5×7″ Ilford FP 4 film, tray processed by hand in PMK pyro developer.
Split contrast printed on Ilford Warmtone paper, split toned in Thiourea & Selenium
Shiprock, New Mexico is located way up in the northwestern part of the state on Navajo land very close to the Four Corners area. The town of nearly 10,000 is named after the land mass seen in this month’s photograph. The Shiprock formation rises 1583 ft above the desert floor and stands at an elevation of 7177 ft. above sea level.
Ship Rock is called Tsé Bitʼaʼí in Navajo, which means “rock with wings” or simply “winged rock.” The formation figures prominently in Navajo Indian mythology as a giant bird that carried the Navajo from the cold northlands to the Four Corners region. Ship Rock, when viewed from certain angles, resembles a large sitting bird with folded wings; the north and south summits are the tops of the wings. Shiprock is a sacred place to many Native Americans, so much so the Navajo nation has restricted any form of climbing since a 1970 climbing mishap. All areas near the formation are closed to non-Natives for the traditional religious purposes and for the safety of the formation and lava dike. It is recommended that the public stay at least three miles away from the formation and 20 feet from the lava dikes or wall when visiting. An aerial with the same Lava Dike that is in my image is seen below.
I made my photograph of Shiprock in the later ’90s during the late afternoon when desert thunderstorms can materialize quickly. Off in the distance, I could see two separate thunderstorm cells were developing far to the East, a rare sight even for as many times as I have been West. I was about 1/2 mile hike from the car with a 30 lb. backpack and didn’t think much about the storms being a threat, foolish boy from the East ! Shortly before I clicked the shutter something occurred that had never happened to me before, the hair on my arms stood up and the sense of impending danger quickly set in. I was high up near the top of one of the lava dikes, (the same with a restriction of 20ft back) I quickly exposed one film holder and packed up and scurried down the rather steep embankment wondering if the rain would hold off…by the time I got to the car I was soaked and out of breath !
The Shiprock location is located very near where another worthy backcountry story happened that I have always wanted to share for several reasons, one, to illustrate the good in people who you meet quite by accident as well as another close call with venturing into the unforgiving wilderness. During the early autumn of 1996 another Southwest photo trip took place, I traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico with two good friends and large format photographers, Glenn and Marie Curtis, also from CT. As was usual in my trips to the West we had gone up into the southeastern part of Utah and the incredible landforms found there. We were heading back to Albuquerque for a mid-morning flight home the next day and decided to stop for a quick look at the Bisti Wilderness, about an hour south of Farmington, New Mexico. The Google Earth photos show this area is considerably off the main RT 371, in fact, there are almost no services much less populated save for the local Navajos along our route back to the Interstate. Traveling from the Bisti parking area to Albuquerque is a bit over a 3-hour drive and our plan was to get back, have some dinner, early to bed and repack for the plane ride in the morning and to the airport by 9 am.
We had rented a brand new Jeep Cherokee 4WD in Albuquerque at the beginning of the trip and had no problems with the vehicle to this point. We scouted around the Bisti area and realized any photography of the bizarre hoodoo shapes would take a considerable hike and simply did not have that much time. The sun had just gone down as we left the Bisti parking lot and headed for the main RT 371, we turned left and began to climb a moderate incline reaching about 50 miles per hour and the car just shut off, no power, no engine. We quickly coasted to a stop and tried to restart the car to no avail. Nothing I knew of or tried to do would get the engine started again, with the modern technology in cars at that time the problem was almost certainly electrical and likely controlled by a computer module. We were stuck, dusk had set in, this was pre-cell phone era and as I think about it now, if the car had broken down while still a few miles into the Bisti wilderness we would have been in much greater peril than we found ourselves on the main road, albeit not heavily traveled. The car was off to the side of the main road and all we could do was wait for someone to pass by, finally, after some time a young couple with an infant in the back seat stopped, I still remember he was driving an older maroon Pontiac Grand Am. I spoke with the driver while mother and infant remained in the car, I told him we were due in Albuquerque for a morning flight and asked if there were any services close by, he was traveling from Utah and did not know the area well. I gave him our rental car information with their phone number and asked if he could stop and call the rental car company and have them dispatch a wrecker to our location, he agreed and drove away. By now it is pitch dark outside, no ground lights similar to here in the East we were left stranded in the car with temperatures dropping in the arid air of New Mexico with no food and only a small amount of water and only the promise of a complete stranger that he would phone the rental car company. Low and behold, about 45 minutes later the same young man and his family backtracked to our location and told us he found a small trading post about 20 miles up the road. The gentleman did not want to leave us and asked if he could possibly push our car with his, I said that wouldn’t work for a 20 miles drive. I did, however, have a climbing rope I use for lowering my backpack into canyons, certainly not strong enough for a 200 lb. man to climb with much less to tow a 3000 lb car. Nevertheless, nothing ventured nothing gained, my rope was long enough to double up around the front axle of the Jeep and the back of his car, to this day I am shocked that the rope held up and indeed towed our car to the trading post. The two cars were less than 10 feet apart and with every descending hill came some white knuckle moments as our car gained speed on the car in front, with no power in our car I had to stand on the brakes to keep from smashing into the back of his car. As we were en route Glenn and I decided we had to do something extraordinary for this young couple and decided we would each give him $50.00, I remember telling Glenn that I have a $100.00 bill and we will use that as a sign of how much we appreciated his extraordinary kindness.
