The Colorado Plateau has been a special place for me for most of my life. I first visited in the late 60's on a family vacation. In 1973, while an undergraduate geology major I traveled the plateau more extensively while on a field trip that ultimately took me to Flagstaff for a conference. That led to a graduate career at Northern Arizona University that allowed me to do graduate work on the Plateau. Here you'll find a black and white gallery of Winter Portraits. I hope you enjoy...
Plateau Portraits
In some respects, the iconic location of the entire American West. John Ford, John Wayne (among famous others) spent considerable time here, defining and creating the Western film genre. The list seems almost endless: Stagecoach, My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache, etc... My personal favorite: Marty McFly driving that DeLorean across the desert...
monument valley
The monuments are the signature piece of the valley, but there is certainly more. A never-ending sky, the sage/juniper-dotted landscape, a quiet, and somehow comforting sound of the wind across the surface of the valley...
the wash
I was particularly struck by the play of light and shadow (especially the middle ground shadow produced by the monument just out of view to the left). Interestingly, the great bulk of the monuments is made of the DeChelly Sandstone...which makes up the canyon walls further south at Canyon DeChelly.
at the north window
It was the foreground that captured my imagination for this image. The stark light and shadow extends out to the monument beyond creating a moment of great contrast.
sage and juniper
The high (over 6000') sagebrush desert of New Mexico's San Juan Basin. In the heart, Chaco Canyon...mythical, mystical, magical...and with a layer of mystery hanging over it like a fog... Time seems suspended in the air...
The massive Pueblo Bonita complex in the middle distance, image captured at Chetro Ketl .
chaco...
Chaco Wash meanders through the base of the broad canyon. The cottonwoods are devoid of cover here in the depths of winter, standing mute by comparison to their quaking sound in the summer breeze (they are related to aspens). The Cretaceous Cliff House Sandstone is the primary cliff former...just as it is at Mesa Verde...
Arroyos and cliffs
Interestingly, the majority of the ruins are found to the north of Chaco Wash. The one major exception is Casa Rinconada, which is found on the south side. The Great Kiva is the primary reason to visit, but I was once again attracted to the play of light on the walls of the associated village complex...
casa rinconada
Chetro Ketl, the other great pueblo complex at Chaco Canyon... This photo was all about the sun behind the wall with light creeping into the window and around the remains of the wall to the right of the window. There is an eerie quality to the light, to the silence... I find myself standing and listening...I'm just not sure what I'm listening for...
chetro ketl
In some respects, the love affair with the Plateau started right here. I first photographed Spider Rock in 1973 at this very point. The Spider is, of course, an iconic spot, the subject of countless photos. The Spider (like the canyon walls) is the DeChelly Sandstone, which also makes up the monuments in Monument Valley.
spider rock - Canyon Dechelly
At the upper end... The canyon sites on the west flank of the Defiance Upwarp. There were three broad periods of deformation, ultimately producing the remote Chuska, Lukachukai, and Carrizo Mountains. Taller than you think (nearly 10,000 feet), they top out about 4-5 thousand feet above the upwarped plateau you see here...
The defiance upwarp
So many times at Canyon DeChelly over the years, but never in Winter...
I'm glad we made the trip. The snow on the rim, the snow below, the stark contrast on the rock face...the softening effect of the trees along the creek below...
rim to floor
This is my personal favorite from this trip to Canyon DeChelly. The junipers (and other vegetation) that cling to the edge are tenacious; it's a vertiginous world here, determination counts.