Just wow! The views are beyond amazing @ArchesNPS in #Utah! Pic by Dan Ransom pic.twitter.com/DOeR3Deu2K— US Dept of Interior (@Interior) June 12, 2016
Wow, indeed.
Remember the awesome beauty of America.
Please use the comment section to talk about any subject other than the terrible incident in Orlando, which is the subject of the previous 3 posts.
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65 comments:
We're going to St. George, Utah in the fall for three days. Any thoughts on nearby can't miss destinations? The arches unfortunately are too far.
Wednesday we go to Chicago and Saturday to La Salle IL where two of my great, great uncles are buried with their mother. Both died at Vicksburg although one died of his wounds two weeks later. Here is his last letter to his wife:
Floating Hospl Nashville
Near Vicksburg
May 17th 1863
Dear Wife,
I take this opportunity of writing you a few lines to inform you of my health. I received a wound in my left arm but it is doing well and I expect to go home as soon as the rush is over, they are not taking any up the river now but the worst cases, you need not worry about me for I am in a good place and when I go up the river I may have to stay at week or two before getting a chance to go on home. I received two letters from you while on the Black River on Sunday night and on Monday we established our lines around Vicksburg, we had them completely surrounded before there was a gun fired. The action commenced on Tuesday and had been kept up ever since. Sometimes very hard fighting and sometimes light. I was wounded on the 22nd while getting supplies to the Regiment. I was sent to this Hospital by way of the Yazoo and arrived here the night of the 23rd with about 350 others, the rest of the Lasalle boys were all safe the last I heard from them hoping these lines may find you in good health I bring this to a close from your absent
W.J. Kennedy
P.S. do not worry or fret about me for I am doing well and will go up the river in a few days
He died two weeks later. I have a half dozen of his letters. He was 34. His brother was 17.
One of my favorite places. America the beautiful indeed. Thanks for the opportunity to focus on something positive.
Steve, Snow Canyon State Park is just a few miles north of St George, much less crowded than Zion, and really beautiful. If you must do Zion, I'd recommend the north part of the park. Take a hike in the Kolob Terrace or Kolob Canyons sections.
steve uhr said...
We're going to St. George, Utah in the fall for three days.
The N. Rim of the Grand Canyon isn't too far (by local standards!), and if you're into desolation the desert N. of Beryl Junction will suffice.
That's why you travel.
Southern Utah canyons are not seen by the vast majority of Americans. You gotta want to get there. I have been there many times and will go many more. I rank the National Parks in this order, Bryce, Zion, Arches then Canyonlands. But hell, you can see breathtaking canyons just driving on I-70 and stopping @ rest stops.
steve uhr, consider Zion National Park.
Stan, Althouse is only comfortable staying @ home and reading about places. She will travel to Colorado. Definitely some Rain Man in her..definitely.
Steve, Zion AND Bryce. The latter is just a couple hours drive from Zion and well worth it. The drive between Zion and Bryce is beautiful. It's Butch Cassidy hideout territory. Butch was born and raised not far from Bryce in Circleville, UT.
We went to Zion/Bryce in April 2 years ago. That is prior to real start of tourist season, but it really was a great time to go, and trails are far less crowded (several times in Bryce we were all alone on a trail). If you are a hiker and do not mind climbing a couple thousand feet, then Zion is better. If you are more pedestrian, then stuff in Bryce is more accessible. Angel's Landing in Zion is truly one of the most fun hikes in the US. Ignore the death count signs at the start; we lose a lot more people just on Camelback Mtn in Phoenix (of course, dying from heat exposure is not quite as dramatic as falling 1,400 feet).
Ah Michael K and Vicksburg. As a proud mongrel American my family--or branches of it--have been in the country since 1610 (those folks landed in Virginia). And they spread out north and south. Family legend has it that six of my ancestors died at Vicksburg--some wearing gray others blue.
I did a lot of my transcontinental business travel in the pre laptop days, so I always got a window seat and looked out at the beautiful country unfurling below. Other than wrestling with the papers in my brief case, flight time was my "down time". At night, over the West, you saw pinpoints of light here and there and realized just how thinly settled parts of the country are.
As for Southern Utah, Bryce, Zion and the Arches are all "can't go wrong " destinations.
