Photo of the Day 258

Sandstone Pillars, Sahara Desert, Chad, 1999

Photograph by George Steinmetz

Spires of eroded sandstone stand like ancient pillars in the red dunes of Chad's Karnasai Valley in the central Sahara desert. Fierce winds, punishing sandstorms, and occasional douses of rain are slowly turning these rock formations back into the sand from which they were made.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Journey to the Heart of the Sahara," March 1999, National Geographic magazine)