Cuernos del Paine, Golden Sunrise, Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile

High-rise horns

Here in Chilean Patagonia, mountains like the Cuernos del Paine are often shrouded in mist. But the clouds cleared and the sunset hit just right for this shot, offering us a peek at these peaks' unique geology. Ancient glaciers stripped much of this mountain chain to its granite bones. You can see this granite exposed in the broad, light-colored stripe across the base of the Cuernos (meaning 'horns'). But the glaciers spared the peaks' caps, leaving dark patches of sedimentary rock. Geologists call this feature a 'roof pendant'—we call it the crown on a majestic massif.