There are times when nature presents itself in such a way that I know this lovely planet on which we live is a closed system.  Everything is connected, and some days in the Southwest, the winds bring us smells from hundreds of miles away.  In all honesty, at times I can smell the ocean, blooming trees, and smog.  But one of the most delightful and luscious smells carried to the mesa is the smell of the Sonoran desert.  A combination of creosote bush, myriad desert vegetation, and the soil combine into an incredible gift delivered via air mail.

One of the jewels of the Sonoran Desert is Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains of southern Arizona.  The photographs below were shot on three different occasions with Fujichrome Velvia and then scanned.  The Dragoons are filled with hoodoos and pieces of rock that seem to have been thrown like marbles, fallen to the ground, and shoved upward.    

Every step of a journey into these mountains is filled with surprises, from gnarled Manzanita bark to pond grass in Half Moon tank.  It is a real paradise for photographers. 

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image