But if you like long vistas and sparse vegetation. (and I do since I was born out on the desert) there's nothing like driving in the range and basin territories of the Mountain West and the Southwest.
We were at Arches this spring. Beautiful area. I'd never really been in the desert before. I believe the formation in the right foreground I'd called "the Gossips." The most famous is Delicate Arch, which is on the UT license plate. We made our sons home put to delicate arch, about 2 miles each way. After an 11.5 mile hike, the 8 year old's want pleased, but he made it. I'm going to Yellowstone for the first time on my life later this summer.
Very blessed to live in the US, even when things go awry.
One day a numerous and powerful people will come to inherit this richness and beauty. The old breed is dying out, like Tolkiens elves of Lorien.
Seems like it would be too hot in Utah by now. I can't stand the heat..I would go there in October or even November.
steve uhr: All the Utah parks are well worth taking the time to see, if you can. I'd also recommend getting yourself a copy of Roadside Geology of Utah if you're going to be driving around. (All the books in the Roadside Geology series are great for road trips in the American West.)
Steve:
Since you're only going for three days, pick one and spend a chunk of time there. There's lots of beautiful scenery, hiking, biking, boating (kayak etc), within a few hours of St. George.
"if you like long vistas and sparse vegetation."
We will be going to Alaska again in September.
I suspect Europe is going to be hot. My daughter is going to Zurich today for an art show and we worry about her. Zurich is probably as safe as you can get in Europe right now.
She was 13 when we took her on the family RV trip before. She was visiting our friends in England the past two days and is now in the air. Probably there by now.
We will stay at home this year.
" my family--or branches of it--have been in the country since 1610 (those folks landed in Virginia)"
Mine goes to 1570 in Rhode Island. The two in Illinois were first generation from Ireland. Born in New York state and no draft riots for them. Volunteers in the Illinois Infantry
Althouse, Willard Mitt Romney says about Trump:
I simply can’t put my name down as someone who voted for principles that suggest racism or xenophobia, misogyny, bigotry, [for someone] who’s been vulgar time and time again ... I don’t want to be associated with that in any way, shape or form.
I don’t want to see trickle-down racism. I don’t want to see a president of the United States saying things which change the character of the generations of Americans that are following. Presidents have an impact on the nature of our nation, Romney said. And trickle-down racism, trickle-down bigotry, trickle-down misogyny, all these things are extraordinarily dangerous to the heart and character of America.
Do you agree w/Romney's assessment/opinion?
>
btw, America really is beautiful. Just some of its people are ugly in every way, shape or form!
The arches in the foreground look like bottles of liquor
Shiloh, can you stop the politics for a moment ?
The left runs tapes in its collective head. Some of us just want peace and quiet and to be left alone.
@buwaya puti/
Sadly all too true..."Weep for the future" is the operative phrase here... I used to laugh when the obsequious maitre di used that phrase in Ferris Bueller's Day Off but now at 72 I sadly see the underlying (unintended) truth in those lines.
They were funny when delivered in the movie, but not so funny now in the real world as the passage of time has shown..
Back in 1979, my girlfriend got a job that required her to move to Los Angeles. Apparently the economy was doing well because this company gave her a leisurely two weeks to get there and allowed her to have someone (me) ride shotgun in her car and then pay for an airline ticket back to Atlanta.
Highlight of the trip was seeing Emmylou Harris at Red Rocks, but I had seen pictures of Bryce Canyon and so we meandered further on our trip to the west coast.
Surprisingly, I was a little disappointed in Bryce but our route took us through Zion (which I had never heard of before). Just kind of lounging in the front seat, the drive through the park amazed me. We never left the car, or went out of our way, but the scenery was stunning. I wished we had planned the sightseeing hike to be there instead of Bryce.
We also drove past the Big Rock Candy Mountain. I saw it in the distance and said, "What the hell is that?".
"Some of us just want peace and quiet and to be left alone."
Then go take nap old codger. Althouse said talk about anything except the terrible incident in Orlando as again, reading comprehension is not your strong suit!
Remember the awesome beauty of America.
Best country for road-trippin' in the whole damned world.
