2009 Adventures

Updated:24-Jan-2010

January

Oops... I forgot to record anything about the 2007 or 2008 adventures, so I'll just resume with 2009.

Could there be anything more beautiful than Arizona in January? Blue skies, moderate temperatures... quite delightful.

Esperero Canyon near Tucson:

Canyon walls covered with magnificent Saguaro cactii:

A Saguaro cactus with outstretched arms:

And a whimsical Saguaro with two eyes and big nose:

Well, perhaps there is something even more spectacular than the January Arizona desert....off to explore the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico for three weeks.

A glorious sunset on Isla Mujeres:

North Beach on Isla Mujeres:

Colorful fishing boats in Isla Mujeres harbor:

Rio Lagartos estuary with great heron, ibis and egrets at low tide:

Rio Lagartos 3 meter (9 feet) long crocodile basking in the sun:

Brilliant orange flamingos at Rio Lagartos... their feathers turn brilliant orange due to the carotenes in the brine shrimp that they feed on:

More orange flamingos at Rio Lagartos:

Main plaza in downtown Merida:

Me, near a monument in The Plaza of the Americas in Merida:

Sunset in Celestun... far from the big cities, immersed in utter simplicity:

Celestun beach is mostly shells... I felt sort of "guilty" for walking on all these beautiful little shells:

Taxi in the Celestun town plaza, some of the taxis were bicycle powered and others were motorcycle powered... a slow-paced delight after the hectic hustle and bustle of Merida earlier in the week:

Magnificent beaches of Tulum:

Mayan ruins on a cliff high above the Caribbean:

Nary a person on the beaches south of Tulum:

Fishing boats in Puerto Morelos... this is a wonderful little town which is just beginning to be besieged by the dreadful commercial development and overpriced condos which have ruined so much of the coast from Cancun to Tulum:

Me on the beach at Puerto Morelos:

Homeward bound from Mexico... beautiful sunset while heading home to Colorado, 38000 feet over Galveston, Texas:

 

February/March

Arrived back home in Colorado just time for a bit of snow. Here's a photo from my backyard looking toward the cloud-shrouded Rocky Mountains:

Headed down to Tucson, Arizona to enjoy the fine weather and to attend a few gatherings.

What could be more beautiful than blue sky and cacti:

From a distance, the desert may seem to be without much color, but here are a few of the wide variety of wildflowers which were beginning to bloom in the canyons around Tucson in late February:

 

And a lot of interesting cacti, dead and alive. Here's a collection of delightful cacti shapes.. sometimes, with a fresh look, the ordinary becomes quite extraordinary :

This one-eyed direction-pointer caught my eye... and gave me a rather eerie feeling of being "watched"...

April

Just local hikes near home (in northern Colorado) during April. Only a few wildflowers are beginning to bloom... it's still too cold here for many flowers to peek out yet.

May

Encountered magnificent weather whilst wandering around in southern Utah and northern Arizona during early May. Glorious blue skies and daytime high temperatures around 85 deg F (30 deg C). Here are a few pictures...

In Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. A variety of odd shapes and arches formed in the ancient sandstone by wind and water:

In Upper Antelope Canyon, near Page, Arizona. This is the rather plain looking entrance to the canyon narrow slot canyon from a broad desert streambed:

Upper Antelope Canyon is a narrow slot-canyon, typically about 5 to 20 feet wide and about 100 to 150 feet deep, where occasional flash floodwaters have been forced to flow through a huge block of sandstone, leaving a swirling zigzag erosion path through the rock. In some of photos you can see the sandy floor of the canyon where the visitors walk in amazement:

 

Some photos of the spectacular 1000 foot (300 meter) tall sandstone formations in Monument Valley, near Kayenta, Arizona:

Petroglyphs (rock art messages) made by American Indians, near Moab, Utah:

Two more sandstone arches near Moab, Utah:

 

June

Mostly just hiking in the Colorado mountains in June.

A few of the magnificent wildflowers encountered on hikes in the foothills and mountains of Colorado in June:

 

July

Back to Utah for more adventures. First, a few days in the Capitol Reef National Park area to see the sights and enjoy a gathering of the Dances of Universal Peace:

Then an afternoon hiking among the odd rock formations in Goblin Valley:

And then a couple of days of hiking among the magical spires of Bryce Canyon National park. You can get some idea of the scale of this amazing landscape by comparing the rock spires to the height of the full-grown evergreens which are often 50 to 100ft (15 to 30m) tall:

A photo of me in a Bryce Canyon panorama:

Finishing the delightful Utah adventure was a trip to magnificent Zion National Park. The massive features of Zion, largely sandstone, are of such a huge scale that they are sometimes a bit overwhelming:

 

At the end of July, I traveled to Washington state. Here's a photo of me alongside a very large tree on the Olympic peninsula of Washington:

August

It would have been fun to spend a few days in Yellowstone National Park, but the time schedule only allowed a quick one-day drive through Yellowstone. A view of the Yellowstone River:

Colorful canyon walls of Yellowstone River:

Boiling (smelly) sulfur-water emerging from a hillside:

Boiling mud pots alongside the road:

Then on down into the Grand Teton National Park for another one-day adventure. Beautiful Jackson Lake:

Magnificent Grand Tetons and high plains:

Bison roaming free:

Moose having  snack:

Then back home to Colorado, and a hike to Lake Isabelle, high in the Rockies:

Blue Columbine near Lake Isabelle:

Elephant Head flowers:

Fields full of colorful wildflowers near Lake Isabelle:

September

A few of the magnificent wildflowers still blooming in the Colorado Rockies in late August and early September:

 

October

The changing fall colors of Aspen and Cottonwood trees, along the Mesa Trail a few miles south of Boulder, Colorado:

A view from my backyard, looking toward the west at the first light dusting of snow in October:

November

In Tucson for a few days:

Back home in Colorado... a bit of a shock after the greenery and warmth of southern Arizona:

Then, off to the Yucatan of Mexico for three weeks. First, the beautiful sandy beaches and rocky coral of Isla Mujeres for a few days:

On the ferry, leaving Isla Mujeres:

 

December

Then down to the peaceful beaches of Tulum:

A silly geek on the beach with a laptop computer:

A handy reminder "Do not leave rocks on the highway":

In Mahahual, there's a wonderful little hotel called Arenas with a superb general manager Gonzalo Robles... a great place to stay. Here's the Beach at Mahahual:

Lake Bacalar, near the Belize/Mexico border:

Back to Isla Mujeres for a few more days. Beautiful sunset:

Back home in Colorado... a different world:

So... back to Arizona. The first visible crescent of the new moon over palm tree:

Esperero Canyon, north of Tucson:

Me, inside of a little cave which Pir Vilayat often used for meditation retreats:

Moon over Esperero Canyon hillside:

Turning workshop in Tucson with Puran and Susanna Bair:

Amusing cactus near Esperero Canyon::

.... The End.