The ancient feeling of the Pinacate Bioreserve surrounds you with its volcanic landscape of black cinder. Yet in all of the ancientness, the ʻAʻā (Hawaiian term) or rocky cooled lava looks as though it just happened yesterday. The lava flows are young, as in 40,000 years ago. Once molten and unapproachable, they are still a forbidding place to go. Massive piles of car sized ʻAʻā boulders, steep pits and a surface that is extremely sharp to the touch. Climbing among the lava flows must be done carefully because a misstep would mean certain injury. The going is so tough I've wondered if you tossed something into the center of the flow if it would ever be found again.This piece was about getting into the detail of the rock and being true to it's nature. When you get into the details, it's more like working on an abstract piece. Natures abstraction pulls you into the details.
