ansel Adams”

Sunset Crater Lake National Park

Late afternoon... Wizard Island Crater Lake National Park

The West Rim Drive was closed for the first two days we were there...the sun came out and melted the snow. The roads were reopened and we had two of the most spectacular days we have ever had in our National Parks!

Black and White Panorama of late afternoon!

180 degree photo of Crater Lake West Rim Drive

A close up of Wizard Island

Fall foliage in Oregon

Sunset at Snake River Gorge, Idaho

"Goodales Cutoff" Idaho

Lava flow, Craters of the Moon National Monument

Craters of the Moon National Momument was incedible! It is an average elevation of 5,900 feet. The protected area's features are volcanic and represent one of the best-preserved flood basalt areas in the continental United States.
The Monument was established on May 2, 1924.In November 2000, a presidential proclamation by President Clinton greatly expanded the Monument area and encompass three major lava fields and about 400 square miles of sagebrush steppe grasslands to cover a total area of 1,117 square miles (2,893 km2). All three lava fields lie along the Great Rift of Idaho, with some of the best examples of open rift cracks in the world, including the deepest known on Earth at 800 feet

Moonlight Craters of the Moon NM

Walking through the lava fields

Craters of the Moon NM

Monument Rock Overlook

The last two days we visited Colorado National Monument..The second drive we took in the afternoon was worth it!Colorado National Monument (locally referred to as The Monument) is next to Grand Junction, Colorado. Sheer-walled canyons cut deep into sandstone and granite–gneiss–schist rock formations. This is an area of desert land high on the Colorado Plateau, with pinion and juniper forests on the plateau. The park hosts a wide range of wildlife, including red-tailed hawks, golden eagles, ravens, jays, desert bighorn sheep, and coyotes.

Rock climbing Monuemt Rock

Cororado National Momument

We even spotted this family of Big Horn sheep on the side of the road!!!