Palomino Princess

Photographer: JoEtta Abo
Summary Author: Jim Foster, JoEtta Abo 

Known locally as The Palomino Princess, this rock face formation is a few feet off a backcountry trail in southern Idaho. It’s within a day’s journey on horseback, out on the Palomino Bench, near Murphy Hot Springs, Idaho, not far from the Nevada border. The face is a result of thousands of years of weathering on this basalt outcrop. In spring when snowmelt occurs, the princess is said to look like she’s crying. The Palomino Princess is an example of our brain creating recognizable objects from inanimate random objects -- the psychological phenomenon known as pareidolia. Photo taken on September 16, 2007.

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