圣胡安县阿什斯利帕荒野地的奇岩柱，新墨西哥州，美国 Hoodoos in Ah Shi Sle Pah Wilderness in San Juan County, New Mexico, USA (© Westend61/Getty Images)

圣胡安县阿什斯利帕荒野地的奇岩柱，新墨西哥州，美国 Hoodoos in Ah Shi Sle Pah Wilderness in San Juan County, New Mexico, USA (© Westend61/Getty Images)

绝妙的平衡术 The great balancing act

新墨西哥州阿什斯利帕荒野地

大自然善于平衡看似不可能之物。在新墨西哥州阿什斯利帕荒野地，高耸的石林以纤细石柱托起厚重岩帽。约7,500万年来，风、水和冰将这片偏远的恶地雕刻成一座露天展馆，景象更像异星，而非地球。

这里最常被拍摄的地貌之一，是绰号恰如其分的“外星王座”。这座引人注目的石林已成为当地非官方的明星。纳瓦霍语名称Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah源自“áshiih libá”，意为灰盐。这片荒野曾是沼泽海岸平原，遍布晚白垩世化石，包括恐龙、史前鳄鱼、龟和鱼。1921年，化石猎人查尔斯·哈泽利厄斯·斯腾伯格在这里发现了已知首批窗盾五角龙遗骸——这是北美体型最大的有角恐龙之一。石化木也散布于景观之中。这里没有官方步道或设施，游客须具备扎实的导航技能。沉醉景色很容易；迷失方向则可以避免。

Ah Shi Sle Pah Wilderness, New Mexico

Nature has a knack for balancing the impossible. In New Mexico's Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, towering hoodoos perch hefty rock caps on slender stems. Wind, water, and ice have spent roughly 75 million years sculpting these remote badlands into an open-air gallery that feels more alien than terrestrial.

Among its most photographed formations is the aptly nicknamed 'Alien Throne,' a striking hoodoo that has become the area's unofficial celebrity. The Navajo name Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah, derived from 'áshįįh łibá,' means gray salt. Once a swampy coastal plain, the wilderness is packed with Late Cretaceous fossils, including dinosaurs, prehistoric crocodiles, turtles, and fish. In 1921, fossil hunter Charles Hazelius Sternberg discovered the first known remains of Pentaceratops fenestratus—one of North America's largest horned dinosaurs—here. Petrified wood also dots the landscape. There are no official trails or facilities, so visitors need solid navigation skills. Getting lost in the scenery is easy; losing your way is optional.