Erosional Grace
Dawn lights up the sky above the Upper Blue Hills with its undulating hills and curvaceous drainages and the Henry Mountains in the background. The beautifully eroded Mancos shale (capped by Ferron sandstone) that makes up the Blue Hills doesn’t support much vegetation, laying bare the easily eroded Cretaceous age deposits of siltstones. If you’ve ever tried to drive through soil eroded from Mancos shale when it is wet you know something about how it turns into a goopy, tire eating mess. The Henrys rise to 11,600’ (3500 m), around 6000’ (1800 m) above the viewpoint where this shot was taken (~ 5000’/ 1500 m).
Erosional Grace
Dawn lights up the sky above the Upper Blue Hills with its undulating hills and curvaceous drainages and the Henry Mountains in the background. The beautifully eroded Mancos shale (capped by Ferron sandstone) that makes up the Blue Hills doesn’t support much vegetation, laying bare the easily eroded Cretaceous age deposits of siltstones. If you’ve ever tried to drive through soil eroded from Mancos shale when it is wet you know something about how it turns into a goopy, tire eating mess. The Henrys rise to 11,600’ (3500 m), around 6000’ (1800 m) above the viewpoint where this shot was taken (~ 5000’/ 1500 m).