Monument Valley, Petrified Forest and other treasures on Colorado Plateau

Thursday, 05 April 2018 03:10

We came back again to the Colorado Plateau from the south via northern Arizona where some marvelous parks and areas are located. It is mainly the land of the indigenous Navajo Nation which is with more than 300,000 people the second biggest native tribe in USA. In this region we saw many stunning cliff dwellings of the ancient people built approximately 1,000 years ago. It is still a secret why most of them were left around 1300.

Thanks to Marlboro, many (western) movies and film stars like John Wayne Monument Valley is one of the most famous parts of North America. It is managed by the Navajo people and shows in addition to the overwhelming landscape actual and historical Navajo life in an impressive little museum.

Remarkable are 400 Navajo Code Talkers which played a famous role during World War II by relaying radio messages using their own language, which the Japanese were unable to understand.

Our first stop was the beautiful Petrified Forest National Park with colorful specimens from small shards to massive trunks of a prehistoric forest in the arid Painted Desert.

Sierra Madre Oriental

Sunday, 26 March 2017 04:11

Majestic Sierra Madre Oriental stretches more than 1000 kilometers from the border with USA to northern Puebla in central Mexico. West of this range is the huge Chihuahua desert in its northern part, east are the Mexico's Gulf coast plains. Sierra Madre Oriental is famous for its rich biodiversity. Large pine-oak forests are found up to the highest mountains with more than 3700 meters sea-level. Limestone dominate its geology. Huge caves, sharp pinnacles and steep walls are common. Nearly in its center is the metropolis Monterrey, which is with more than 4.5 million inhabitants the third biggest city of Mexico.

Its tallest peak La Viga or Cerro San Raphael (3716 meters sea-level) is covered sometimes by snow in winter. It can be climbed up by a strenuous hike of 5 hours from the saddle east of the little village Los Lirios. We were very lucky because it started snowing when we returned to our car.

Grand Canyon and southern Arizona

Sunday, 11 March 2018 02:22

Grand Canyon is one of Earth's most powerful inspiring landscapes overwhelming the senses. It's system of gorges created by the mighty Colorado River, 450 kilometers long, up to 27 kilometers wide and up to 1,600 meters deep. In addition to its beauty it's full of live, an island in an arid environment. People lived there for more than 12,000 years. Thanks to the high elevation change a wide range of plant and animal communities are found on its slopes.

To avoid the usual crowd of visitors we came mid of February 2018 to the south rim of Grand Canyon. Sometimes it was a little chilly in the morning on the 2,200 meters high plateau (up to -9°C) and we enjoyed some snow.

Barrancas del Cobre and Chihuahua

Thursday, 16 March 2017 04:36

Magical Copper Canyon - Barrancas del Cobre in the majestic Sierra Madre Occidental is the major attraction in northern Mexico. It is a mazy system of seven major canyons with a depth up to 1,800 meters. Grand Canyon in Arizona / USA is four times smaller and less deep! In its area live the Tarahumara people which are famous for their running endurance: Some are capable to run few hundred kilometers and more than 20 hours without a break!

There is no street through the whole main canyon but a railway with 37 bridges and 86 tunnels which connects Los Mochis on the Pacific Ocean with Chihuahua in the desert with the same name. The train is called El Chepe after the first characters of Chihuahua and Pacific. Driving with this train through Copper Canyon is a must to do for tourists in northern Mexico.

Las Vegas 2nd and its environment

Thursday, 15 February 2018 02:52

We came back to Las Vegas on December 19th 2017 and disaster started on the next day: Our little motor-home which we had stored in Overton did not start. First we exchanged the battery, then the starter, then the engine, then the exhaust manifold and so on. We stayed in the Las Vegas region much longer than we had planned - until beginning of February 2018. But this mess gave us the chance to enjoy the American way of Live and to explore Las Vegas including its marvelous environment with many mountains in depth.

Central Pacific Coast

Wednesday, 22 February 2017 00:10

Mexico's Central Pacific Coast is a marvelous piece of nature with a lot of pristine beaches, calm bays, little fishing villages and some dramatic landscapes. Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta are the largest cities, both with fabulous beaches and many tourists.

200 kilometers East of Puerto Vallarta is Mexico's second biggest city Guadalajara with more than 5 millions inhabitants. It is a bustling metropolis with a picturesque old town in its nice center.