Well, I'm sure other countries could and would dispute this. I've road-tripped in countries that I have to admit are pretty damned fine for road-trippin', but nothing like the American Southwest. (E.g., I'm sure Canucks would demur. Never road-tripped in Canada. I'm sure it's bitchin'.) But I have my patriotic road-trippin' prejudices, from sea to shining sea. Through the north, through the center, through the south.
Got a a northern-strip road trip planned for the summer of 2017, to see a total eclipse near the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (Oregon). Badlands. Black Hills. Little Bighorn National Battlefield. (Been to all of 'em before, never gets old.) Heaven is a jaunty vintage sports car and dog-eared paperbacks from the Roadside Geology series.
God bless America.
America really is beautiful. Just some of its people are ugly in every way, shape or form!
The Democrats have always been the party of bigots, but when did they become so open about it? I think we should vote for them to rule us because we are barely fit to live and they will keep us from doing any harm to ourselves or others as we are not fit to be free, and we certainly are not up to par to be considered "human" like our Democrat betters! Thank God for them, here to order us about!
I hate hate hate HDR photography. It's not as overcooked as some, but use some restraint, dammit!
Zion hikes we like are the Subway and Angels Landing.
Bryce is also amazing. Smaller and more intimate. Some therefore call it unimpressive. I don't are it. It is amazing to me.
But honestly, that tweeted picture looks to me more like Monument Valley than Arches.
As this is a national parks-themed thread, I feel the need to throw in a pre-emptive "fuck you" to jimbino here.
Romney is insane.
Great day at ASO this afternoon. The last concert in the Delta Series was Brhams piano concertos to be followed by Brahms 2nd Symphony. But the famous pianist cancelled and we got my favorite symphony in place pf the concerto. Beethovens 7th Sumphony astounded me again.
He wrote it for wounded veterans, and it is militaristic pure
genius. Beethoven is my favorite genius. Althouse's mind is a close second.
It's like early video, where everything was equally emphasized, and why it was considered inferior to film, where artistic choices could be made. The "artist" is in love with the technology and the image is so overstuffed with minutia that it is hard to look at. Make some choices!
We went to Arches last summer on our epic drive from Texas to Alaska. It was hot, but beautiful. Went through Glacier National Park as well, took the Going-To-The-Sun road all the way to the top, and back down, taking pictures at every turn. The best views of the entire 17-day trip, a trip made up of spectacular views, were along the Glenn Highway in Alaska, between Glennallen and Palmer. The Matanuska Glacier probably contains more ice than all of Glacier National Park in Montana. I used the Panorama setting on my smart phone to a great advantage there.
Anglelyne said...As this is a national parks-themed thread, I feel the need to throw in a pre-emptive "fuck you" to jimbino here.
lol
Shilho wrote: Do you agree w/Romney's assessment/opinion?
And from his link:
The media, too, may be on the edge of a “Murrow moment,” ready to confront Trump even as the legendary reporter Edward R. Murrow once took on Sen. Joe McCarthy.
I can't imagine a more ill-timed stunt than Romney's a retreat to Utah to plan a post-Trump Republican Party. Those guys really do think he's Hitler. What morons.
Nobody gives a shit about Romney. Stop living in 2012.
Arches is mind-blowingly beautiful, especially in the summer evening light. I wonder what the first European explorers thought as they traveled through southern Utah.
" Althouse said talk about anything except the terrible incident in Orlando as again, "
So, you had to go to the Romney misadventure. Do you think of anything but politics ?
Here are some photos I took in Arches when I was there 10 years ago.
I'm planning a road trip this summer from San Diego to Madison. I've never driven up I-15 through Utah and haven't decided where to veer east: I-40, I-70, or I-80.
buwaya puti: One day a numerous and powerful people will come to inherit this richness and beauty. The old breed is dying out, like Tolkiens elves of Lorien.
But not today, little crocodile, not today.
And no one knows the future.
(Though a trip to Yellowstone in the Current Year would tend to support your point, lol. Wonder if jimbino would still be around to bitch about them.)
