King of Wings (KOW) is a large wing like hoodoo near Nageezi, New Mexico. There are some amazing photos of this feature that can be found via an online search. During my recent visit to Bisti Badlands, my oldest son and I visited King of Wings one afternoon. He had been there once before, knew how to get to the remote parking location, knew how to follow the trails through the desert and had GPS coordinates for the site. We were able to depart the trail and strike out overland using his memory and the GPS coordinates to get to KOW.
It was a hot July afternoon in the desert as we trekked across the barren landscape, up and over low hills. Arriving at our destination, from below it is apparent that KOW is impressive; but smaller than I had imagined from the numerous online photos that I have seen over the years. One has to scramble up a steep incline to get up to KOW.
Going there in midday, harsh, bright light, we did not take our DSLR gear and it would have been much more difficult to hike across the hot desert carrying the additional gear. However, we both had our phone cameras and both of us shot several photos with those. I did not shoot from the best vantage points, shooting from above, rather than from below. My son got a better shot from a point of view somewhat below the wing.
One advantage the wing offered, was a small shade beneath it. It was a mostly still day, with only an occasional breeze, so that shade, being the only around was welcome. There was room for only one person to sit in the shade beneath the wing, which my son quickly took advantage of. He seemed more bothered by the heat at that time, than I was. However, that changed on our hike out, which to me was more strenuous and hot than the hike in, since it seemed mostly up hill, with a few short steep portions at small hills, then long sections of gentle uphill slopes. I had to stop a number of times to catch my breath, calm my heartbeat and consume water from my Camelbak. The water was quite warm and not very refreshing by that time.
Other than KOW, I did not see much of real photographic interest, that is not more easily accessible in other places. There were a few other hoodoos in the area, but many more are much more easily accessible in Bisti. I am glad that I finally got see KOW, but for me, I do not think it worthwhile to ever again expend the time and effort it takes to get to it, especially in the hot summer. Maybe had I been there at a better time for photography, I might have appreciated it more; but still, I think the limited photo oportunities it and the general area offers are not worth more than one visit.
Post Script: In my last post, I mentioned that a post on my trip to Colorado would be next; but I realized that I should at least mention our foray to King of Wings, before getting to that. The next post will be about time spent in and around, Ouray, Ridgeway, Silverton and Telluride.
