Photo of the Day 210

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)