I watched a documentary not too long ago about how the Grand Canyon formed. It seems that there was a freshwater lake about the size of Lake Michigan with an out flowing river that had a huge waterfall, and over the millennia, the falls moved closer and closer to the lake until it reached it, and the lake spilled almost all at once and gouged out most of the Grand Canyon, though it does continue to erode over geologic time. There is a lot of evidence for this view, pretty conclusive evidence, I would say.
Anyway, I wonder what Buffalo, NY, Toronto, Montreal, and even my house will look like if Niagara Falls ever reaches Lake Erie. I had always wondered that, but I had never heard this theory of the Grand Canyon until recently. I guess it all depends on the future of our civilization's ability to maintain large engineering projects. The Falls have been moving at a rate of about three feet a year since records have been kept, so I am guessing I won't be around to see it, but maybe Glenn Reynolds will! Or Mark Zuckerberg!
"Nobody gives a shit about Romney. Stop living in 2012."
Is it wrong for me to have fond memories of mittens? Recently looked at the 2012 live-blogging election night thread. Indeed, all 1609 posts.
ok, who thought 4 years ago Trump would be the 2016 Rep nominee? Not even Trump thought Reps would be this stupid!
"The Democrats have always been the party of bigots, but when did they become so open about it?"
Sept. 12, 2001.
"I'm planning a road trip this summer from San Diego to Madison. I've never driven up I-15 through Utah and haven't decided where to veer east: I-40, I-70, or I-80."
Personally, I'd pick the I-70 corridor. Most varied and spectacular scenery. Make sure you're gassed up before making the turn, though.
"The Democrats have always been the party of bigots, but when did they become so open about it?"
Sept. 12, 2001.
Indeed, must be how Bush attained a 90% job approval rating! Sept. 2011 after Cheney/Bush were caught w/their pants down before and during the 9/11 attack!
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has sunken to third place among independent voters, a new poll reveals. Clinton pulled just 22 percent of the independent vote in the latest Fox News poll, finishing behind Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson. Trump led among independents, pulling 32 percent of the vote, while Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico, got 23 percent.
And she doesn't even have all of the Democrats whipped into line.
Do not miss a chance to hike Zion in the spring.
Do not.
Am I getting across to you?
Late spring is still OK.
Just returned from a family trip to Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort: me, two kids & spouses, and 7 g'kids, ranging from 12-1/2 yo down to 5. Had a ball. In Zion, easy adult hiking to Emerald Pools, easy kids' hike to Weeping Rock. Angels' Landing? No, thanks. We passed on that one! And, yes, it was hot.
The resort is family oriented. ...took a jeep tour and had the kids in the supervised "kids camp" for a day, then a couple of days of free choice of activity. Top kiddie activity turned out to be the zip line (even the two 5 yo's did it), followed (in order) by mini-ATVs, trampoline, horseback riding. Swimming was always a good time. The two oldest did some skeet shooting & loved it.
I drove back to Fort Collins CO via UT Hwy 89 to Hwy 12 to Hwy 24 to EB I-70. Fantastic scenery: Grand Staircase-Escalante NM & Capitol Reef NP. Bryce is right nearby, but I had not the time to stop.
The geology and geography of Utah is amazing. I can't imagine, though, what it must have been like to live their before AC....
Do not miss a chance to hike Zion in the spring.
Do not.
I Googled "Emmylou Harris, Michael Martin Murphey, Red Rocks" and came back with a concert date of Aug. 3, 1980. (I was off by a year)
A few days after that, we were cruisin' thru Zion. So...Summer's ok too.
Don't miss the dinosaur tracks and museum on the east side of St. George. Always cool to see what was happening in the area millions of years ago. It's also inexpensive and the kids love it.
There's a line in High Plains Drifter where the guy's referring to a gunfight the Eastwood character wins goes "like Grant took Vicksburg." It's a 1973 movie and I wonder how the writer came up with that line. You think that was a commonly used reference back in, like, 1880?
I'm w/ Paco, I-70, by far is my favorite of the 3 routes. It's risky Nov-May w/ snow @ the Vail Pass. Glenwood Springs is another nice place to stop and soak on I-70. Go see Doc Holiday's grave. It's a short, albeit steep hike up to the cemetery.
magical Glenwood Canyon driving on I-70.. did that last year.
