It is called “cryptobiotic,” this crunchy, crusty overburden of cracked earth that is found in so many of the Southwest’s iconic desert places. It appears to be good for not much when it comes to growing living things; but, in truth, it is very much a community of living organisms. It performs important, actually essential, ecological roles including carbon fixation, nitrogen fixation and soil stabilization. Without it, the top layer of the land’s surface would become bare and barren, dusty dirt. It is, truly, the life force of the desert. The beautiful uplift of Factory Butte, the same Factory Butte, and a surrounding 5400 acres, that has just been opened up to unrestrictred cross-country ORV use, is surrounded by areas of cryptobiotic soil. It would seem that the BLM has chosen to create a sacrifice-zone of one of the most beautiful locations in the San Rafael Country.
Just at sunrise I found a place on the front side of the factory looking across the desert and into the scalloped and striated uplift of the great butte. The soft, golden light highlighted the wonder of the desert and its amazing elements. A focal length of 60mm gave me the angle-of-view I wanted. An aperture of f/22 provided depth-of-field, and a shutter speed of 0.6 second at ISO 100 gave me a very slightly-darker-than-medium exposure.
It is not required of us to remain silent while the great beauty around us with which we have been blessed is compromised in the name of hedonistic pleasure or wanton disregard. Consider the work of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance: https://suwa.org/wp-content/uploads/Truth_v_Fiction_FactoryButte_5.2019_FINAL.pdf.
Don, thanks for your awareness-raising about the ORV rule change. I’ve shared this with some friends in the public lands community.
This week’s image is terrific. You nailed that DOF throughout the entire image (no surprise), and there is movement almost like rivers in this frame. I have a brother in Nashville with a great eye and who always looks for the “music” in an image. Your shot today is a symphony. I’m just back from five days in Missoula where the long days provided some after-work hiking opportunities in the Bitterroot and Lolo National Forests. There were a good time to work on the kind of mindfulness that your Christophe Andre quote alludes too, though I’m giving myself a D so far!
Hope you have a good week.
Howdy Don, I have a love for the southwest that I believe comes from a past life as a Native American. I have had several deep “experiences” while at Canyon de Chelly & Monument Valley. Your image brings all those feeling back. I love the layers in your composition giving it great depth. And of course the complimentary warm & cool colors that are so pleasing. Thank you for sharing this and all your images.
Really nice.
Wow! This is the best image I have seen you post. Where to begin? The colors and patterns in the foreground are amazing. I love how the path draws us in and winds us towards the butte. The butte itself is beautiful and the blue sky with just the right amount of clouds makes it the star. Also, great choice in shooting portrait rather than landscape. I assume you shot a portrait version first since the right time to shoot a portrait is right after you shoot a landscape. 🙂
What a gorgeous, multi-layer image! That beautiful cryptobiotic soil brings back memories of visits to such places, often with warning signs not to walk there, but to stay on the marked trail. As both a hiker and photographer, I’m fine with that warning, for the sake of preserving the fragile environment. Is the warning an infringement of my right to go where I want to go and do what I want to do on public land? Does it mean sometimes I can’t get to the vantage point I’d like to see? Yes, sure, but it’s for a greater good. Don, your image is a fantastic reminder that we can enjoy the beauty of a scene without trampling on it.
This is a real show stopper. Love the color. We are planning a trip west this fall so I’m soaking up inspiration.
Good evening Everyone. Thank you all very much for joining me for this conversation, and what a delightful conversation I believe is in store. I hope you all have joined me in sharing your thoughts with the BLM folks in Utah. Sometimes I feel quite frustrated about the apparent lack of care shown for our Public Lands by the current administration. I very strongly believe that those lands are the crown jewels of our common experience as Americans and that they represent the finest of what we have to offer to future generations. For me they are, in a word, sacred.
Hey Ray. Thank you for your kind words of support. I know you feel as I do, and I am so appreciative of the work you do to help preserve these awesome spaces for all of us. And I sincerely applaud your willingness to consider the benefits of being mindful as an integral part of following a creative path. One of the things we teach in our own mindfulness workshops is the concept of persistence. Mindfulness is not something that we discover in ourselves quickly, especially after so many years of it being otherwise; but persistence is certainly a quality that continuously gives us the awareness that mindfulness is, indeed, possible if we are willing to stay with it. I’d love for you to join us for one of our mindfulness adventures; I believe you would find it rewarding. Meanwhile, just continue to seek the beauty found in the everyday things around you. You can never miss if you do, and the icons will take care of themselves.
Howdy Michael. Thank you for being with us and for sharing those wonderful expressions about some deep feelings. I, too, have held similar feelings and beliefs since I was a very small child, and I know that it’s not always easy to feel safe enough to share them. I am honored by your willingness to do so and hope we have an opportunity to talk at length somewhere down the road. What you describe is one of the reasons I live in the Great Smoky Mountains, and I can very much relate to your descriptions of your reactions to being in places like Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley. Places like those two and places like Chaco are absolutely sacred. And I’ve glad you like the image, as well.
Hi Robert. It’s great to hear from you. I’d love to catch up sometime and learn what you’ve been up to since our paths last crossed. I hope you will find an opportunity to express some thoughts to the BLM folks. Your expressions would be very persuasive. Thanks for your kind words.
Hey Kev. I’d somehow feel lost if I didn’t hear from you. I hope all is well. Maybe we can catch up over the weekend. We’re having tea with J. Warren in Asheville on Saturday. Wish you and Elizabeth could join us. Thanks for all of your thoughtful comments. We went right by this place in the dark last year after our dinner in Hanksville. Next time I’ll make sure there’s light and hope that the 4-wheelers haven’t destroyed it yet. And, yes, this image came right after the horizontal; but, you’re quite right, the portrait works much better for what I wanted to express.
Howdy Donald. It’s always great to hear from you. You have perfectly expressed the awareness of why it is so necessary and important to see places like Factory Butte from the point of view of the commons. Without the impulse to self-regulate the desire to go where we want when we want in nature, there are just too many of us, and the only likely outcome is the destruction of the thing we love. It is, indeed, difficult to heed the voice of restraint and I am grateful that you hear it and abide with it. If you are around this coming week, I’d love to have a chance to chat for a bit. Let me know, if you will.
Hey Linda. I so appreciate your being with us and offering such thoughtful words. As you go deeper into your plans for this upcoming trip, let me know of your itinerary and perhaps I can share some thoughts about places y’all won’t want to miss. We were so delighted you were able to join us in the Pioneer Valley. I hope that experience will serve you well wherever you go looking for Everyday Beauty.
Thank you all, once again, for being part of such a wonderful group of thoughtful observers and commentators. Your eyes are essential to my understanding of my own. Walk in Beauty.