Spring 2024 Southwestern Swing, 4.01.24 - 5.06.24, Part 7, The Valley Of Dreams

Now that we had hiked in the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness on the Bisti Loop, we had originally planned to access three other entry points into the San Juan Badlands. For day two in the area we thought we would drive to a spot that would would put us close to a wonderful rock formation called the King of Wings. As mentioned in my last report, this beautiful rock structure is a sandstone wing that extends thirty feet horizontally from its base, defying gravity and logic. It is about a four mile out and back hike to see it. That same day we planned to then drive to another access point and hike into a place called the Valley of Dreams. To reach the Valley of Dreams is roughly an additional two miles of hiking each way and with who knows how many extra miles in wandering around, we decided that King of Wings was off the table. I had also heard that other than the King of Wings itself, the area around it didn’t have a lot more to offer.

The Valley of Dreams is an area just outside the boundary of the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Study Area. It is located only a few miles southeast of the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness. Of the three areas we visited in the San Juan Badlands, Valley of Dreams had the most concentrated and varied collection of hoodoos, caprocks and general geologic mayhem. It was also the least developed of the three areas, having absolutely no signage at all, no real parking lot and no facilities of any kind. You simply follow your GPS coordinates to a spot by a dirt track, park and hike across the barren untracked desert to get there. On the other side of that coin, The Valley of Dreams turned out to be the place with the most people. This was due to three factors. First, it is more popular because of how much cool stuff there is to see. Second, unlike our normal mode of hiking at sunrise while the rest of the world is nursing their hangovers, we left in the afternoon so we could stay until sunset. The third and probably the biggest reason for the popularity is that the Valley Of Dreams features a geologic specimen that has captured the hearts of the Instagram throngs. It is called The Alien Throne. I confess that I too had been intrigued after seeing photos of The Alien Throne on Facebook (I’m not an Instagramer) and I was eager to capture my own take on this amazing looking chunk of sandstone.

Sunset on the day of our hike was scheduled at 7:50PM. Knowing that we could potentially wander around there for hours, we left our campground at ten to two. Gary and Wanda left earlier and with each of us manning a walkie-talkie, we planned to meet up in the Valley of Dreams. It took us an hour and a quarter to get to the parking spot. We found six vehicles there when we arrived. If there had been no other vehicles there, it would have been difficult to determine this was where to park. There was nothing around at all to indicate this was a trailhead.

We started hiking at two-thirty. Dropping down a small hill, there was nothing but wide open desert all around us. With no trail to follow, we used the information I had gleaned from research along with our Gaia track. First, we passed next to a set of white hoodoos known as the Three Wise Men. A bit further we passed a second set of white hoodoos before finally coming to a white pillar that looked a lot like a mini Matterhorn. Here my app offered up three optional routes to get to the Alien Throne, left right or straight over the top.

**The view from the parking area. At times there was a bit of a boot-beaten path but that would easily disappear.**

**Bridgit en route to the Valley Of Dreams**

It looked like going to the left of the white pillar was our best option. We worked our way around a large hill and began to see all kinds of hoodoos and caprocks. Here we ran into Gary. Wanda was just over the hill. As we made our way towards her we passed by a nice petrified tree. It’s so weird to think of trees growing in such a dry, lifeless environment, but of course this all used to be a lush marshy area with big ol’ dinosaurs roaming around.

**Petrified tree in the Valley of Dreams**

Continuing past the Petrified Wood Turtle and the Chocolate Penguin King, we looked up and there it was - The Alien Throne!

The Alien Throne really is an amazing hoodoo. It is not as tall as you might think, perhaps twenty feet high. Various holes intersect the different pedestals. From the front it looks sturdy enough, supporting a huge caprock on its four base pedestals. However, if you walk around it you get a much skinnier profile and as with many hoodoos we saw, I was grateful to see them before erosion, wind or idiots cause their demise.

There were maybe fifteen or twenty people coming and going during the afternoon but it didn’t really feel crowded. I even saw a few tents in a wash near the hoodoos and I made a note to myself that when I return we might have to pack in for a night to capture sunset, night sky and sunrise. Bridgit and Wanda settled into a shady alcove while Gary and I spent the next hour or two just wandering all over. The Alien Throne was only one hoodoo in a sea of really amazing stuff. I can’t say it was a huge area to explore, but certainly large enough to get away from most of the people, who like the apes in 2001 A Space Odyssey were all huddled around the Alien Throne.

**Wanda, Gary, Jon, Bridgit and the Alien Throne**

Gary and Wanda had already been there a few hours longer so they headed back around four-thirty. Bridgit and I ate some dinner and waited around for the sun to set. The clouds were not cooperating and though we still had some sun breaks, it was looking like the clouds might mess up the light at sunset time. By 6:30PM it was starting to get more crowded around the Alien Throne. The clouds seemed to be getting thicker so I got my last few shots in and we headed back towards the trailhead. This time we looped around the opposite side we came in from by the pillar and then followed our original track back to the Jeep. The Valley of Dreams lived up to the hype. The formations were truly spectacular and very different than the Bisti Loop.

**The off-roading around Valley of Dreams was epic!**

**The Alien Throne (photo courtesy of Bridgit)**

**Starburst sun through the Alien Throne**

**The Three Wise Men on the way back to the trailhead**

As we drove back towards Farmington, the sun did create some special magic. This last shot was along the highway. We had been extremely fortunate to have two days in a row with such favorable conditions. Could we make it three?

Spring 2024 Southwestern Swing, 4.01.24 - 5.06.24, Part 7, The Valley Of Dreams

Spring 2024 Southwestern Swing, 4.01.24 - 5.06.24, Part 6, The Bisti Badlands

Spring 2024 Southwestern Swing, 4.01.24 - 5.06.24, Part 8, Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness Study Area