Part of Trump's success that should not be minimized, to keep hope alive the chance one can make an accurate observation somewhere sometime, is his knowledge of the twitter hive-mind among the Journolists.
OODA.
These people "in the know" make rash judgements and demand the ignorant unwashed agree full-tilt, with the threat of sexist racist bigot labels applied if orders aren't followed to These Master's will.
Instead of getting mad or quitting society because of the dominant PC ethos among the Well Learned Credentialed, Trump makes it a game he finds amusing and throws a lot of truth bombs along the way. Cyclical.
Chickenlit, honestly, if I were you I would stop at Zion on the way up I-15, then go on up to Provo, exit I-15 and drive up Provo canyon, and take the Alpine Loop over to American Fork Canyon, then continue up I-15 toward SLC and spend a day hiking off the tram at Snowbird up Little Cottonwood Canyon, then i would go up through Idaho to Yellowstone, then tale I-90 across to Madison.
I agree that the lower emerald pool and upper emerald pool hikes at Zion are kid friendly. We took our young kids up angels landing but stopped at the place where you have to step across the ledge holding on to a chain anchored to the side of the cliff. We have forever after referred to that point as kids landing.
Driving without A/C, my mother told me they would travel at night. If the drive in summer to L.A. across the desert, or to S.L.C. from her home in Cedar City, they would leave after sundown and drive at or through the night.
From Trump's perspective, those of us in the know, he sees criticism, even if he were to consider the validity which isn't efficient or productive, something his position requires him to be, as an attack on him from people out of the spotlight.
Outside TR's ring.
Invalid on its face, based on who is making it. Anything he doesn't think helps him is ad hominem. This is valid considering dark matter invalidates most known science in limited ways still true.
I wish our world didn't require this all to be, same with Axl Rose.
We saw Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion in that order on a loop trip out of Las Vegas about 10 years ago. The family ranked their favorite parks as 1) Bryce, 2) Zion, and 3) Grand Canyon: which I agree with. Bryce is just so darn bizarre yet beautiful. It also has the darkest night sky in the continental US. I also thought the hiking was more accessible at Bryce.
Arches is fantastic, even at 100F in the summer when we visited. Such a small park yet with so much beauty packed inside. My favorite spot there is Double arch. Hiked to delicate arch. the name is appropriate as it is not long for this world.
Fun fact: An arch is formed by wind, a natural bridge is formed by water.
Shoot, we hiked to Landscape Arch, not Delicate. Landscape appears very delicate as to be hanging by a stone thread.
A lot of people believe the names of Landscape Arch and Delicate Arch were somehow reversed. Makes sense, really. Delicate Arch is perched on a mountain and, when viewed from the end of the hike, frames a gorgeous backdrop landscape with the La Sal Mountains. Meanwhile, Landscape Arch (about a mile hike into the Devil's Garden Trail -- best hike in southern Utah on a scenery per-mile basis) is so amazingly thin at one point of its football field long span that it looks completely improbable to still be standing.
Just got home from a 3500 mile road trip. Chicago to Yellowstone via sd, back by nd. We saw
Sd badlands
Mt rushmore
crazy horse
lead (homestake mine)
deadwood
little big horn
yellowstone
roosevelt national park in nd
worlds biggest ball of twine (wrapped by one man)
What a great and beautuful country this is!!
Never been to bryce but been to zion, kolab, arches, canyonlands, grand canyon, death valley. All spectacular. I liked zion best.
Also, if in las vegas, visit valley of fire state park about 40 miles north of the city.
Not many things good about getting old but the $10 lifetime national park pass is oneof them.
It looks like erosion to me.
The desert was pretty for a few minutes back in 1963 and got old fast.
The desert was pretty for a few minutes back in 1963 and got old fast.
I'm with you. I drove across the Wyoming Red Desert once, and my only regret was that my car didn't feel safe at over 90 mph.
I'm planning a road trip this summer from San Diego to Madison. I've never driven up I-15 through Utah and haven't decided where to veer east: I-40, I-70, or I-80.
I-70 between I-15 and Denver is gorgeous. Further east, not so much. I'd get onto I-76 in Denver to I-80 through Nebraska and Iowa (which, though kind of bland, is more interesting than I-70 through Kansas and Missouri--and shorter, too).
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