Grand Canyon sunset

lovely early September sunset at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

This post is for SkyWatch Friday hosted by Yogi.  Come join in this awesome meme and meet folks from all over the globe.

photo by me © 2016   all rights reserved

Grand Canyon sky

Point Imperial

 elevation 8803'--highest point in Grand Canyon National Park (September 2016)

This post is for SkyWatch Friday hosted by Yogi.  Come join this awesome meme and meet folks from all over the globe.


photo by me © 2016   all rights reserved 

Greens

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utaha.trail.in Bryce Canyon--see the person?

somewhere in Utah.  I love the layers of various green colors in this landscape.

on our way to Zion National Park, Utah

entering Zion National Park.  Notice the red road.

Zion National Park--Emerald Pool

Zion National Park

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, North Rim.  A storm is coming up.

These are a few of my favorite photos from a trip to Utah in the late Summer of 2010.  I love the colors in all of them.  Some landscapes show stark vibrant contrasts--azure blue sky, sandy orange-red rock, vibrant forest green foliage, perhaps even a puffy white cloud.  Others have muted shades and layering of colors.

LINKS:

Bryce Canyon National Park

Zion National Park

Grand Canyon National Park

Alphabe-Thursday is a favorite meme! Come and join in the fun! You will be charmed and perhaps even enlightened! See more entries HERE. This week our letter is "G."

I'm also participating in SkyWatch Friday, another fun meme with lovely photographs from all over the world! SkyWatch Friday is hosted by Wren, fishing guy, Sylvia, Klaus, and Sandy.

photos by me © 2010 

xeric

dry or desert like conditions, having very little moisture with average annual rainfall of less than 10 inches.

Valley of Fire, Nevada

Nevada's oldest state park, located in the Mojave Desert and dedicated in 1935, covers almost 35,000 acres.  Its name is derived from the red sandstone formations created by ancient shifting sand dunes.  Average annual rainfall is about 4 inches.

Grand Canyon, Arizona (taken from the North Rim)

This National Park, covering over 1.2 million acres on the Colorado Plateau, is also a World Heritage Site.  Consisting of several major ecosystems, great biodiversity exists here.The inner canyon is xeric, receiving only about 9 inches of rain a year.

 

Sonoran Desert (Phoenix area) 

One of the largest and hottest deserts in North America, covering 120,000 square miles just south of the Mojave Desert, the Sonoran Desert can be found in the US states of Arizona and California and the Mexican states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, and Sonora.  A unique variety of flora and fauna exist here such as the saguaro cacti seen in the above photo.  Average annual rainfall varies from 3 inches to 16 inches.  Many areas are xeric such as  Phoenix with just over 8 inches of rainfall per year.  (Arizona is the only state that has all four North American deserts--Sonoran, Mojave, Chihuahuan, and Great Basin.)

Come join in the fun at Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  You will be enlightened, charmed, and have some plain ole fun!  See more entries HERE.  This week our letter is "X."   
   


LINKS:

Valley of Fire:

official website
my post "Still Exploring"

Grand Canyon:

official website
Sonoran Desert:  
Desert USA 
biomes of the Sonoran Desert

photos by me © 2009 and 2010      

Breaking through: SkyWatch Friday

 Sun trying to break through the rain clouds in Grand Canyon National Park, August

This post is for SkyWatch Friday hosted by Wren, fishing guy, Sylvia, Klaus, and Sandy.  Come join us in this awesome meme, link up, and meet folks from all over the globe. 

photo by me © 2010