I had seen them only from a distance. Driving through the desert or walking the desert, seeing them from afar. On a recent hike in the desert I was heading for the dark mass of mountains on the horizon when I spotted a labyrinth of badlands not too far off my way. I changed the course of my hike and walked with the feeling of entering a magic country into the labyrinth of adventurously shaped miniature canyons and valleys like a giant stepping into dwarf country.
Badlands are the deserts of the deserts. Nothing grows there, not even Yucca, and nothing lives there. The clay formed miniature mountain ranges and rivers without water do not give pardon. In their harshness they are the utmost beautiful. Only at their borders low brush can get footing, as you can see in the picture, which was taken from one of the low mountains that seemed to be a Gulliver version of the Himalaya. And I was standing on top of it, looking out over the vast desert.
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