Pinnacle Peak, Scottsdale, Arizona USA in Arizona

This highly visible peak is located in north Scottsdale. The peak has always been something out there on the horizon but we finally decided to take a hike (walk) around the peak. It turns out to be a nice hike with beautiful views of the city. There are a number of trails and you could spend an hour or most of a day walking the trails and looking at the lush Arizona Sonora Desert. OK, so this is only viable about three or maybe five months of the year, realistically, it gets well over 100 degrees and no hike in the desert is advised.

View of Mesa, Arizona USA LDS Temple in Arizona

Nearly every day of the week, I come by or to the Mesa, Arizona Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I work at the Mesa Family History Center right across the street as a volunteer helping people with their genealogy. Sometimes familiar places have a tendency to become invisible. I hope that never happens to me.

Old Cochise County Courthouse, Tombstone, Arizona USA in Arizona

One time we drove across the mountains just east of Tombstone from Cochise Stronghold to Tombstone. It is an interesting drive across a low range of very rugged mountains on a very rough road. A short distance into the mountains we had a flat tire. I am very used to changing flat tires so that was not a problem, but the spare was also almost flat. We drove very slowly across the mountains and got the spare filled and a new tire. We visited the old Cochise County Courthouse, shown above, which is a lovely museum. When we came out we had another flat tire. It was then back to the tire repair place and the purchase of another tire. Some trips are more memorable than others.

Weathered Sandstone

Sandstone is far from homogeneous. It is formed in layers of sand and mud with differing conditions. When the rock becomes exposed to the elements, it weathers in a variety of forms and patterns. One of the most enjoyable things about walking around in northern Arizona is looking at the sandstone and the sand that comes from it.

Lava Flow

This is Arizona's most recent lava flow. This particular volcanic flow is dated to between 1064 and 1065 A.D. As I travel around the state I find that many of the lava flows, even those much, much older, still look fresh and unweathered. I always wonder why none of the volcanic cones or lava flows are still active? Arizona is almost entirely seismically quiet. The only earthquakes are very small and are mostly centered in the extreme northern and western part of the state. It is interesting to speculate why.

Rock Canyon

The Wasatch Front is a dramatic mountain escarpment that runs north and south through northern Utah. The Wasatch Mountains form the eastern side of most of the northern Utah valleys, including Salt Lake Valley and Utah Valley. I have spent a good deal of my life along and in the Wasatch Mountains. One of the smaller canyons, is Rock Canyon, highly visible from Provo, Utah. It is a lovely canyon for a quick hike into the mountains and during the spring runoff, the creek can be running and adds a melodious touch to the hike. I love the desert in Arizona where I live, but I also love the mountains.

Touring Underground

Copper Queen Mine Entrance, Bisbee, Arizona in Arizona

We have been down to Bisbee several times to take the Queen Mine Tour. It is always an interesting experience. We generally go when we take someone who has never been before. Bisbee is almost on the border with Mexico. When you drive South out of town, you can see over into Mexico. The town itself is sort of quirky. Years ago it was full of older hippie types, but now it seems more focused on retirement. There used to be a huge selection of art cars. These have given way to tourists. It is still and interesting place to explore and go sight-seeing. Arizona does not have one big theme park. No Disneyland, no Sea World, no MGM Studios, but it has whole towns that are like amusement parks. Bisbee is one of them and you don't have to pay a huge fee to go into the town. Also, with any luck you can get out without spending a fortune also.

Navajo Bridge

Along the hundreds of miles of the Colorado River in Northern Arizona, there are only four places the river can be crossed, two are footbridges at the bottom the Grand Canyon. One is the bridge at Hoover dam (technically two places now because you can drive over the dam) and this one; Navajo Bridge. If you are going to get technical there are two bridges here also. The old bridge is now confined to foot traffic and the new bridge, the one above, is the one used by cars. I have traveled over this bridge hundreds of times driving back and forth to Utah. The old bridge (not shown) was built in 1927-29. The new bridge shown above, was completed in 1995. One notable event was seeing the California Condors that roost on the new bridge.

Yuma Territorial Prison Cemetery, Yuma, Arizona USA in Arizona

The Cemetery for the Yuma Territorial Prison is next to the prison on a slight rise above the Colorado River. There were a total of 111 prisoner deaths during the time the prison was in operation. 104 persons, all prisoners, were buried at the cemetery. I think this is one of the saddest cemeteries I have visited.


