Here are some more pictures from our WIT Grand Circle Tour and Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Rally.
Arches National Park is an interesting place - lots of red rock and sand.
The arches were formed by errosion and weathering. In many cases the freeze and thaw cycle simply caused pieces of roock to fall away, leaving the arches.
The Grand Canyon is something else to see. The North Rim is significantly less built-up as compared to the South Rim. But it has its own beauty. While there, a ranger gave a talk and guided walk on taking pictures in the Grand Canyon. Most of these pictures are from Bright Angel Point.
The width of the Grand Canyon varies, but from where we were it was about 13 miles across to the South Rim. The Colorado river is 5000 feet (like a mile) down. It looks real small from where we were.
The South Rim is significantly more commercial with bus tours, campgrounds, shops, hotels and miles of roads. There are even typical facilities associated with any reasonably-sized communities. Here are some South Rim pictures.
An interesting note; we had a tour with a ranger that tried to provide a perspective of the "time" associated with the Grand Canyon. At one point she stopped and said that the dinosaurs came and went about 150 feet below where we were standing. She talked about the layers of rock from where we were to the bottom of the Colorado river - which you recall is a mile down. The rock at the bottom is over 2.5 billion (with a B) years old - we are talking Carl Sagan numbers here.
Mesa Verde is a most interesting place. Native American Indians had a thriving community here long before the Europeans arrived. They departed for places unknown at some point (about 1250 AD) for some reason, still debated by experts today.
The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Rally was much more than we imagined. The balloon festivals we have been to in New England had dozens of balloons at best; here there were hundreds (the unoffical number of entrants was 500).
For the morning ascensions they lifted off in waves from an huge field.
Bryce Canyon is known for its HooDoos, these are tall spire like structures. These are very different than the formations that are found in most other places.
Zion National Park is different than some of the other parks we visited. There is a river running through the vally and it has high, step clifs surrounding the valley; thus the valley floor is lush with vegetation.
It must be very nice in the Spring when the new growth arrives.
Our stop in Flagstaff Arizona included a visit to Montezuma Castle National Monument and an opportunity for some side trips. We managed to visit 3 places on Route 66 and a small airplane museum. Some of the planes are actually flown for promotions or movies.
The song "Take It Easy" by The Eagles certainly comes to mind when Winslow Arizona is mentioned. Click here for music.
Capitol Reef National Park was formed by a combination glacial action and erosion.
Canyon Lands National Park is located near Arches, but has a different topology. In these pictures we can see the Green River. This empties into the Colorado River far in the distance.
Glen Canyon National Recration Area - Lake Powell is a flood control dam on the Colorado River. Once the Glen Canyon Dam was completed it took 17 years for the lake to fill. There is a hydro electric facility at the dam, but the primary purpose is to control the flow of the Colorado River down stream from this point.
