Calf Creek, Escalante Canyons

East of Bryce Canyon and west of Capitol Reef national parks lies a large rugged region known as Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. A mosaic of BLM and state lands covering more than 1,500 square miles, it was the last area in the continental U.S. to be mapped. We had just one day to see some tiny portion of it. As always, a visitors center gave us great advice: we decided to hike Calf Creek in the Escalante Canyons area. It's a "moderately strenuous" in-and-back hike totaling six miles, with a 120-foot waterfall at the turnaround.

Calf Creek trail

As in much of southern Utah, the rocks and topography are spectacular.

Rock Wall, Calf Creek canyon

Calf Creek prominences

After three miles uphill in warm weather, through a lot of deep sand, the waterfall and pool were a very welcome oasis.

Lower Calf Creek Falls

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

White Sands

Susan and I traveled west by car again this year, and once again were thrilled by the beauty of our country. One of our favorite spots was White Sands National Monument, in southern New Mexico about 50 miles north of El Paso. It's an area of 275 square miles of gypsum sand, including extensive dune fields, that defy description. The play of light over the dazzling white sands is serene and almost otherworldly. Even amidst the scenic wonders of New Mexico it is a standout.

Dunes and San Andres Mountains, White Sands National Monument, NM

Sand Strata and Yucca, White Sands National Monument, NM

Dunes, White Sands National Monument, NM

American Landscapes: Water

Much of the west is dry, but we also saw beautiful coasts, rivers and lakes.

California Coast at Gualala

St Marys River at Pine Island, Ontario

Point Arena Lighthouse and marine sanctuaries, California

Lake Tahoe, Nevada/California

American Landscapes: Hills

On our road trip we saw lots of lovely landscapes. Many of those that made us pull over to take pictures were mountains and hills. Not too surprising, since we live in the East and don't see much elevation in our everyday lives. I suspect that even those who see them often still get a bit of a thrill from the hills.

Hills, Southern Idaho

Powder River Pass, Wyoming

Devils Tower, Wyoming

Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming

American Landscapes: Badlands

It's tempting to put badlands in quotes, because "bad" isn't the adjective that comes to mind: "strange", "tortuous", or even "severe" seem better. But apparently early europeans called them bad because they were difficult to traverse, and the name stuck.

"Extensive" is another adjective. The badlands cover more than two hundred square miles in North Dakota and South Dakota, in Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Badlands National Park respectively. A casual tourist can see wonderful sites but to see it all would take a long, long time. We were happy we could at least visit both parks.

The northern badlands were cloaked in haze from large fires to the west, but the vistas were beautiful nevertheless. A memorable hike led to a vantage point overlooking a group of grazing bison. My preconceived notion of the badlands as barren was wrong. They have colors, textures and life.

Painted Canyon, Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Bison, Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Jones Creek, Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Yellow Mound Formation, Badlands National Park

American Landscapes: Canyons

Susan and I took a long road trip to the U.S. West Coast and back, driving 8,200 miles over 38 days. Loving landscapes as I do, this journey thrilled me. The scale and variety of the terrain and vegetation kept us enthralled through many hours in the car, and made every hike unique.

Some of the most enchanting scenes were in canyons. One chilly morning in South Dakota we drove through Spearfish Canyon, where the Ponderosa pines on the hills were frosted and the cottonwoods at lower elevations still had their autumn yellows.

Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota

Another morning found us in Twin Falls exploring the Snake River Canyon near the Perrinne Bridge.

Snake River Canyon at Twin Falls, Idaho

Wyoming had two canyons we loved: On the Wind River in central Wyoming, and Ten Sleep Canyon at the western edge of the Big Horn mountains.

Hillside in Wind River Canyon, Wyoming

Ten Sleep Canyon, Wyoming

Outside of Bozeman, Montana we hiked in Cottonwood Canyon along South Cottonwood Creek.

Cottonwood Canyon, Montana

There seems to be no end to the beauty in our country, let alone in our continental neighbor, Canada, where we also traveled. Pictures from north of the border in an upcoming post.