The Yuma Territorial Prison is located on the Colorado River near downtown Yuma, Arizona. In former times, the Prison was isolated, but today, it is next to a busy transcontinental rail line and an interstate highway. The site is currently maintained as a State Park. This photo shows the annual Gathering of the Gunfighters where actors portray old time shootouts. The first prisoners built their own cells in 1876. A total of 3,069 prisoners, including 29 women were incarcerated in this prison. Temperatures in the summer are sometimes over 120 degrees Fahrenheit and conditions in the prison were humanely administered and it was a “model” prison during its 30 years of operation. The prisoners had access to regular medical attention and a good hospital. After the prison closed, the building was used for a high school. During the 1920s and later during the Great Depression the building was used to house the homeless.

Collapsed Lava Tube

It is difficult to understand what you are looking at in this picture. This is a collapsed lava tube near Sunset Crater in Sunset Crater/Wupatki National Monument in northern Arizona. These are dormant volcanoes. In some volcanic eruptions there are lava flows that come from a vent in the earth. The hot lava flows out over the ground and forms a lava field. Occasionally, some of the lava will harden before the vent stops pouring out lava, in that case the hot lava finds its way through the solidified rock, sometimes if the lava flow is constant enough, the lava will form channels, like streams, through the previously solidified rock. In some cases, the top of the stream of hot lava will also solidify and form a lava tube. The lava will continue to flow through the tube, slowly extending it out across the ground. When the lava stream stops, the still hot lava in the tube runs out, leaving the tube empty. This photo is one of those lava tubes where the rocks on top of the tube have fallen down into the space the lava left.

If the tube is big enough and strong enough not to collapse, sometimes you can get into the lava tubes and follow them. We have been in a few lava tubes, some of which go for more than a mile under the rock. They are similar to a cave and are sometimes called lava caves.

A Point of View

When I had a picture of the Grand Canyon, I called attention to the horizon showing the flat Colorado Plateau. This is a picture of Bryce Canyon looking off to the southeast. I have probably said before that Bryce really isn't a canyon at all, but a long eroded mesa. It is really a series of small canyons all connected by a ridge line. So, depending on your point of view, it is or is not a canyon.

There is another point of view suggested by this picture. Unless you click on the image and magnify it a little, you will probably miss the long distance view of the mountains in the background. Not the hills behind the cliffs, but the mountain way over there on the horizon. You can see Navajo Mountain, most of which is in the State of Utah but some of which is in Arizona. By road, Navajo Mountain is over 250 miles from Bryce Canyon. In a straight line it is about 60 miles away. Any day is an extraordinary day when you can see over 50 miles.

A Grand Perspective

When you are in Grand Canyon, you feel like you are walking inside a high range of mountains. This photo shows something of that perspective. If I didn't tell you that this was the Grand Canyon, likely you would think this a mountain landscape. I think this is much like life, you can't really see the big picture because you are too much immersed in the valleys of life. You need to make the effort, on occasion, to climb out of the valley and look at the larger picture which gives an eternal perspective.

As a note, in the background you can see a lot of smoke. This is the effect of the "controlled burns" on the Kaibab Plateau which makes up the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Other haze in the Canyon comes from large coal burning power plants.

Looking at the South Rim

When you look at a photograph of the Grand Canyon, you naturally focus on the colorful cliffs in the Canyon. But look carefully at the horizon in this photo panorama looking south to the South Rim. Do you notice how straight the Rim actually is? Do you understand that what you are looking at is the Colorado Plateau at about 7000 feet above Sea level. This huge plateau is absolutely flat in the area of the South Rim. You can see the San Francisco Peaks of volcanic origin on the far horizon. Sometimes you need to look around in a photo to see what it really is trying to show you. As usual, you can see this image better by clicking on it.

Trumpet Vine

Some of my early memories are associated with trumpet vine. We had these vines growing on a lattice next to our home. As a child, I was fascinated with these flowers that look just like their name. We used to pull them out of their bases and suck the sweet nectar from the bottom of the flowers. This was probably an activity discouraged by adults but memorable to children. I have no idea if the flower's nectar was or is edible, but we didn't recognize those kinds of distinctions. I think this kind of flower is supposed to come from China, but I have no idea how they got to my small town in Arizona.

Sunset over the Grand Canyon

Photography is about light. In the early morning and towards evening the light changes as the atmosphere absorbs more and more of the yellow sunlight and appears to be redish or orange. The red sunlight of the evening brings out the redish hue of the rocks and highlights the white and yellow limestone cap of rocks on the North Rim. Understanding the physics of how the light changes enhances the experience.

Colorado River at Yuma

This is a small version of a 61 MB panorama of the Colorado River as it runs by downtown Yuma, Arizona. You definitely need to click on the photo to see anything. If you read this blog at all, you probably have figured out that I really like panoramic photography. The reason is pretty simple, you get an expansive view of the landscape and most of the landscape I look at is pretty expansive in itself. This picture is interesting because a little ways down river, virtually all of the Colorado's water is diverted off into canals, leaving the river almost dry by the time it enters the Gulf of California aka Sea of Cortez.

