Early morning light and shadows on the Guadalupe Mountains’ Hunter Peak (8,368 feet) and Bush Mountain (8,631 feet) as viewed from the trail into Pine Springs Canyon. Though Guadalupe Mountains National Park is home to one of the largest stands of maples in the West, it is best known for “safeguarding the world’s finest fossilized reef,” says the National Park Service. The Guadalupes are the remnants of a 400-mile-long Permian reef formed 250 million years ago—a time when vast tropical seas covered most of the region. Click any photo to view a larger version in a popup window (please disable popup blockers). |
