LINES IN THE SANDSTONE

Monsoon clouds loom over Paria Canyon at sunset. Lees Ferry is located at the far end of the canyon.

Diagonal lines reveal the downward dips of ancient sand dunes at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. “Diagonal lines are often exceptionally pleasing to the eye,” says photographer Gary Ladd, “and at the Vermilion Cliffs, they are a dominant theme.”

“I call this little hideaway ‘Finland,’ ” Ladd says. “The fins form where mineralized groundwater has seeped through sandstone, gradually cementing the grains together before being sliced open by erosion.” Cows often use the fins to scratch themselves, he adds, without much regard for preserving them.

Although the Vermilion Cliffs are known mostly for their colorful Navajo sandstone, Ladd says the monument’s Chinle formation exposures are impressive, too. “The Chinle is the same rock layer that dominates much of Petrified Forest National Park,” he says, “but without the dense concentration of petrified logs.”

This red sandstone cliff appears darker due to a summer downpour, which also rinsed the dust off the sagebrush in the foreground. Iron gives the cliff its red color, but Ladd says sandstone can also be brown, yellow, tan or even green.

As if the rock isn’t colorful enough, lichen can add counterpoints of green, black, orange or yellow to photographs. “As always at the Vermilion Cliffs,” Ladd says, “it is not difficult to find photogenic material. It’s only difficult to decide which of the monument’s many charms are most appealing.

Navajo sandstone cliffs at the Paw Hole area feature colorful swirls deposited millions of years ago by flowing water. “This little patch of rock recorded the track of mineralized water long before erosion laid the sandstone open to the sun and my camera,” Ladd says.