Milky Way Over River Road

Milky Way Over River RoadFM 170 River Road, Big Bend Region, Texas If someone asked me to describe Big Bend in a single scene, this would be close. FM 170, known simply as River Road, runs between Lajitas and Presidio along the Rio Grande. Its often called the most scenic drive in Texas, and that reputation isnt exaggerated. The road rises and falls with the terrain, revealing wide desert basins one moment and tight canyon walls the next. Ive spent a lot of time out here. Its

The sky was photographed as seen

The canyon doesn’t perform

The foreground was created using a focus stack to maintain sharpness from the cactus in the immediate foreground through the distant canyon formations

with very little transition between meadow and mountain

From above

with frequent pull-offs that place viewers directly above the canyon

Despite how harsh the environment appears

These sandhills are not ancient in the way mountains are

When the sky finally revealed itself

eroding the coast grain by grain

As sunset approaches

I stayed where I was and let it unfold