HORSESHOE BEND

On the way  from Meteor Crater to our accommodation at Page, we stopped of at a viewpoint on the Colorado River called Horseshoe bend. The Sun was just setting as we got there, so I managed to grap a couple of pictures.

PAGE AND LAKE POWEL

The City of Page is a planned community near the Arizona/Utah border. Named for John C. Page, a 1930’s Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, the City was planned and developed for the workers building the Glen Canyon Dam in 1957. At an elevation of 4,300 feet atop Manson Mesa and overlooking Wahweap Bay of Lake Powell.

One of the locals at our hotel told us about the beach, it did feel strange going for a dip in the dessert!

ON THE ROAD FROM MOAB TO BRYCE CANYON

Some in car images along the road from Moab to Bryce Canyon

THE GRAND STAIRCASE

On our way from Zion to the Grand Canyon we stopped off at the Le Fevre Overlook. This viewpoint offers spectacular views of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

The Grand Staircase refers to an immense sequence of sedimentary rock layers that stretch south from Bryce Canyon National Park and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, through Zion National Park, and into the Grand Canyon National Park. The view from Le Fevre Overlook is an incredible expanse of hundreds of square miles of these highly varied stair steps and geologic wonders.

The 2 images below are a panaormic I took of the area, I have had to split this in two in order to fit it in!

LAS VEGAS

Vegas baby!! 

A one night stop over in Las Vegas on our way from the Grand Canyon to Death Valley. This place is insane, and what a contrast from what we have experienced on our trip so far. It was definitely worth the experience, but I think it was safe to say that we were glad to be on our way the next morning.

LAKE MONO AND TUOLUMNE MEADOWS

On our way from Death Valley to Yosemite. A quick stop off at Mono Lake followed by Tuolumne Meadows.

Mono Lake is a saline soda lake in Mono County, California. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake which make its water alkaline. The desert lake has an unusually productive ecosystem based on brine shrimp, which thrive in its waters, and provides critical habitat for two million annual migratory birds

One of the largest high-elevation meadows in the Sierra Nevada, Tuolumne Meadows at 8,600 feet is accessible due to the park roadway that crosses the southern edge of the meadow. From this point all the way to the south of Mt. Whitney, no other roads cross the High Sierra. Thus, this roadway marks the northern end of the largest contiguous roadless wilderness in the continental United States.

Within Tuolumne Meadows, visitors see the Tuolumne River meandering quietly through its meadow channel and cascading over the granite river bottom against a backdrop of rugged mountain peaks and glacially carved domes.

THE PACIFIC COAST - EUREKA TO SAN FRANCISCO 

We are now on the Pacific coast travelling along the Shoreline Highway, part of the iconic Highway 1. Our first stop along the way was at a lovely B&B at Mendicino. Lovely to see humming birds in the garden. After that it was on to the Sonoma Valley with a stay at Santa Rosa, before heading to San Francisco.