A Walk in the (Jurassic) Park - Ojito Wilderness - Hoodoo Lollipop Backpack

This is an 11.0-mile overnight hike in the Ojito Wilderness near San Ysidro, New Mexico. On Day 1, I followed the Hoodoos Trail until cutting straight north right after the trail turns west. From there, I picked the path of least resistance across deep arroyos and through a series of washes to a point east of the high point mesa. On Day 2, I skirted the southeastern slopes of the high point mesa until cutting back south across the giant wash that bisects the Wilderness, passing the remains of the old Ortiz ranch and admiring a slightly newer, but still abandoned, structure nearby, until I reconnected with the social trail that extends beyond the Hoodoos Trail at the foot of Bernalillito Mesa. The moonscape and surprise rock formations hidden in every small, nameless wash made this relatively short trip an unforgettable one, and I saw enough lion prints to keep things interesting!
Established in 2005, the Ojito Wilderness long remained a secret spot for outdoors-inclined locals in the Albuquerque area. Those days are sadly over, but despite a large increase in visitation due to recent events, solitude can still be found in the Wilderness for those willing to do the work, as there are only two official, though not maintained or blazed, trails. This leaves the rest of the 11,000+ acre Wilderness as a choose-your-own adventure, begging the intrepid explorer to load up on water and spend a few days unlocking the secrets of this historic land. Millions of years of history are on display, from fossilized dinosaur remains to Ancestral Puebloan petroglyphs and more recent Hispanic settlements.
All music performed by me.