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Post by nycgirl on Apr 4, 2014 21:57:36 GMT
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Post by htmb on Apr 4, 2014 22:41:20 GMT
Boy's photos are fabulous!!! Are those stars I see in the last photo? More, please...
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Post by nycgirl on Apr 5, 2014 2:03:36 GMT
Thanks, wish I could take credit for them! Sometimes I have a friendly debate with my husband over which photos are mine, but since I wasn't there...
Yep, those are stars. The stars in the southwest are insanely brilliant, even during twilight, due to a combination of high elevation, low humidity, and low pollution. Places that are less populous than Zion have even better stars because of the lack of light pollution.
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Post by nycgirl on Apr 5, 2014 5:56:49 GMT
Just a couple hours drive away is the dramatically different landscape of Bryce National Park with its amphitheaters of colorful hoodoos.   Outside of Bryce are hills formed by layers of stone in various hues.  The vast badlands of Capitol Reef National Park.  I've been to Capitol Reef, but never to the Cathedral Valley section of the park, named for its soaring "temples" of red sandstone. Here is the Temple of the Moon...  ... and here the Temple of the Sun towers over the Temple of the Moon to the left.   |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2014 7:15:26 GMT
Those photos are absolutely fantastic. I am pleased to see that the roads are as empty as ever, because I haven't been there for at least 20 years and I always worry that it might suddenly become "popular." Luckily, the majority don't have the stamina or the zen attitude that it takes to cover all of the distances and the riding through hours of endless scrub. I would imagine that in modern times a lot of people might even freak out by not seeing enough bars on their mobile phones.
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Post by mossie on Apr 5, 2014 7:31:19 GMT
Super photos, make me really envious.
The photos of Zion Canyon reminded me of the Siq which leads into Petra, and doubtless that was formed in a similar way.
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Post by htmb on Apr 5, 2014 12:39:40 GMT
I love the photo with the tiny car for contrast. One must feel so small in a place like this!
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Post by nycboy on Apr 6, 2014 0:57:52 GMT
I love the photo with the tiny car for contrast. One must feel so small in a place like this! Small indeed, that's actually a full-sized SUV! |
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Post by nycboy on Apr 6, 2014 0:59:14 GMT
Super photos, make me really envious. The photos of Zion Canyon reminded me of the Siq which leads into Petra, and doubtless that was formed in a similar way. I've been wanting to go there ever since Indiana Jones |
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Post by nycgirl on Apr 6, 2014 2:55:32 GMT
Next they hiked Little Wild Horse, a sinuous slot canyon with rippled wave patterns sculpted into the walls.  Flash floods continue to erode and alter the landscape. Here is a photo I took of my in-laws in the canyon in 2006.  And here is a photo my husband took of the same spot 6 years later.  On to Goblin Valley State Park, a playground of peculiar little hoodoos.  This one in the center looks to me like a roaring sphinx.  Sunset near Goblin Valley, with the Henry Mountains in the distance.  They hiked Horseshoe Canyon in Canyonlands National Park, home to a collection of petroglyphs created by Paleo-americans dating as far back as 7,000-9,000 BCE.   On the same hike are fossils of dinosaur footprints. This is from a three-toed predator (don't know which one).  And here is one of my favorite vistas in the world. Dead Horse Point overlooks rust-colored cliffs and mesas stretching for miles and miles and the mighty, green-tinged Colorado River snaking through them.  In Arches National Park, they hiked to the iconic, breathtakingly beautiful Delicate Arch.  That's all, until next time! And there will be a next time. |
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Post by htmb on Apr 6, 2014 3:53:49 GMT
All these photos are fantastic, but the one featuring the Colorado River is stunning!!!
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Post by fumobici on Apr 6, 2014 18:05:04 GMT
Like the Kruger, this is obviously a photographer's paradise. Thanks for sharing these amazing images.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2014 18:33:26 GMT
Truly astonishing photos, but they are sending my mind off in another direction. Thinking of global warming and all of the floods and tempests that have been ravaging the planet, I am wondering what various areas are going to look like as the centuries pass, taking into consideration the attempted intervention of our modern civilisation -- building dams, dikes, levees, etc. to prevent nature from doing what nature wants to do. What is going to happen to low cities like New York or London will be particularly interesting.
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Post by nycboy on Apr 7, 2014 16:04:34 GMT
It'll be just like Venice, "I'm swimmin' here!"
Seriously though, I wonder what will happen. Some models say that New York won't be effected by rising seas as much as other regions because of the bathymetry and currents. Cities like Vegas concern me more since it's pretty clear nature didn't provide the resources to support millions of people living in the desert. My company did the design of a new, lower water intake tunnel from Lake Mead to supply the city because the lake level has dropped so much over the past couple decades the old intakes could end up sucking air. The lake is formed by the Hoover Dam blocking the Colorado River, the most heavily contested river in the world. In most years it doesn't reach the ocean but at one time it (and it's tributaries) helped carve all the wonderful parks in the Southwest that I love. As a person involved in the civil engineering/infrastructure industry I feel conflicted to on one hand marvel at what man is able to accomplish yet on the other see how efficiently we can destroy the delicate balance of nature.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 7, 2014 16:29:26 GMT
Wonderful images, absolutely stunning. I am impressed  |
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Post by bjd on Apr 7, 2014 18:31:41 GMT
Yes indeed -- beautiful photos of incredible landscapes.
Whenever I read anything about climate change and the damage humans are causing, I can't help thinking that nature will win out, especially in places like the southwestern US. These areas were not made for golf courses, swimming pools and large populations.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2014 22:00:57 GMT
Cities like Vegas concern me more since it's pretty clear nature didn't provide the resources to support millions of people living in the desert. Abandoned desert cities have been the norm for centuries. There has not yet ever been an example where humans have won in this battle. |
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Post by mossie on Apr 8, 2014 14:54:02 GMT
I remember being told when I visited Vegas in 2003 that they were having to conserve water, hotel fountains and gardens had to be supplied by water recycled from their own bathrooms etc. Imagine Vegas finishing up like this  |
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Post by questa on Apr 9, 2014 7:29:13 GMT
Brilliant, fabulous, beautiful...everyone else has used all the adjectives. The photo from Dead Horse Point is unbelievable.
For some reason, Australia is much older than the rest of the world and most of its rocky ranges have worn down more.
If you Google 'Bungle-bungle ranges' you might see what these lovely formations may look like in a few millennia.
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Post by nycboy on Apr 9, 2014 18:44:10 GMT
Oh that is awesome, so photogenic. A happened upon a picture of the 'Rock Wave' recently, would love to shoot that as well.
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Utah 2013
Apr 9, 2014 19:19:17 GMT
via mobile
Post by Kimby on Apr 9, 2014 19:19:17 GMT
Love these images. Love canyon country.
The discussion of dams and deserts and climate change reminds me of a fascinating book I read recently called the Emerald Mile. It describes the 1983 El Niño weather events that led to near-failure of the Glen Canyon Dam, and the 3 river rat dory oarsmen who took advantage of the high water level/dam outflows to try to best the speed record for running the Grand Canyon.
(The book was made even more interesting by the coincidence that my parents had gone down the Grand Canyon on a dory trip less than 2 months before these events, and I know one of the Butte Ladies who was injured in the motor raft accident in Crystal Rapid.)
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