About This Image: The sun sinks in the west and fiery light illuminates the fractured sandstone, causing it to burst into flame. In the distance, snow-capped peaks turn pink from the heat. The pinyon pine and juniper trees turn to gold and jackrabbits and mule deer venture out from the cracks to feed on the berries. Another day is spent and it is time at last to rest; to stretch out on sun-baked bedrock and feel the cool air seeping in from above while warmth radiates from beneath; to watch your own shadow stretch across the landscape, a hundred feet down the cliff, across the sagebrush and deer trails and then back up the towers across the valley. Pure magic.
The day was packed with hiking through the craggy rocks, exploring hidden canyons, delighting in balanced rocks and admiring the arches, sentinels of the happy scene. The memory of scrambling up the side of a fin, of defying the drop-offs that always *almost* made the journey abruptly end, conquering the chasm, and catching a lizard while being careful not to take the tail. There were secret hideouts discovered, echoes tested out of necessity, and fantastic vistas surveyed. It has been a full day. And best of all, there’s only a few hours of darkness to wait through before the sun again ignites the terrain into a monumental playground.
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