Carlesbad Caverns, New Mexico

I didn't have a tripod here so I used flash. I think it's what made things colorful. In reality, the formations are dimly lit and pretty grey. Inside the big room the ceiling is 300' high, but this isn't it.

Above a Calving Glacier

Hovering above crevasses, 200 feet deep. Some of these sheets of ice are acres in size. The pilot said we couldn't hang around long, should one fall over, it would blow on us pretty hard.

South Coast of Spain

Driving along the southern coast of Spain from Barcelona to the French border, picturesque coastal villages make you want to stay.

Napali Coast, Kauai

My wife took this shot off her side. I wished we could have made another pass a thousand foot lower to get a better shot of the water.

These pinnacles are from 3 to 4 thousand foot, so imagine the height of the waterfall. We only saw it for an instant, then it was gone. One of those 5 seconds of magic that makes life such a gracious gift.

Ship Rock, New Mexico

I was told by one of the local Navajo, that a great bird from the north carried the early Navajo people to this place where it landed and turned into stone. Ship rock is the most unadvertised and unlabeled landmarks I've ever seen. Don't look for any signs. If it looks like ship Rock it probably is. I arrived late evening and drove around the huge chunk of desert pasture surrounding it, looking for some kind of ticket booth, maybe a park headquarters. Nope, maybe this isn't it I thought. I then drove down a long dirt road to its base. I said if this ain't it somebody made a hell of an imitation. Driving back to an old gas station to fix a flat I'd been airing up, I asked the attendant why no signs? He said "it doesn't need any". Asking if it was OK I went to take a look at it He said ,"you just came from there, I watched you from here" I said yea that's true but I'd like to go back. He replied "that would be OK I guess, just have respect for us on our land".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiprock 

Spirit Lake, Washington

This is an aerial of Spirit lake below Mount St. Helen's ten years after the eruption. In the far end of the lake, floating logs form a huge raft. Below the lake bottom, Harry Truman along with his vacation lodge are entombed beneath 600 feet of volcanic ash. The floating logs are now starting to sink root end first and becoming petrified upright, at a very rapid rate by the chemical elements of the lake bottom silts and ash. The Lake water once void of oxygen from poisonous gasses bubbling from the bottom, is now springing back to life with aquatic plants and fish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_Lake_(Washington) 

What is Life ?

What is Life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in winter. It's the little shadow that dances across the evening grass and disappears into the sunset. Blackfoot Indian Quote

Tenaya Lake, California

Exiting Yosemite National Park towards Tioga Pass and Lee Vining, Tenaya Lake is one of the more beautiful roadside vistas in this country.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenaya_Lake 

Kokopelli

This is the biggest and best kokopelli pictograph I've ever seen. It is near life size in red ochre. If I remember correctly, it's in Southern Colorado near Great Sand Dunes NP. Kokopelli was a fertility God, bringer of the spring and rain with the playing of his flute. Petroglyphs date back 3000 years throughout the southwest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokopelli 

.

Tarahumara

Tarahumara ladies well dressed in colorful clothing often hand made.

Copper Canyon, Mexico

In the chilly morning air, one can see chimney smoke rising from nowhere, as the simple homes of the Tarahumara People, built of native rock and wood blend into the landscape. The sounds of laughter and the chopping of wood echo in the hills and canyons, yet from a distance the vista seems uninhabited.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_Canyon 

Rosea Plena, lotus flower

A hybrid lotus flower as beautiful as life itself. Vast fields of these are sure to be, somewhere, to contend with the Great Suffering in the world.

Tuffa Collums, Mono Lake

Tuffa columns stand along the edge of Mono Lake. Tuffa is a carbonate deposit left by geothermal springs under the 40 foot of water that once stood here. Mono Lake is void of most species of fish, but the brine shrimp do well enough to support large numbers of wading and shore birds where many photographers have a good time with their cameras in the sun shiny days of the California desert.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_Lake