THIS UNNAMED GEOLOGICAL formation is the likely result of wind, rain and time eroading away surface material to expose what at one time would have lava (magma) that had cooled and solidified. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
COMING INTO OR out of the Chisos Mountains, this is the northwest view and is several miles south of Panther Junction and the headquarters for Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
THE CLARET CUP is covered in barbed spines and blooms a reddish, cup-shaped flower from about April to June or July in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
THIS VIEW FROM a formation called, “The Window,” looks out from the westside of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
INDIAN HEAD MOUNTAIN and its southern region offers this “leaning” wall of geology at the western boundary of Big Bend National Park. The rocks of the foreground are boulders ranging from man-sized on up. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
MASSIVE AND TOWERING, this wall of the geology is at least a couple of hundrend feet high and situated in the Indian Head area of Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
WIDE-OPEN PANORAMAS and mountainous terrain such as this are routine along roadside in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
THE SOUTHWEST SIDE of the Chisos Mountains, also known as the Chisos Mountain Basin and home to the lodge in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2011 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
A FALLEN TREE is an impassable barrier in an otherwise debris-free dry riverbed in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
INDIGENOUS TO TEXAS, New Mexico and Arizona, Javelinas in Big Bend National Park genetically differ from swine. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
LOST MINE TRAIL in Big Bend National Park, looking southward over Juniper Canyon, the Chisos Mountain’s Northeast Rim and into Mexico. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
A TREE SILHOUETTED against the night sky as seen from Chisos Basin in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
THIS VIEW EAST of a volcano is an illusion of the setting sun streaming through the Chisos Basin area behind Casa Grande Peak in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
WRIGHT MOUNTAIN in background at Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
A VIEW WESTWARD after sundown from the Indian Head area of Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
A CAMERA COMPENSATION for the limited light after sundown provides this view westward from the Indian Head area of Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson/Camera One. All Rights Reserved.
SANTA ELENA CANYON after sunset, as seen from the Chimneys in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson/Camera One. All Rights Reserved.

DL Tolleson.com

Author, Photographer, Researcher, Artist, Adventurer and Buccaneer Extraordinaire

“Or at least that’s the plan each morning after coffee.”


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Rock Mortar Image

Copyright © 2010, 2011 by DL Tolleson/Camera One. All Rights Reserved. This image may not be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from the author/photographer.

Rock Mortar Image

Copyright © 2010, 2011 by DL Tolleson/Camera One. All Rights Reserved. This image may not be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from the author/photographer.

Rock Mortar, No. 2B

An excursion into the heart of Big Bend is a journey into savage beauty. Scaling mountainous terrain, traversing miles of aired desert and enduring near-freezing nights while remaining cognitive of potential predators is a freedom to enjoy beauty purchased by technology and civilization. I knew, for example, that even when lost in the desert, I could follow my GPS and map to safety: I took minor risks along a number of precipices because I was shod in the finest Red Wing footwear money could buy: I warded off thirst with pure distilled water from my canteen and back-up water stocked in my automobile: at my disposal was the warning crack of a well-crafted, 18-foot leather whip (and other, unnamed protections): At nights I could whip out my Fold-N-Go camp stove, boil water and relax with a hot meal and coffee.

If the modern visitor had to find and prepare food (never mind storing it) in such a place as Big Bend, the visit would be something else entirely. If shelter, clothing, transportation and personal safety were the primary concern—instead of hiking and photography—I doubt many of my contemporary Americans would thrive for long.

In short, the obstacles of Big Bend are mitigated by things we can obtain without much effort. It is all the more impressive, then, to contemplate that Big Bend was home to people for whom survival was a daily effort in overcoming savagery. These people lived off the land and survived by their wits long before modern conveniences and technology. Evidence of this is found throughout the park—and not just in Indian rock art.

The photograph above is the evidence that they left behind. It is a rock mortar that Indians used for hand-grinding (milling) any number of things we take for granted, such as food or medicinal powders. There were several of these within the shadows of the Chimneys (my nearby fedora is provided as a source for scale).

—DL Tolleson


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Camera Data

CAMERA
Nikon D300S

LENS
VR 18-200mm, F/3.5 - 5.6G

FOCAL LENGTH
44mm

FOCUS MODE
AF-C

AF-AREA MODE
Single

VR
On

Exposure Data

APERTURE
F/16

SHUTTER SPEED
1/125s

EXPOSURE MODE
Manual

EXPOSURE COMP
0EV

METERING
Matrix

ISO
250

Image Data

ORIG IMAGE QUALITY
Tiff-RGB (8-bit)

ORIG IMAGE SIZE
4288 x 2848

ORIG DATA SIZE
35.1 MB

CAPTURE DATE
12/09/2010

Flash Data

FLASH SYNC MODE
Front Curtain

FLASH MODE
Built-in, i-TTL-BL

FLASH EXPOSURE COMP
0EV
Original and Web-based Image

The original image is a Tagged Image Format File (TIFF) with a file data size of 35.1 megabytes (MB).

For display on this web site the TIFF was duplicated and the duplicate re-formatted as a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPG/JPEG) image with a file data size of 14 MB. To approximate detail visible at the time of capture the image was sharpened as necessary and resampled via the Photoshop Bicubic Sharpen algorithm. The re-sampling increases the image resolution from 300 Dots Per Square Inch (DPI) to 360 DPI.

Unless otherwise noted the image was corrected to offset color shift and balance. This restores black (shadows), white (highlights) and neutral gray (neutral mid-tones).

Image Naming Convention

• An unnumbered image is the only one of the subject matter.

• A number corresponds to the sequential order in a subject-matter-related sequence.

• The letter “B” indicates color correction to approximate what was visible when the image was captured.

• The letter “C” indicates enhancement beyond an approximation of what was visible at the time of capture.

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