Seventy million years ago the northwestern corner of New Mexico, south of what is now the fossil fuel mecca of Farmington was the delta of a river which flowed eastward into an inland sea that covered most of what is now the Enchanted State. Somewhere in geologic time an ancient volcano deposited a layer of ash, some of which was transported by the river. By the time the riverine deposits had formed their delta and were established in place, a 1400′ layer of sandstone, mudstone, shale and coal was well-ensconced. It lay undisturbed for some twenty-five million solar orbits until the Colorado Plateau began its majestic rise. A mere six thousand years before the present, in the lee of the last ice age, water from melting glaciers eroded the sandstone overburden to expose the ashen layers beneath; and so it was that the landscape we call Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness came into being: 45,000 acres of some of the most tantalizing badlands on the planet.

A focal length of 70mm, barely into short-telephotoland, gave me the angle-of-view I wanted to isolate the two sandstone/mudstone mounds against the sky in a surrounding of gray ashen volcanic mudstone. An aperture of f/22 provided depth-of-field; and a shutter speed of 1/4th second at ISO 100 gave me and overall medium exposure.

Life is challenged by the growing conditions at Bisti, but where life is shy, the beauty of the land shines through. This is another of your public lands. Care for it well. Generations yet unborn will express their gratitude.