More than 300,000 people visit Enchanted Rock State Natural Area each year, and a majority of them test their legs on the Summit Trail. The nearly mile-long trail climbs to the 1,823-foot peak of the park’s namesake granite dome, an ancient geologic formation known as a batholith. Austin-based photographer Kenny Braun took this photo in July 2014 while hiking the Summit Trail with his daughter. Though Braun has been taking photographs at Enchanted Rock since the mid-1990s, he says each visit introduces new perspectives. “To me it looks different every time I go out there because the light is different, the weather is different,” Braun says. “You could never get bored photographing all the angles out there, but in the summertime you’ve got to be careful because it gets hot.” Indeed, the park’s average high temperature in May, 83 degrees, can feel blazing on the exposed granite.
