This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
In precious but crucial spare moments, I am pedaling my bicycle up and down the hills of the Apache Trail in the Superstition Mountains, trekking in an out of the Grand Canyon, or exploring some of the wild places in Arizona I refer to as More than Four Corners.
Wolf Canyon in the Escalante area of southwest Utah, iyou may gaze at 200 milion year old fossil trees. Nearby, from WaterPocket Fold, are spectacular views of the Henry Mountains, the last named mountain range in the USA. As you travel, keep an eye out for Americanized patriotic scenes; Red and White sandstone against a Blue sky.
Over there in California loom the Sierra Nevada, where majestic Lone Pine Peak looks over the Owens Valley. Nearby, the highest elevation in the 48 contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, looms even higher.... Although it is more than 300 miles distant, Mono Lake drains as the City of Lost Angeles sucks way from the sources that supply the lake. In the Owens Valley is a hidden spring-fed marsh known as Fish Slough in the shadow of the Sierra Peaks such as Mt Tom.
Perhaps it is far-fetched, but maybe L.A. soon will resemble more the shifting sands of Death Valley. Take in the remarkable vistas here as you descend below sea level and hit the lowest of lows at a spa called "Badwater".
Not much farther away is the quaint little ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada. Yes, there are many fine hotels and eating establishments here!
Scared of/to death? Not if you had a face like this skull, that we found in the Sierra Ancha of Arizona. Never did figure out who the original owner was. How about our Arizona Anglo-fied place names? We have a Table Mesa ("table table") and a Picahco Peak ("peak peak"). Go figure figure.
You are welcome to use these images!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.