On our road trip to east-central Nevada in 2006 we stopped at the Cathedral Gorge State Park for a break from driving and a little hike.
The park is in a very arid landscape where the sediment formations of an ancient lake bed have been shaped into grotesque towers and narrow canyons by millions of years of winter rains and summer heat. The “caves” near the entrance of the park are in fact deep and narrow canyons and this is where we wandered around for a while and took pictures.
Many of the walls of these formations look like melted wax or – more likely – extremely soft clay that is being washed down by rainfall and then hardens again for a little while when the sun comes out.
Walking through these tight canyons was very strange and disorienting, since the path often splits and many of the branches of the canyons end in little twisted dead-ends with overhanging, seemingly melting walls. It looks like a giant maze designed by the crazed assistant of Picasso.
Photos taken with Kodak Medalist on Ilford Delta 100. Click for a larger view.