The Red teardrop on the adjacent map indicates the Bisti Wilderness parking area, while the Green arrow above is directed at the actual area of the Bisti Hoodoos, the Red arrow to the right indicates where the General Store is located, Google Earth suggests about 12.5 miles as the crow flys and judging by the Blue highlighted RT 371 we were towed close to 20 miles in pitch darkness ! The general store appears in the photo below. 
We pulled into the general store parking lot around 9 pm, the three of us got out of the car, untied the two cars and thanked the family for their efforts, I attempted to hand the $100.00 bill to the man, he refused, I explained several times we must do something to thank you for your efforts, he declined several more times and finally said, “do you really want to do something for us” ?? “Of course,” I said. He responded “read the book of Mormon” Absolute true story, he never took our money, and sadly I’ve never read the book of Mormon. I have often asked myself if I would have gone through the extremes he and his wife did with an infant in tow after dark dealing with two grown men who were strangers, I remember the events vividly. The story gets even more extraordinary and at the same time more humbling !!
We headed into the Trading Post (seen here in a Google Earth photo). We first made sure the rental car company was notified and a wrecker was on its way to tow us to Albuquerque for the morning flight home. For a late Friday night, the store was very crowded, we would learn that the locals were there to pay their monthly bill for groceries. An elderly man and his adult son, last name Kirkland as Marie recalled were the proprietors and we each watched with wonderment as Navajo families stepped forward to pay some or all of their bill. The young man would take the money while the elderly man recorded the transaction in a well worn small handwritten pad of the transaction and thanked each family. Finally, after 10 pm the store emptied out and the proprietors invited us upstairs while we waited for the wrecker to show up. The upstairs was simply one big and very cluttered area with an old couch, a bed, and a super large projection TV. Turns out the two men have a home in Farmington and only stay at the store from Monday through Friday and are closed on weekends. The wrecker finally arrived just before midnight, the wrecker driver was a bit perturbed as he was anticipating a tow to Albuquerque which would have netted him about $1200.00, while he was en route he got a call from the dispatcher that our rental car company had orchestrated a deal with another rental car agency in Farmington which was only an hour away and a less costly tow. The wrecker driver indicated state law forbids anyone from riding in a car while it’s being towed leaving Glenn and Marie with no way to follow the wrecker. The elderly man and his son offered to follow the wrecker into Farmington as they intended to go in the morning and could just as easily go on Friday night, albeit midnight after working for the entire day. The car was hooked up, I jumped in the wrecker while Glenn and Marie rode with the owners of the store. We got to Budget Renta Car a bit before 1 am and picked up the waiting rental and headed for a fast food place and a motel by 2 am. We caught a few hours sleep and were back up about 5 am transitioning camera gear to the luggage for safe airline travel and off to Albuquerque before 6 am. Fortunately, the drive back to the Albuquerque airport was uneventful. Marie told me as we were driving to the airport the next day, the Kirklands, owners of the trading post told them during the drive the night before, they’d make the 4-hour drive to the Albuquerque airport if we were not able to get a rental car this late at night !!
But for the grace of strangers, a much different ending could have occurred, we each had a new appreciation for our fellow man.
Steve: A powerful photograph and a wonderful story.
Ken
Thank you, Ken, for your kind words from one peer to another.
Perfect composition, but it leaves me hungry for the main subject without the hills in the foreground.
Bill
Ah, it’s the mystery that’s the allure ! Thank you, Bill, for reaching out, it is a wonderful and sacred landscape.
I know for a fact all people have good within. It just takes good people to bring that magic to life. Unbelievably a perfect display of simply human kindness. It’s actually all around just look and notice a butterfly or two. Right SS.
Beautiful photos and for sure a story to remember. Thanks for sharing . Goosebumps indeed.
💕D💕
Thank you Darlene for such insightful and a spot on assessment of the human spirit. It was a long day filled with uncertainty but a wonderful outcome.
SS
Love this image…..and thanks for the story….
Thank you, Gary, for reaching out and your kind words.