The Endless Canyon

I think most people are drawn to the Grand Canyon simply because it is famous and a "must see" attraction. As I may have previously related, my first memorable visit to the South Rim at Grand Canyon Village involved getting out of the car, looking at the Canyon, getting back into the car and driving onto another location. It took a few years for me to appreciate what I saw and what I would see on subsequent visits. My initial visit was highly influenced by the number of people on the South Rim. Despite the crowds, if you are willing to drive and/or walk, and if you want to find solitude, you can really get away from it all at the Grand Canyon. Particularly on the North Rim, where this picture was taken, we have spent almost an entire day and seen no more than twenty people, and most of those were driving on the dirt roads, rather than walking around.

Once you drop below the Rim this whole perspective changes. There is nothing but the Canyon. On the corridor train between the North Rim and Grand Canyon Village, there is a constant stream of hikers and people on mules, but leave that heavily traveled trail and you may not see anyone in a week.

Columbine

One of my favorite wild flowers is the columbine. There are several varieties. We found these growing along the highway on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. During that entire trip, we saw only this one small clump of flowers. We had no place to stop the car and so we drove to the next turn out and parked, then walked back down the road to get a photo of the flowers. It was worth stopping and worth the effort.

New Growth

New growth is always tender and tentative. As we branch out in life and try something new, it may or may not survive the test of time. But we either continue to grow or begin to die. I recently watched two old grapefruit trees we had in our front yard lose the battle. They kept putting out new growth every year, but overall they lost more than they gained and ultimately they had to be removed. As we grow older, do we constantly try to gain more than we lose? I talked to an accountant last night who is as old or older than I am, but he is still working full-time at his profession. He may be failing to make new growth faster than he is losing the old.

Looking Down From the North Rim

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is about 1000 feet higher than the South Rim, so when you are looking out across the Canyon from the north to south, you are in a real sense looking down on the Canyon. The cliffs are substantially higher and you can see over the Canyon onto the Plateau. This is evident by the faint outlines of the San Francisco Peaks on the horizon. If you hike from Rim to Rim (about 24 miles or so of trail) it is best to start on the North Rim and hike to the South Rim because you have 1000 feet less uphill trail. There are those who hike Rim to Rim to Rim and in that case you probably want to start at the South Rim because your last uphill climb would be lower. I can imagine hiking some 48 miles in one day, but it is not a pleasant thought. I will mention those who hike Rim to Rim to Rim to Rim but I don't understand them, they can get a similar experience by hiking into the Superstition Mountains on practically any of the back country trails if they just want punishment.

The biggest obstacle to hiking in the Grand Canyon, in my opinion, is the temperature differential between the top and the bottom of the Canyon. The main corridor trails aren't particularly hard to travel but if you leave the main trails you have just stepped off into an entirely different world. You need a permit from the National Park Service to travel outside of the main trails on day hikes or to camp in the Canyon.

Looking and Seeing

Sometimes when we look we do not see. The distance and the colors can keep us from seeing the shapes and textures. The Canyon is mostly about form and textures. By taking out most of the color, you can appreciate the form and texture. From day to day in our lives, sometimes we have to look past the obvious, the color, and see through to the form and texture.

Canyon Sunrise

Nature invented abstract art long before painters coined the term and started emphasizing the contrast between colors and light and dark. Rather than the uniform blue sky or clouds of the most common photos of the Canyon, the sky here is a uniform gray. The reason is that periodically, the National Forest Service conducts controlled fire burns on the North Rim to protect the forest from catastrophic forest fires. As a result, the Canyon is filled with haze and smoke. You can see the layers of smoke against the far Canyon wall. The smoke appears as a white cloud in the sky. This is another of those pictures that must be clicked on to see the detail. 

The Old Barn

This barn is a type or symbol of the transience of everything human. Within a few years, there will be almost no evidence of its existence. It is only by focusing on things that are truly eternal and unchanging that we can overcome the limitations of mortality. As the Apostle Paul wrote in the New Testament,
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Subtlety of the Desert

The desert is subtle rather than ostentatious. If you look closely at this rather sparse looking photo, you will see that the desert floor is carpeted with small daisy-like flowers. In the desert you have to look at the details or you will miss the entire message. It is too easy to dismiss the desert as a brown expanse under a blue sky, but that is like dismissing some people because they don't dress the way you think they should. The closer you look at people and the desert, the more interesting they become. You have to spend more time and slow down to get to know both people and the desert.

Bryce Hoodoos

The condition of the rocks in Bryce National Park is absolutely perfect for the formation of hoodoos, that is unconnected rock spires. The spaces in between the rocks is filled with an unconsolidated clay. The colors come from the mineralization of the iron in the clay between the rock ledges. You can see the same forces at work in a sandbox or sand pile with different layers of wet and dry sand. The slopes below the cliffs lie at the angle of repose, that is the optimal angle for particles in an unconsolidated pile. What is surprising about Bryce is the color and extent of the eroded surfaces.

