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labyrinthine
It is easy to get out of your vehicle and wander around these rocks and imagine that you’ve found yourself in a not-yet-discovered place and that maybe you are the only person there…and you can sort of feel yourself unwinding.
Until that car full of loud and rude (to be redundant, possibly) people shows up and parks right up next to the rocks, fucking up your mood as well as your view.
But I am not at all bitter about that. Nope. Not even a little bit.
Monument Rocks National Natural Landmark
Gove County, Kansas
photographed 9.5.2024
also sort of a shrine
Yesterday’s photo was from a shrine, and so is this one, though it presents in a different fashion than a church-on-a-hill does.
These rocks – made up of fossil-rich Niobrara chalk – rise from the Kansas plains in a way that seems unreal, yet also inevitable. No one goes there unless they mean to: it’s a long-ish drive on unpaved roads (which are unpassable if it’s rained), but of course that’s part my attraction to going there.
But, as luck with stuff like this goes, a van-load of noisy people drove up, parked exactly between me and my camera, and blocked* my view. Ack. So rude. I was about done anyway but still: a little awareness of surroundings and a dab of respect means something.
Monument Rocks Natural Landmark
Oakley, Kansas
photographed 9.5.24
*Another word to use would be “ruined.”
Sunbreak
So, now that I’ve seen the place, I want to go back. I want to be there when the moon’s full. I want to be there where there’s not moonlight. I want to see the Milky Way arching overhead. I want to see fresh snow on the rock formations.
There’s a slight chance I’ve become obsessed…
Monument Rocks National Natural Landmark
near Oakley, Kansas
photographed 12.7.2020
Ancient Rocks and Air Travel
A friend of mine tipped me off about this otherworldly place; it’s just a few miles off the main highway but if you’re headed north, there’s not a sign to let you know it’s even there.
The middle part of the country is often referred to as “flyover country” and on this morning, the jets were busy doing just that.
Monument Rocks National Natural Landmark
near Oakley, Kansas
photographed 12.7.2020
One Day | One Image 