Las Vegas and three National Parks of southern Utah

Tuesday, 12 September 2017 20:43

Las Vegas bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World for its innumerably casinos, huge resorts and fancy shows and other leisure activities. More than 40 millions tourists come to Las Vegas every year, also many couples for marriage which is quite easy in there.

Before we came to Las Vegas beginning of May 2017 we visited the outstanding National Parks Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion of southern Utah.

Capitol Reef's defining feature is a wrinkle in the Earth's crust extending more than 150 kilometers from Thousand Lake Mountain to Lake Powell. It is a classical one-sided fold with a formidable barrier in the east like a barrier reef in an ocean.

Zapotepetl - Nevado de Colima and the state of Michoacán

Friday, 13 May 2016 12:05

In central western Mexico is its most active volcano located: Volcan de Colima erupts several times every day. At the moment access to its top is more than life-threatening but its bigger brother, the more than 400 meters higher summit of Zapotepetl or Nevado de Colima (4268 meters sea-level) can be climbed with some easy rock scrambling. It is less than 6 kilometers away and it provides stunning views of the volcano.

Before we came to Nevado de Colima we traversed the beautiful state Michoacán. We spent a weekend in the fabulous hot springs Balneario Erendira in its eastern part. A nice campsite is included in the hot springs (GPS coordinates: N19° 45.427' W100° 41.482'). Many younger Mexicans were with us - never ending party on Saturday night!

Arches, Canyonlands and Mesa Verde National Parks

Sunday, 25 June 2017 11:37

The Southwest has the highest density of National Parks within the United States of America. Arches and Canyonlands are wonderful natural treasures in Utah. Outstanding is the Mesa Verde National Park in the southwest corner of Colorado with its stunning cliff dwellings built by the Ancestral Pueblo People between AD 1150 and 1300. To our mind this World Heritage Site is in line with Machu Picchu in Peru and the Maya pyramids in Yucatan / Mexico.

There is a nice dry campsite on public BLM lands few hundreds meters outside of the National Park where we stayed free of charge three pleasant nights (GPS coordinates: N37° 21.569' W108° 25.371').

Xinantecatl - Nevado de Toluca

Saturday, 02 April 2016 22:53

The large stratovolcano Xinantecatl or Nevado de Toluca is with 4680 meters sea-level the 4th tallest summit of Mexico and the 17th highest point of North America. It has an enormous caldera of 1.5 kilometer diameter which is adorned with two mystic lakes - Lago de la Luna (moon lake) and Lago del Sol (sun lake). A decent dirt road leads up to 4150 meters sea-level close to the caldera, where we camped one night.

Xinantecatl is more a mountain range than a single volcanic cone with several peaks which exceed the 4300 meters mark. Its highest summit, Pico del Fraile is a little bit tricky from the caldera, especially if there is some snow and ice.

When we were in its base town Toluca it was rainy and stormy. Even some snowflakes came down to the 2600 meters high town which is not quite often the case. Sadly the extraordinary hefty winter gale killed some people because some scaffolds and bigger advertisement billboards crashed. But Toluca had a very nice surprise for us.

New Mexico

Wednesday, 26 April 2017 03:14

The beautiful and pristine state New Mexico has a lot of different landscapes: Dry deserts and wilderness, lush valleys, and tall and snow-capped mountains.

And it is full of history. The first nuclear bomb was developed and tested in its southern deserts. New Mexico's capital Santa Fe was the hub of the railway in the late 19th and early 20th century which connected the East and West of USA. Most fascinating is the Indian art and culture of the indigenous people. The World Heritage Site Chaco is in line with southern touristic magnets of the Maya and Inca monuments. The Anasazi people built a lot of villages, cliff dwellings and cave houses mainly between 800AD and 1100AD.
 

Mexico Central - East

Sunday, 20 March 2016 01:34

The marvelous landscape East of Mexico City is peppered with dramatic and rugged peaks including the three highest summits of Mexico, lush and dense rain forest, arid deserts, beautiful beaches, gorgeous colonial cities, and some industrial hubs like Puebla with its automotive plants.

We had been in this wonderful country 20 years ago. At that time we had climbed up the volcanoes of Citlaltepetl (5610 meters sea-level) and Iztaccihuatl which are the tallest and third highest mountains of Mexico. In between is Popocatepetl which had been our dream for more than 20 years. But it had been and is still so active that an ascent is life-threatening. Also we had visited the nice cities of Veracruz and Puebla. Thus we concentrated this time on other highlights in this area.