Broad Canyon Wilderness and Sierra de las Uvas Exploring - Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument

Rattlesnake Hills

I did these two little hikes over the last  couple of weeks. I got a later start than I wanted with both and the increasing heat had me regretting it. Still I kept it short, around two hours, so there wasn't a lot of  suffering. Not much to report from the one in Uvas. I hiked down a shallow canyon that is one of the uppermost branches of Bignell Arroyo, and then came up sub- tributary to a saddle then down across upper Hersey Arroyo and back to my vehicle. I am always looking for  whatever catches my eye, but there are many areas in the Uvas that just look overgrazed, sere and unappealing this time of year. Of course finding some evidence of ancient peoples, or at least some scenic natural phenomena would help this to improve this estimation, but none were forthcoming. The heat didn't help either.
 The second was more interesting. I hiked down a side canyon which is a tributary to the tributary to Broad Canyon that runs through the Rattlesnake Hills. This area has the only exposures of Permian sedimentary rocks in all of the Uvas, Cedar Hills area, including the famous Abo Formation which is alway good for looking for fossils. I had spied this canyon back when we hiked through the Rattlesnake Hills a couple of winters ago. This is a scenic area, though not as nice as Broad Canyon itself, or some its side canyons further downstream, probably best visited in the winter months.