The tall swirls of pinks and reds carve out an immense landscape. Dive into this complex world of Navajo sandstone and you'll be transported to another world. Smooth, curving walls let in the tiniest amount of light in these micro-landscapes. Emerge into a vast wash with towering cliffs marked with the stories of ancient civilizations.
You are both everywhere and nowhere
In the American Southwest, you feel both tall and small. Old and new. Connected to the earth, yet transported to another place. Slot canyons emerge from the space between towering books of rock, lazily leaning into one another. As you peel back the pages and wedge your way between sandstone monoliths, you realize that you can never truly wrap your head around the scale of this place. It's a magical world where your senses are bombarded by the ancient sands of old seas. If humans were around when the deserts of the American Southwest were underwater, tourists would flock with their snorkel masks and fins to discover the wildlife. Now there is not a drop of water to drink (unless you know where to look). All that remains of these ancient reefs is history laid out in the layered sand.
Time is relative
Strange symbols dot the landscapes. If you look closely, you can spot a watchtower of civilizations passed. Shards of ancient lives litter the sandy floor. If you're lucky, you may even spot an ancient road, traversing a never-ending sea of sand. Geological time is now. With every rain comes vast change. Cliffs erupt into cascading waterfalls. Rivers are born from sandy washes. Canyons squeeze water through narrow channels, cutting rock like butter. The desert transforms into an oasis, only for a few hours.
