I'm in love with the beauty of the western landscapes. But at the same time, I know that without the car, this place would be frightening and dangerous. I delighted when the ground went from green to brown as I drove west, and the land went from gentle hills to gigantic, ragged rocks. But it is only because there is so much land like Nebraska and Iowa that I'm in a position to see these desiccated landscapes as beautiful. Without all the affluence produced on that land I snub, I would have to see all this as a tragic wasteland.
But it's beautiful, isn't it?
Helping make it beautiful:
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Great photos! They should use that second one in Audi brochures.
Wow. My paternal family's home country. Not beautiful, but sublime.
Though the Plains States are fecund and bountiful, they don't have the visual splendor and terrifying (as well as terrific) grandeur of the great empty spaces of the West.
The great emptiness is enjoyable in a car, but the threat of death faced by those that braved this expanse in the past is easy to imagine when you drive mile after mile in that phantasmagoric terrain.
Which makes this little article in the LAT about ultramarathoners, running in Death Valley during July, doubly impressive (or crazy).
(and anyone who drives from LA to Las Vegas more than once or twice, try the trip through Death Valley instead of the easier route on I-15)
(plus this time a year, you're likely to see automakers doing their hot weather stress testing and can glimpse the cars of 2-3 years from now)
Also, I agree, great pictures.
Ohhhh, I like the car but I figured you for a Mercedes, a larger car with a soft ride. Thank God for cruise control,eh? That rascal looks like it could get you alot of speeding tickets.
God, I love Utah. If it wasn't so twilight zone, we'd move there in a heartbeat.
You havnt lived till you have driven through the Salt Lake Desert in the middle of a summer salt storm.
You havnt lived till you have driven through the Salt Lake Desert in the middle of a summer salt storm.
Development will push out that way.
30 years from now, the hillsides will be graded. Tract home subdivisions will be put up in the thousands, and you will see the big box superstores in place of the open spaces.
It's already happening. The Indians are trading their reservations for casinos, and Public open spaces are being sold off to private developers.
Enjoy it while you can.
Mark my words. That area will not look the same, 30 years from today.
Peace, Maxine
The American West's greatest gift to everyone is its emptiness. Yes, I know its population is growing, but it's still hugely empty. Helps put people in their proper perspective.
Another aspect I appreciate is the West's atmospheric aridity — it's just more comfortable out there for the most part. I'll take Phoenix at 113° F and 15% relative humidity over New York at 90° and 70%. (Want to experience nirvana? Try 85° and 5%.)
Aridity also shapes the landscape by how the rocks weather. In the West, igneous rocks made of discrete mineral crystals (granites for example) weather faster than do sedimentary rocks such as sandstones and limestones. This is the inverse of what happens in the humid east.
The reason is that limestones (for example) dissolve relatively quickly when lots of slightly acidic rain falls on them, which is common in the east.
The west's dry air (especially at altitudes above 2,500 feet) cools off dramatically at night, with 30° day/night differences being routine.
In a dry climate, a large daily heating cycle has relatively little effect on those sandstones and limestones, but it causes the crystals in granites to expand and contract at different rates. This physically breaks down the rock's fabric — to see wonderful examples of this in action, visit Joshua Tree Nat'l Monument.
So enjoy!
But it is only because there is so much land like Nebraska and Iowa that I'm in a position to see these desiccated landscapes as beautiful. Without all the affluence produced on that land I snub, I would have to see all this as a tragic wasteland.
Food for thought.
Ann,
As a Nebraska native, thanks for pointing out the affluence/privilege thng about the different landscapes. As a current resident of NYC, I feel the same way about Manhattan: without the bounty of flyover country, the peaks and valleys here would be just so much wasteland.
It all reminds me of this Onion story: 'Midwest' Discovered Between East, West Coasts
Holy shnikies! What kind of lens is that in the second photo?
Arches NP?
I prefer to do the desert states in February, myself. That way you don't feel like you're stepping into a convection oven when you get out of the car...
If I recall correctly, you are leasing the Audi. How many miles are included w/your lease and what is the charge for extra miles? How is it that you manage to drive across the country in a leased vehicle?
Nice shiny car against the red rock -- the favorite image of car advertizing.
So will there be a San Jose meet up? Could I convince you to consider Palo Alto?
So will there be a San Jose meet up? Could I convince you to consider Palo Alto?
Wonder if we were on the road at the same time? I spent the night before in Fruita (CO) and then I came through 40 miles north of Moab on I-70 about 7 a.m. on 7/26 on my way to Las Vegas. I usually turn south at Crescent Junction (though the Colo. River route from Cisco to Moab is a lot prettier) on my way to AZ (I do it enough that I can recite the towns by memory: Moah, Monticello, Blanding, Bluff, Mexican Hat, Kayenta (where I always stop at the Burger King - where they have a Code Talkers exibit), Tuba City, and then Flagstaff, and give you the distances between them).
Its actually a bit interesting, as you move from mountainous Colorado to all those spectacular rock formations through Utah (as Ann is showing here), and into the desert in AZ. Surprisingly, there isn't as much overlap as you would expect, given that the borders were drawn on a map with a staight edged ruler. Its always a bit weird hitting the Utah desert within a couple of miles of the CO/UT line, and then hit the real desert as you enter Monument Valley, and then hit the AZ border half way through it.
As I indicated through, I stuck with I-70, and there is a stretch starting a dozen or so miles west of Crescent Junction, right at Green River, where the sign on I-70 says "No Services for the Next 100 Miles", and they aren't kidding - though there is a rest stop about 90 miles in to that stretch. And then, all of a sudden, after 100 miles of rock formations, you all of a sudden find yourself in well irrigated Utah farm land.
Being from CO, my preference, of course, is for our mountains. But after that, I will easily pick the UT rocklands, as pictured here by Ann. For me, AZ and NV are mostly desolate desert - which is nice, just not as nice, from my point of view. The desert provides a lot of tranquility, whereas all those spectacular rock formations in Utah merely provide a lot of glorious scenery.
I am back in CO for the weekend, with my car in AZ, so I will be driving back up through that area in another week or so.
Lucus
I am not really dissing AZ, as I spent a number of years there (and a couple in UT also - but SLC, which is very different from Moab, both socially, and as to scenery). Indeed, I will be back there in a couple of days. Yes, I know that much of AZ is not desert. But so much of it is - that is still by general impression of the state: high desert, low desert, but still arid desert.
I often head back to CO driving NE from Phoenix, and you very quickly get into pine trees, and stay with them for most of the way up until shortly before you hit I-40. And Flagstaff is almost indistinguishable ecologically from where I used to live (at about the same elevation) west of Denver in the mountains. And, I spent a summer during college in Prescott - again heavily wooded. But the state is still primarily desert - mostly w/o the spectacular rock formations you see in UT.
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