Originally uploaded by david
The Valles Caldera National Preserve is an incredible place. As National Lands go, this is on the newer side, and was just set aside a few years ago; it used to be the privately owned Baca Ranch, but luckily for us, it is now protected and open to the public. Nestled inside of a collapsed volcano caldera, the preserve features wide open spaces as well as stunning wooded areas. This photo is not the wooded area, however.
This represents another shot I have been waiting patiently for. I had the caldera, of course, but I wanted to show a panoramic scene filled with snow as far as the eye can see. And the eye can see really, really far in this photo, by the way. You might think this is “just” a snowy field. In that, you would be incorrect, I’m afraid. This particular scene measures somewhere around (as best as I can figure) two and one half miles from edge to edge. Miles. As in 13,200 feet (or just over 4,000 meters for you metric folks) from edge to edge. However, it gives you just the barest sense of the place; the grandeur, the beauty, the majesty are best experienced in person. Just be sure to breathe when you are looking at it, for it will take your breath away.
Alas, the small sizes of our monitors do not do justice to this panorama. It measures, in real life, several feet across when printed. But this gives you a good idea, at least. A couple of other notes of interest. This panorama is also the header of our main site, Fringe Innovations. And if you look on the left hand side, just in the shadow of the small hill in the middle, you can see Snowbound Ranch.
