Two Valleys

Continuing our tour of the incredible Colorado Plateau (which encompasses nine National Parks and 18 National Monuments), we visited iconic Monument Valley and the magnificently desolate Death Valley. Monument Valley is known for enormous buttes that tower over the landscape.

West Mitten Butte, Monument Valley

Butte, Monument Valley

According to the Park Service Death Valley is the hottest, driest, and lowest of the national parks. Located in the Mojave Desert, it also contains extraordinarily complex geology and land forms. We didn't know what to expect, but we were amazed and thrilled by all we saw.

Badlands from Zabriskie Point, Death Valley

Mosaic Canyon, Death Valley

Badlands and Red Cathedral Rocks, Death Valley

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Susan and I took our third cross-country drive recently. There's no end to the natural beauty in the U.S. We were delighted by landscapes as varied as the lush rolling cornfields of Iowa and the stark desolation of Death Valley. Last year we visited White Sands National Monument and loved it, so we included more dunes this year. The most magnificent are those in Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado, the tallest in North America at up to 750 feet. We were fortunate to be there for sunrise one morning. It was a very exciting time.

Sunrise, Great Sand Dunes and Sangre de Cristo Mountains

Even in full sun, the dunes are beautifully sinuous. Hiking on them isn't easy but gives you an appreciation of their size (you can see hikers in the lower right corner).

Great Sand Dunes National Monument

Great Sand Dunes 2

The effects of sand movement are also visible at small scale. This is a small "avalanche" of sand flowing down the lee side of a dune from the crest.

Sand Flow on Dune Crest

Only small amounts of vegetation exist in the harsh environment of the dunes.

Dune Plants