I recently realized I miss these rocky vistas
A while back we had a chance to travel through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and a bit of Idaho. We hoped to hunt down some of the fall foliage, as well as take our son on his first intercontinental trip. As an added bonus, Halloween in America!
THe photos here have been taken with a Fuji X-T20 (digital), a Mamiya C220 (6x6 on 120 film), a Canon FTb and later a Canon TX (there's a story behind that, not a fascinating one, but a story; 35mm film), and a DJI Mini 3 drone (you can guess these). And a smartphone, natch.
And since I regularly come back to some of those photos and memories, revisiting the three-ish weeks we spent there AND updating this blog at the same time seems like a good idea.
Landing in the Mile High City
We touched down in Denver, to spend the first few days there and adjust to the height. For reference, we live about 300 meteres above sea level, and we planned on hitting mountains almost 4,000 meters high. That would be my personal higest elevation ever. Turns out, I could've used a longer adjustment time or something, since I was hit hard by altitude sicknes. I was basically useless for the entire afternoon, night and morning until we went back down. Who would've thought having enough oxygen in your brain matters.
We only spent one night up in the yurt, then went back down and set out on our interstate roadtrip.
This one really strikes a chord with me.
And they're off!
As of October 2023, America was not ready for us. More specifically, its infrastructure wasn't ready for what we had in mind, i.e. taking a two-week road trip in an electric car without fear of whether we'll see enough charging points and whether they'd be fast enough. We actually rented an EV, but, as is often the case, got something a bit different than booked. In this case, a short range one. It took us a day before we could swap it for something long range, and because Hertz apparently has fewer EVs than advertised, we pretty much had no choice but to go for gas. Look, we tried.
I won't go into the entire itinerary, because we drove a total of more than 6,000 km in 15 days. It's a bit crazy. We went through some of the Rocky Mountains, the Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, Arches, Petrified Forest, Saguaro, Grand and Antelope Canyons, Salt Flats, Craters of the Moon, the Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone... and we set foot in only 5 states.
Is it nice?
Photographically, much goodness was had.
I have the feeling that the western and south-western portions of the US still maintain a lot of that pioneering, at-home-in-the-wilderness spirit of the early settlers. Obviously, now with cars, AC, and microwave dinners (yummy, btw). But when you get out of the big cities, especially, there's still a sense of a certain respect for nature and recognition of its power. Apart from things like altitude sickness, it hit us when we realized that in Denver in October, you can get freezing temperatures at night and shorts-and-sandals sunshine during the day. On the other hand, this also means people have a different attitude to, let's say, property and protection. And while I can't say if this is the case all over the US, it came as a bit of a shock when we asked our friends what happens if we inadvertently park on someone's land, and the answer was "You probably won't get shot. Emphasis on "probably" spoken in the strong tones of "maybe".
Still, the Americans I know are a fun and friendly bunch, wouldn't hesitate to recommend. And the land itself has some of the best views, sights, and a sense of breadth you can get anywhere I've seen so far.
Nature is a masterpiece.
Great Sand Dunes and Colorado
Antelope Canyon
Grand Canyon and Monument Valley
Arizona
Grand Tetons and Yellowstone
Craters of the Moon
Arches NP and Bits of Utah
Zion NP
