Hello Reader !

Last week I told you about wild horses barreling toward me in the desert. What I didn't tell you was what happened next...

With the wild horses out of sight my focus shifted back to my pre-planned photo shoot in the Bisti Badlands of New Mexico.

This was to be my last stop of a two week tour of the Southwest.

The final chapter.

By now I had driven close to 3,000 miles…

Ontario down through Texas.

Over to Phoenix.

Up through Coal Mine Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and a handful of “I can’t tell you where they are unless you know the exact GPS coordinates” tucked away across Utah.

And now, one last destination before heading home.

Tall tales whispered through the ages defined this spot as a surreal landscape composed of eroded sandstone, shale, and mudstones… also known as hoodoos.

This landscape was once a coastal swamp of an inland sea, and now the area is a remote badland known for its otherworldly hoodoos and fossil deposits.

Ancient. Alien. Untouched.

Even though Mother Nature had other plans… as dark, menacing clouds began to roll in for one last winter storm… I wasn't going to be denied.

Not after coming this far.

The plan was to capture the sunset, sunrise the following morning, and hike and explore the badlands for more photographic opportunities for 2 more days from dusk to dawn.

A photographer's paradise.

But, as you know from last weeks newsletter I was lost, got distracted by a herd of wild horses, and the sun was plummeting fast toward the horizon.

With no time to spare… I hopped back into the vehicle and sped off hoping I was heading in the right direction, this time.

Please be the right direction.

A few minutes later I had two choices: turn left or right.

No street signs.

No cell service.

And GPS was on the fritz.

Just me, the desert, and a 50/50 guess.

Eeny meeny miny moe which way should I go.

Right.

Which was the right choice!

Thank you, photography gods.

10 minutes later I found the road that led me into the park… as it was marked on the GPS map which was now miraculously working.

But that led to another problem.

More roads.

More turns.

And still no street signs!

GPS was not pinpoint perfect and I guessed wrong.

Found myself plunging into a swamp of mud!

The tires spun.

The vehicle lurched.

My heart dropped.

4 wheel drive kicked in… backed out and retreated.

Crisis averted.

Up the way was another entrance… that I remembered from preplanning.

Found it.

Arrived to an unpaved parking area… no mud… and proceeded to walk to my "spot."

As I had planned a month before.

About a half mile walk to my destination with maybe 2 hours left before the sun would vanish completely.

Just enough time I thought.

I hoped.

But, those angry clouds sensed my presence and felt a need to unleash their fury on me.

It wasn't going to be pretty.

I could already see sheets of rain hammering down in the distance, marching closer.

So, I picked up the pace.

From here to there.

Up and down.

Over rocks.

Around formations.

Navigating the landscape as my GAIA app dropped digital breadcrumbs so I could find my way back before being devoured by coyotes.

Or worse... lost forever in the badlands.

Not sure how that’s worse than being eat’n alive… but I digress.

About 20 minutes after leaving the car, I came around a bend and there they were…

Hoodoos…

Standing like ancient sentinels.

…and it felt like I was stepping back 70 million years.

See Hoodoos are tall, thin spires of rock that form through differential erosion and were sculpted by Mother Nature over 70 million years ago!

The time when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth.

And now I was walking among them.

I pressed on.

Getting closer.

Heart pounding.

Locked on: Nikon z8 | 20mm | f/11 | ISO 800

Click. Click. Click.

From golden hour… when the warm light painted the formations in burnt orange and crimson…

To blue hour… when the sky transformed into majestic purples + blues and the landscape became something otherworldly…

Then panic set in!

The storm clouds were now directly above me…

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

…and I had to navigate out of the "badlands" in complete darkness!

No moon.

No light.

Just me and my headlamp.

To my surprise… it wasn't rain I felt pelting the back of my neck as I scrambled back to the Jeep Trailhawk… a fitting name for Parker in the wild!

It was snow!

In the desert!

The flakes came down harder.

Faster.

The temperature dropped like a stone.

I moved quicker.

Slipping.

Stumbling.

Following the breadcrumbs on my GAIA app like my life depended on it.

Once I was safely back in the car… I collapsed into sleep.

Exhausted. Exhilarated. Alive.

I awoke with anticipation… two hours before sunrise.

Ready for round two.

But one brutal problem.

My gloves and toque were frozen solid!

Stiff as boards.

They must have gotten soaked from all the snow and I had left them on the hood, by mistake.

I tried to bend them.

Nothing.

Like ice sculptures.

No way was I walking in the icy cold air without gloves.

Not in this weather.

In fact, after 2+ weeks on the road… sleeping in my car, battling the elements, chasing light… I was exhausted and called it.

My body had hit its limit.

I went home.

​
Have an awesome day!

Chris Parker

Parker Photographic

P.S. Actually, I didn’t go home.

I went to visit my brother for a day in Alabama.

What’s an extra few hundred miles after several thousand… it’s family.

269 WALKER ST V5718, Detroit, Michigan 48207-4258
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