The Valley of Fires Recreation Area is an interesting diversion along a route which passes much barren scenery of grassy prairie, stark mountains and sandy desert. The Valley has 127 square miles of buckled, twisted lava, part of an extensive flow up to 50 metres thick and over 45 miles long that originated from several […]
Category Archives: Hauns Go West 2004
Journal: Drop-kicking Kittens
Every time we visit a great national monument or natural wonder there is always some person or group of people that is annoyingly loud and obnoxious. On a trip like ours, you get used to them and just shake your head. The Grand Canyon was no exception. When we arrived at the South Rim at […]
AZ-NM State Line
More Photos from Arizona
Petrified Forest National Park, AZ
Petrified Forest is a surprising land of scenic wonders and fascinating science. The park is located in northeast Arizona and features one of the world’s largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood. Also included in the park’s 93,533 acres are the multi-hued badlands of the Chinle Formation known as the Painted Desert, historic structures, […]
Sunset Crater Volcano, AZ
It has been 900 years since its eruption, but Sunset Crater is still the youngest volcano on the Colorado Plateau. The volcano’s red rim and the dark lava flows seem to have cooled and hardened to a jagged surface only yesterday. As plants return, so do the animals that use them for food and shelter. […]
Wupatki National Monument, AZ
For its time and place, there was no other pueblo like Wupatki. Less than 800 years ago, it was the tallest, largest, and perhaps the richest and most influential pueblo around. It was home to 85-100 people, and several thousand more lived within a day’s walk.
Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
The Grand Canyon is more than a great chasm carved through the rocks of the Colorado Plateau. This canyon is a gift that transcends what we experience. Its beauty and size humble us. In its vast spaces we may find solace from our hectic lives. The Grand Canyon we visit today is a gift from […]
Hoover Dam, NV
Hoover Dam is a testimony to a country’s ability to construct monolithic projects in the midst of adverse conditions. Built during the Depression; thousands of men and their families came to Black Canyon to tame the Colorado River. It took less than 5 years, in a harsh and barren land, to build the largest dam […]
Journal: EXTREMEHauns
It’s been several days since our last email – I guess we got a little distracted by the “stick in hand” incident. The common theme running through the last couple places we visit seems to be “extremes”. For example, the Sequoia National Park we visited had extremely large trees. In fact, we were able to […]