Paragliders in the Clouds, Mount Fuji, Japan, 2002 Photograph by Karen Kasmauski
Paragliders float through the clouds that surround snowcapped Mount Fuji in Japan. At 12,388 feet (3,776 meters), Fuji is Japan’s highest peak. But its relatively easy-to-scale flanks draw flocks of amateur climbers to its summit-some 400,000 every year.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Fuji: Japan’s Sacred Summit (Except When It’s Not),” August 2002, National Geographic magazine)
Lightning Behind Chimney Rock, Colorado, 1989 Photograph by James L. Amos
Trails of lightning backlight Chimney Rock in southwest Colorado’s San Juan National Forest. Home to ancestors of the Pueblo Indians more than 1,000 years ago, the area around Chimney Rock has been a designated archaeological area and national historic site since 1970.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Life and Times of William Henry Jackson: Photographing the Frontier,” February 1989, National Geographic magazine)
Irrigation Fields, Qatar, 2003 Photograph by Robb Kendrick
Irrigated crop fields stand out starkly against an expanse of Qatari desert. Such farms provide Qataris with some fruits and vegetables, but most of their food is imported. Government efforts to increase domestic agriculture are complicated by the paucity of fresh water in this parched desert nation.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Revolution From the Top Down: Qatar,” March 2003, National Geographic magazine)
Horse Herders, Darhad Valley, Mongolia, 2003 Photograph by Gordon Wiltsie
Mongolian herdsmen drive horses back into the Darhad Valley after wintering on the other side of the 10,000-foot (3,000-meter) mountains that rise in the background. People have moved their herds over these mountains for generations. But a government effort to transition Mongolia’s nomadic people to more stable urban lives could soon mean the end of this twice-yearly trek.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Mongolian Crossing: Is Time Running Out on Timeless Migration?” October 2003, National Geographic magazine)
Mudbrick Houses, Shibam, Yemen, 2005 Photograph by George Steinmetz
The city of Shibam, Yemen, rises from the Rub al Khali, or Empty Quarter, a sea of sand that occupies one-fifth of the Arabian Peninsula. The distinctive mud-brick skyscrapers that house Shibam’s 5,000 residents have earned the city its nickname: “Manhattan of the Desert.”
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Empty Quarter: Exploring Arabia’s Legendary Sea of Sand,” February 2005, National Geographic magazine)
