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March, 2004
Spring Break In The Southwest

Why, you may ask, after a winter of idleness and frivolity, does a sonuvabish like me need or deserve any sort of spring break? Well, of course, I don't. But Olie, my faithful Volvo, had to spend the entire winter outdoors, and he demanded some sort of reward for his patience. So we headed to the canyon country of the American Southwest, seeking solitude, peace, and above-freezing temperatures.

We spent perhaps the most relaxing portion of the trip at this Bureau of Land Management campground in northern New Mexico. At the bottom is Angel Peak, the arms uplifted above the badlands all around. Above, the cirrus clouds seem to convey a heavenly slendor.

Gnarled junipers cling to the edges of the abrupt, 1000-foot cliffs.

This modest wooden tower tops a Catholic church in tiny Las Trampas, New Mexico. Built when Thomas Jefferson was still in school, the old adobe walls have seen continuous use ever since.

Azure skies and wispy clouds are the perfect foil for the rich colors of the sandstone of fragile Owachomo Natural Bridge.

Native American petroglyphs still adorn the stone cliffs in canyon country. This one, taken at Newspaper Rock, depicts a horse-back rider shooting a massive bison with a bow and arrow.

Wind and water create a fantasy in the soft sandstone in Arches National Park. The white streak is an intermitent layer of white sand. It was soon after I took this picture that I got the pepper spray in my eyes.

Near Mexican Hat, Utah, the San Juan River cuts into the rising Colorado Plateau and forms a 1100-foot deep canyon called the Goosenecks. This view, an improvised panorama, captures the view from Goosenecks State Park.

A thousand feet above the level of the state park, Muley Point is the southern edge of Cedar Mesa. In the distance are the towers of Arizona's Monument Valley, where John Ford shot many of his classic Westerns. This is also a pivotal scene in my second novel, No Easy Way Out.

North of Monument Valley lies an area known as the Valley Of The Gods. This formation, seen from the end, is known, unsurprisingly, as Balanced Rock. From the side (right), it's called the Lady In The Bathtub.

This picture, taken almost at midday, depicts the top of the inside of Navajo Arch in Arches National Park. The warm light comes from the reflection of the desert sun from the red sandstone. The pattern in the rock is caused by the flaking off caused by the stress of the arch and the action of the freezing and thawing of water. [I'm hoping for a promotion from this picture. To what, you ask? Archbishop, of course.]

Wind and rain sculpt the soft sandstone, leaving these artistic shapes in Canyonlands National Park. The smaller, T-shaped stone, is about four feet tall. Oh, by the way, about that pepper spray in my eyes. No, it wasn't from an offended Lady In The Bathtub at a Peeping Tom. See, I was opening this dented can of green chilis in my car...

Jet-trails leave bright streaks in a classic Southwestern sunset, seen through a small clump of pinon trees. With this warm image, I'll ride off with a hearty "Hi-oh, Olie, away!"

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