TWILIGHT AT THE ALIEN EGG HATCHERY
The Alien Egg Hatchery
GEOLOGY OF A SCI-FI LANDSCAPE
SHAPED BY TIME AND EROSION
The Land of Enchantment offers up some truly staggering terrain for photographers willing to lace up their boots and haul gear into the wilderness where there are no trails. The Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness in northwestern New Mexico is a prime example. Translated from Navajo, Bisti means "a large area of shale hills," which is a bit of an understatement for a 45,000-acre basin of continuous desolation that looks like a sci-fi set designer's fever dream. I’ve ventured out to this unique location four times now, most recently this April, when I spent six intense days exploring the landscape during a workshop with five other photographers.
The highlight of this vast basin is a relatively small, highly localized area affectionately known as the "Alien Egg Hatchery." Here, and literally nowhere else in the badlands, you'll find these whimsically eroded hoodoos that genuinely look like massive, cracked eggs waiting to hatch. About 70 million years ago, this entire area was a lush, swampy coastal plain teeming with dinosaurs. Today, it’s a labyrinth of sandstone, shale, mudstone, and coal, meticulously carved by wind and water into these bizarre formations. As twilight settles over the badlands, the harsh daytime glare vanishes, replaced by a cool, monochromatic blue hour that contrasts beautifully with the pale, earthy tones of the clay.
Working in these fading light conditions is an exercise in precision. You have to carefully frame the bizarre foreground textures of the "eggs" to lead the viewer's eye straight into the heart of the desolate basin, all while racing against the dying light.
COMING TO TERMS WITH THE TERRAIN
To be completely honest, navigating this terrain after the sun goes down has gotten remarkably tricky for me lately due to low vision and balance issues. Stumbling across uneven clay and hidden drop-offs under pitch black skies with only my headlamp picking out the best next step, isn't quite as fun as it used to be. I suspect this trip was my final hurrah for the Bisti backcountry—I'm coming to realize I'm getting a little too old to comfortably tackle this specific brand of off-trail night hiking.
THE ROAD AHEAD
Looking back, though, I have zero complaints. The desert leaves its mark on you, and the images it reveals carry the memories of wind-scoured freezing nights and scorching afternoons, under vast Southwestern skies. Besides, the beauty of road tripping across the American West is that there is always another horizon. There is so much more out there that remains easily accessible, waiting for me to photograph for as long as I'm still rolling down the highway in the camper van.
Where’s the Visitor Center?
Because Bisti is a designated wilderness area, you won't find a paved parking lot out there, let alone, water, a visitor center or a gift shop. If you want a souvenir to commemorate this bizarre landscape, you have to bring it with you! To make up for the lack of wilderness gift shops, I’ve designed a custom t-shirt featuring the other-worldly spirit of the Bisti De-Na-Zin Badlands over in my shop. It’s a comfortable tee perfect for your next photohraphy road trip or just lounging around planning one.
Explore More of My Adventures
Deep in the remote Bisti Badlands lies a small, highly localized area known as the Alien Egg Hatchery, home to these whimsically eroded hoodoos found nowhere else on Earth. This single twilight image highlights the eerie, cracked textures of these bizarre formations under the soft blue hour light. Read the full story behind navigating this desert wilderness and the fascinating geology that created these surreal sandstone monoliths.