Badlands of New Mexico

New Mexico is a land of many (extinct, thankfully) volcanoes. As such there is a lotta lava to visit. On this trip two colleagues and I headed west, enjoying some gorgeous scenery along the route. It is the dead of winter, which usually means pretty mild weather. But today it is 18 degrees at 5:30 am when I leave the house. 

Hours later we arrived at our destination: the badlands. It was still 18 degrees and as I hopped out of the car, I uttered a semi-silent, "Uh Oh!" Why? Because I knew my hands and feet would soon be frozen and I didn't want to be the female wimp of the group and spoil the party. 

"What was that?" Lance asked. 
"Nothing."
"It's mighty cold here." 
"Indeed!"

Should I take my tripod? It will surely mean frozen hands, but won't I regret not shlepping it? Probably. So, I reluctantly removed it from the back of the car. 

I was right about one thing. My hands and feet started to freeze. Luckily after about 1/2 hour the temperature climbed and with the walking I was relieved that my appendages regained feeling. I also was correct in assuming I would want my trusty backpacking tripod. I used it for many of my images.

It was a fun trip and we took lots of pictures. The snow was partially melted on the black hills. It would have been nice to have bracketed the shots. I tried, but I set my camera to capture 7 identical shots rather than the intended 7 bracketed shots. Darn! Lesson learned. Know thy camera.

​Below are some of my favorite shots from the trip.