Crack in the Earth
While walking through a narrow slot canyon in one of Texas's two National Parks, I came across this scene featuring a desert tree reaching up to the sky from the sheer walls of this canyon in Guadalupe Mountain National Park. I remember commenting to my travel partner that this composition reminded me of similar iconic silhouettes captured in other canyons. I tried to recreate such a composition from my memory using this tree as the foreground.
Does this work? Thoughts?
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
TX USA
A National Parks Journey - Big Bend National Park
The second of the two National Parks in Texas, Big Bend is more than just about a big bend in the Rio grande river as it winds towards the Gulf of Mexico. Remarkable montane terrain, a rugged canyon carved through red desert rock, and spectacularly clear night skies await anyone who makes the long drive out to this isolated park. It is certainly worth visiting for the diverse ecosystems that are found in this high desert corner of the state, along the remote section of the border with Mexico.
Beyond these, what captivated me was the small stretch of the Rio Grande river as it wound sound through the tight Santa Elena Canyon, with one face of the towering canyon wall in Big Bend, and the other side in Cañón de Santa Elena in Mexico. In this small stretch, the river serves as the border between two large economies with different culture and history, and all that was separating these two nations was a river a few yards wide easily traversed by any mode of watercraft. It left me wondering as to how such a small body of water could ever serve as a barrier between people and economies wanting to come together.
Big Bend National Park
TX USA
A National Parks Journey - Guadalupe Mountains National Park
At first glance, the high summit of Guadalupe mountain was an unremarkable mountain peak that would not have been out of place amidst the desert landscape of the US West. And it would have garnered no more attention than a simple viewpoint and plaque calling out the highest point in the state of Texas. It may have been awarded a historical marker, or may have even been designated as a state park. It was only with closer examination that realized why it was elevated to the status of a National Park - it is a region rich with varied ecosystems that occupy the different climactic zones of the park, from the dry desert at the base, to the shaded and humid canyon interiors that carve through the park, and the cool and dry alpine zones at the higher elevations.
Visiting the park isn't hard as it is right off a major east-west highway in Texas. But lacking services, you must be prepared if you intend to spend some time here to explore the park and attempt the summit hike. The dry Texas heat is another factor to be considered when planning a trip to this remote park. My short visit here didn't afford any time to climb the peak; perhaps I will return one day to climb it.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
TX USA
The Skies above Big Bend
It was pitch black when I got done. The last rays from the moon had disappeared a couple of hours ago. and all that remained was starlight. A million stars dazzled the sky with a density that I have hitherto not seen. While the air was slightly hazy from the desert dust, there were no clouds to mar the sparkling carpet of innumerable burning suns. Constellations, where I could merely pinpoint the keystone stars, now seemed to be made up of dozens of astral bodies. Shooting stars dashed across this starscape lasting for a bright fleeting moment, while satellites made their slow march across this stellar background. But perhaps most disconcerting was the eerie silence of nothingness, where every insect buzzing and twig creaking sent shivers down my spine. I scurried away from this celestial vista as soon as I finished packing my gear.
Such was Big Bend National Park in Texas. I had set up my camera at a desolate vista point in the heart of the park. Claimed as having one of the darkest night skies in this part of the country, the park is a haven for astrophotographers, and I was excited to see what I could capture on that clear starry night. After setting up my camera to record in the last vestiges of moonlight, I promptly proceeded to catch a quick nap, and it was after I woke up that silence of the night got to me. Nevertheless, the shoot of the equatorial plane of stars resulted in this bright star-trail image.
Big Bend National Park
TX US
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The Wall
The Wall
A physical symbol of a divide between two regions. There exists many famous walls, the Great Wall, the Berlin Wall, the West Bank barrier, and the proposed addition to the border wall along the 1989 mi long border between Mexico and the US. But it was this wall, or lack thereof, deep in the heart of Big Bend National Park, that perhaps took me most by surprise.
The hike into Santa Elena Canyon, formed by the Rio Grande river as it cuts through a sandstone mesa, is a spectacular one. The beautiful narrow slot canyon with towering walls and a cooling breeze was a welcome transformation after hiking through a hot desert.
As I continued inwards, the walls narrowed in, and towards the very end of the trail, I spotted this smoothed piece of rock jutting out onto the river, with the other side mere feet away. The sandstone walls here rose hundreds of feet into the sky, opening up a only a quarter mile away. But right where I was, I could almost jump across onto Mexico.
The other side felt no different than where I was, and yet, the symbolism of this divide was powerful. The juxtaposition of the openness of landscape, and the purported urgency to close border, as conveyed by the leaders and the news media, was stark. I spent quite a bit of time contemplating why the nations are so different, and yet share the same piece of land. But all I could take away from this place was this image of the wall, or lack thereof, that I shot at F9, 1/400s at ISO 1600
Support my work by purchasing my 2018 Calendar. All proceeds get donated to NRDC and WildAid
Big Bend National Park
TX USA