This summer we made a trip (Jitka and me) together with our friend Vit to the desert states of the southwest of the USA. The first place to visit was Canyonlands N.P. Delicate Arch in the Arches is a real delicacy at the sunset. Especially if you happen to have the moon right behind it.
But not only the Delicate Arche is worth seing. There are many other interesting rock formations.
Landscape Arch is almost 100m wide and at one place only 2m thick. It does not look like it will stay there for much longer.
Close to Arches can be found land of another rock formations, called Needles. The rocks really resemble needles from a distances. Walking among them is a fun (if you forget the summer heat).
This black crest is for the dessert a valuable living matter that turists are discouraged to demage.
Footprints of an old Indian civilization can be found at so called "Newspaper Rock". The symbols are quite clear, unfortunately not their meaning.
Mesa Verde is another place where one can admire old Indian cultures. Several cliff palaces can be found in this mountain. They were built in 14th century, but used only for less than 100 years and then abondened.
The largest was the Cliff Palace.
A surprise for an unprepared traveler is a lake Powel on a Colorado river. This clear blue water lake exists in the middle of a hot desert. Although it looks refreshing, its water can be quite warm and at the end swimming may not offer too much of a cooling at all.
The most beautiful place we have visited was certainly Bryce Canyon. Its red rock formations are charming, especially during sunrise.
It is a good idea to take a walk down the canyon in-between the rock formations.
Zion N.P. is close to Bryce Canyon, but it is a different place. At the entrance a "Checkerboard Mountain" is welcoming you.
Observation point offers beautiful views to the Virgin River valley.
After driving couple hundreds miles in the desert, we got close to the Grand Canyon. We approached it from a plane country, not expecting such a break in the land at all. But here it was, majestic, enormous and deadly hot.
An unexpected rain in the canyon brought not only some water to the dry land, but also a rainbow in the setting sun.
The next place to visit on the way to west is a town originally founded by Mormons - Las Vegas (if only they knew what was going to happen). Neon lights, air-conditioning, gambling - all in the contrast with what we have seen so far.
A desperate effort to attract tourists at any cost can be seen everywhere. Even hotel built as a replica of the New York Manhattan can serve this purpose.
Certainly one think that you do not expect to see when you enter Death valley is flooding. As surprising as it is, it was there. The road was blocked over the night.
But the next day the rain was gone and the heat was back. Temperature during the day reached 48° C (120F) in the shade. It was quite a problem even for the car to climb 1000m above the valley in this hot weather.
Salt crystals can be found at the valley bottom. The salt bed is said to be 200m thick.
Yosemite N.P. offered us more elevation, less heat and some green plants again. Certainly a welcomed change after the long time spend in desert. The Yosemite falls are one of the highest in the North America.
"Half Dome" was carved by a glacier and is one of the famous park formations.
As our time was cutting short, we set for the final destination of our trip - the west coast city of San Francisco. What can be more typical of San Francisco then China Town ...
... and Golden Gate bridge.
Created 1998 by Marek Brejl
![[Go Back]](../../images/next.gif){kind=small}