West Potrillo Mountains, X 7 Hill - Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument

X-7 Hill, named on topographic maps for the nearby X 7 ranch, is an indistinct cluster of smaller volcanic cones  on the western edge of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. Its low relief  and isolation from the main north-south line of cinder cones (by several miles) don't really make it stand out as an exciting destination.   I was interested anyhow, because on the west side of the hill there are several small hills and ridges of older, intrusive felsic rocks (in contrast to the basalt and cinder of X-7 Hill) that form a kind of arc. It occurred to me that this might provide a degree of protection from the wind, and like Providence Cone five miles directly to the north, that this too could be a place where ancient Native Americans might choose to stay.

Not much, I know and perhaps that's why I found nothing to confirm my theory. Still, it was a nice afternoon walk in the desert, After parking, I headed straight toward the hill through the desert brush and sand. Eventually I was walking on cinders and loose chunks of basalt. As I approached the hill, I thought I could see a lush growth of trees or large shrubs of some kind on the hillsides in the distance. It seemed unlikely, given I was in one of the most sparsely vegetated environments in the monument, and as it turned it was that fluorescent yellow lichen that has a predilection for growing on the red rock of cinder cones. 

I investigated alcoves in the rock both coming and going over the hill to no avail as far as artifacts go. There were larger, broken pieces of lava at my feet on the far side which, even though slippery to walk on, had pleasing colors and textures and looked like they had been tipped out of a Play-Doh mold.

 I climbed one of the smaller hills on the far side only to find a rock ring and a pack rat nest (?) of  meticulously sorted stones on the top. 

The hill with the rock ring

Rock ring on top of small hill to the NW of X7 mountain

There was no place for water to collect inside this little protected area between the hills just uneven terrain with sand, yucca and mesquite showing its fall color.

Providence Cone in the distance

  

Birds flitted about in the bushes, and tracks were everywhere, including my own which I caught up with and followed back to my lonely vehicle.