Living in Utah for five years gave me the opportunity to explore nearly every corner of the state, but I was always drawn south. Many weekends were spent loading up my Jeep Wrangler and heading into the desert in search of ancient rock formations, dark skies, remote campsites, and roads I hadn’t traveled before.

 

There is something humbling about standing in a landscape that has been transformed over billions of years. Our time here is just a blip by comparison, which makes experiencing these places, and capturing a brief moment in their history, feel all the more special. Those years gave me a lasting appreciation for the geology of the American Southwest and the forces that continue to shape it today.