The last leg of my trip brought me to the Grand Canyon. It's difficult to capture the vastness and grandeur of this place in a photograph. It's definitely a place best seen with one's own eyes. Go there!!
After leaving Las Vegas, I detoured south through Arizona on my way back to Telluride in order to check out a few national parks that I had always wanted to visit. First up was Petrified Forest National Park and it didn't disappoint. Both the landscape and the petrified logs which fill it are shrouded in a desolate mystery which is only revealed by matching one's own steps to the pace of the geology which created this wondrous place. In this meandering exploration, the light changes, the hillsides unveil deep purplely hues and ambered logs sparkle against a darkening sky.
I was fortunate enough to spend a night at Panamint Springs in Death Valley with my parents while traveling from Bishop to Las Vegas. It's a rare treat to get to peer out into the starry blackness of such a remote place and a memory I won't soon forget. Enjoy!