Otero Mesa - Collins Hills

On March 5 and 6 it was time for more BLM wilderness inventory on Otero Mesa. This time, we went to the northern part of the mesa to an area known as Collins Hills. The area isn't jaw-dropping spectacular; just rolling hills with grass, yucca, cholla and creosote, but it offers great opportunities for solitude. The first day was very windy and dusty - oh wait, since New Mexico is the Land of Enchantment I should say that there was a lot of enchantment in the air.

We camped for the night in the lee of the Collins Hills, to get a break from the wind.

What we discovered on both days in the Collins Hills area is that although the scenery isn't spectacular, the area is a paleontological treasure trove. There is a huge number of coral fossils and some ammonite fossils as well. I think this whole area was an ancient coral reef - part of the Permian Reef, I guess. There are also lots of fossilized silt impressions - cracks, raindrops and the like. There was no North America when this moment in time was frozen into rock. Pangaea was forming.

Fossilized silt cracks and some fossils

A wash exposed the silt-stone.

The next day we explored a little to the south in a unit called Cornucopia Draw. Here we found some spectacular coral fossils.

We camped in another sheltered area, did more inventory on the third day on the east side of the hills and headed for home at the end of the day. We did see a few people over the three days; one rancher and a few petroleum company employees looking for a blockage in a natural gas line that runs from Artesia to El Paso. Mostly though, it was solitude, solitude, solitude.