Angel's Window

There is a difference between a window, an arch and a bridge. All of these terms are used to designate holes in cliffs and rocks. A window is a naturally forming hole through a narrow rock ridge. This picture shows a famous window on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon called Angel's Window. You might have to click on the photo to see it clearly. The window is actually quite large, but the size of the Canyon makes everything look small from a distance.

An arch is a free standing window. The most famous arch is Delicate Arch in Arches National Park in Utah. A bridge is an arch that is over a watercourse. There are a large number of examples in Bridges National Monument in Utah. Whether the feature is a window, an arch or a bridge, they are fascinating natural features.

Thor's Hammer Bryce Canyon

These free standing spires are called hoodoos. Many have been given whimsical or mythological names over the years. In Norse mythology, Mjölnir (/ˈmjɒlnɪər/ or /ˈmjɒlnər/ myol-n(ee)r; also Mjǫlnir, Mjollnir, Mjölner or Mjølner) is the hammer of Thor, a major god associated with thunder in Norse mythology. Distinctively shaped, Mjölnir is depicted in Norse mythology as one of the most fearsome weapons, capable of leveling mountains. See Wikipedia:Mjölnir

That is quite a stretch for a rock formation but it is good public relations for Bryce Canyon National Park. Many of the rock formations throughout the Southwest bear the names of mythological beings or objects because the names reflect the cultural background of the early explorers and pioneers. It is interesting that by giving a rock formation an exotic name, more people will notice it and look for it when they visit the Park.

Arizona's Volcanoes

Arizona is home to two large volcanic fields. This one surrounds the San Francisco Peaks, mostly north of Flagstaff, Arizona. The second one is called the Springerville Volcanic Field and is one of the largest in the continental U.S. The San Francisco Volcanic Field covers about 1,800 square miles and and has hundreds of volcanoes including the San Francisco Peaks, with Humphreys Peak at 12,633 the highest point in Arizona. The Field also includes Sunset Crater, the most recently active volcano in Arizona. None of the volcanoes are presently active, but they cannot be considered dormant. We love the high peaks because they are visible from most of northern Arizona. If you look carefully at a photo of the Grand Canyon taken from the North Rim, you can see the mountains in the distance almost 100 miles away. I have hiked to the top of Humphreys several times and the views are spectacular.

The Little Colorado River

This is one of those photos that you need to click on to really see. The thumbnails shown in the blog post do not do justice to the scope of the original. I have spent a considerable portion of my life living around the Little Colorado River. This stream originates high in the White Mountains. Here is a photo of the same River but about 200 miles upstream.

How much of what I know and believe is influenced by the contrast between these two areas? I relate more to the vast spaces and barren desert of the panorama than I do to the cool mountain stream shown in the second picture. It is easy to see the beauty of the forested glen, but it takes work to appreciate the beauty of the desert plateau. I like the work part.

Powell Point, Grand Canyon National Park

Powell Point, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona USA in Arizona

Some of my earliest interest in the Grand Canyon came from reading about Powell's expeditions. This is one of the most spectacular points at which to view the Canyon.

Powell Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona commemorates the life of John Wesley Powell (1834 -1902), the head of the first expedition to successfully explore the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 1869 and 1872. Powell Point was the location of the dedication ceremony for the establishment of the National Park in 1920. There is a memorial to Powell built in 1919. Powell was the second director of the U.S. Geological Survey and also served as the Director of the Bureau of Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution. He lost an arm fighting in the U.S. Civil War and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel but was always referred to as “Major Powell.” He also helped found the Illinois Museum of Natural History and acted as curator, but left that position to conduct his explorations of the Western United States. His most famous book is The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, a compilation of his experiences on both Colorado River Expeditions.

Winter comes to the high country

I really have to think about Winter when it is almost 80 degrees here in Mesa on January 1st and the last time I wore a coat was late at night standing around watching fireworks. But the difference between our 1400 feet or so above sea level and 300 miles north and 7000 feet above sea level is dramatic. We can be basking in the warm sun while there is a blizzard going on at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Now I can tell you that when I took this picture, it was cold, really cold and the wind was blowing.  I just checked the weather and it is night time and 63 degrees in Mesa and 36 degrees at the Grand Canyon. The low tomorrow night will be 14 degrees. But, back here in the low desert, the low temperature will be 43 degrees. Our cold weather down here usually comes sometime in December. It is supposed to be 78 degrees tomorrow. I have had frost bite, chilblains, snow blindness, and a lot of other bad things, but I still don't mind cold weather at all. It might as well be below zero for all that I go outside anymore.