USA, Southwest

The United States are a wonderful country - unfortunately it is mostly occupied by fat, dumb and ignorant pale faces who don't deserve this wonderful landscape. A better name would be "United Stupids of America". Enjoy these pictures of America without almost any american on it.

Highway with Fata Morgana — Fig. 1: Death Valley, California. Reflections on hot desert highway. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Highway with Fata Morgana — Fig. 2: Interstate 10, Arizona. Some other air reflections on hot freeway asphalt. Shot wit a 300mm telephoto lens. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Puma — Fig. 3: A puma in the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum — Minolta XD-7, 300mm telephoto lens, Fujicolor, USA, October 2000

Prairie Dog — Fig. 4: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Arizona. One of the cute prairie dogs eating a nut. They liked being photographed. 300mm telephoto lens. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Sunset Crater — Fig. 5: Sunset Crater, Arizona. Black and red volcano ash. The vegetation conquered back their territory which was taken away about 900 years ago. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Trunk — Fig. 6: Sunset Crater, Arizona. A dead root in volcano ash. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Truck — Fig. 7: Mojave Desert, California. On the highway from Los Angeles towards Death Valley. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Highway Death Valley — Fig. 8: Death Valley, California. Highway to horizon drawn with a giant ruler. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Death Valley — Fig. 9: Death Valley, California. Distant white dunes. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Bad Water — Fig. 10: Death Valley, California. Bad Water - a spring of salty water in the desert. With 86 meters below sea level it is the lowest point in the USA. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Bad Water — Fig. 11: Death Valley, California. Another view of Bad Water. Small bushes and alges in the shallow water. Dragon flies are humming around. A bird tried to drink a bit of that salty water but it did not like it and flew away. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Bad Water — Fig. 12: Death Valley, California. Salty tracks draw away from Bad Water. Must be a dried up creek. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Death Valley — Fig. 13: The valley of death. At the very back could be Mos Eisley. Minolta XD-7, California, USA, October 2000

Mountain top — Fig. 14: Death Valley, California. A mountain summit from Dantes View. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Valley of Fire — Fig. 15: Valley of Fire, Nevada. Incredible rock formations of red sandstone. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Cactus — Fig. 16: Valley of Fire, Nevada. A little cactus. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Valley of Fire — Fig. 17: Valley of Fire, Nevada. Another formation of red sandstone. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Valley of Fire — Fig. 18: Valley of Fire, Nevada. Red eroded sandstone with some greenish patches. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Valley of Fire — Fig. 19: Valley of Fire, Nevada. Red eroded sandstone with some greenish patches. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Traces in Sand — Fig. 20: Valley of Fire, Nevada. Stories drawn in red sand. You see many tracks of different bugs and mice. The wind drew circles with a blade of grass. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Sandstone Enterprise — Fig. 21: Valley of Fire, Nevada. A red eroded sandstone that looks like the starship Enterprise. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Valley of Fire — Fig. 22: Valley of Fire, Nevada. Another red rock. If the sky were pink and there was no vegetation it looks like the surface of Mars. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Hoover Dam — Fig. 23: Hoover Dam, Nevada/Arizona. Americans love to call it a national monument. But with its 221m height and 380m length it is not very impressive compared to dams in the Swiss Alps. The dam Grande Dixence for instance has 285m height and a length of 695m. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

3000m above Sealevel — Fig. 24: Utah. View from a pass on higway 14 between Cedar City and Bryce Canyon close to Cedar Breaks National Monument. Elevation is about 3000m above sea level. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Bryce Canyon — Fig. 25: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Pillars of red rock and other breathtaking formation eroded by water and wind. Elevation approximately 2500 meters above sea level. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Bryce Canyon — Fig. 26: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Bryce Canyon — Fig. 27: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Formations of red, white and grey sandstone that look like castles in a fairy tale. But these are real and not a Hollywood fake. The nature is the best artist. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Bryce Canyon — Fig. 28: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Other fairy tale castle formations. Are they real or just plastic dummies from Disneyland? — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Bryce Canyon — Fig. 29: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. No words can describe this view. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Bryce Canyon — Fig. 30: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Bush — Fig. 31: A Bush ... fortunately not George Double-U. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Landscape — Fig. 32: — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Rock Formations — Fig. 33: — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Arches National Park — Fig. 34: Arches National Park, Utah. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Arches National Park — Fig. 35: Arches National Park, Utah. A 45 minutes easy walk takes you to the Delicate Arch. This picture was shot in the late afternoon. The best time for taking pictures of this arch is the morning. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Arches National Park — Fig. 36: Arches National Park, Utah. The Delicate Arch as seen from the other side. 300mm telephoto lens. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Arches National Park — Fig. 37: Arches National Park, Utah. Giant dinosaur eggs? — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Arches National Park — Fig. 38: Arches National Park, Utah. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Arches National Park — Fig. 39: Arches National Park, Utah. The Skyline Arch. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Arches National Park — Fig. 40: Arches National Park, Utah. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Arches National Park — Fig. 41: Arches National Park, Utah. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Arches National Park — Fig. 42: Arches National Park, Utah. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Arches National Park — Fig. 43: Arches National Park, Utah. Moon behind arch. (Sorry, this image is faked. It could be possible if we were there some hours earlier. The moon is copied from the next image.) — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Arches National Park — Fig. 44: Arches National Park, Utah. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Very Large Array — Fig. 45: Very Large Array, Soccoro. One branch of the Y-shaped array of radio dishes. Later they turned around. Looked like a giant ballet. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Roswell — Fig. 46: Roswell, New Mexico. One of those many funny alien shops. What would this little city in the middle of nowhere be without the famous incidence in 1947? — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Roswell — Fig. 47: Roswell, New Mexico. The famous UFO museum about the Roswell incidence 1947 — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Roswell — Fig. 48: Roswell, New Mexico. Streetlights from outher space. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

White Sands — Fig. 49: White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. Desert dunes of white gypsum sand. The best time for visiting this site is morning or evening when the sun is low. Then one can see all the ripples on the dunes that look like fingerprints. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

White Sands — Fig. 50: White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. My footprints on the sand. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

White Sands — Fig. 51: White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

White Sands — Fig. 52: White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. A bunch of grass on white gypsum sand with fingerprint ripples formed by the wind. The Sun is low and the shadows are long. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Saguaro National Park — Fig. 53: Saguaro National Park, Arizona. The best time for visiting is spring and early summer when all the cactus are blooming. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Biosphere II — Fig. 54: Biosphere II, Arizona. A scale model of biosphere I - the earth. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Kitt Peak — Fig. 55: Kitt Peak Observatory, Arizona. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Kitt Peak — Fig. 56: Kitt Peak Observatory, Arizona. The solar telescope. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Kitt Peak — Fig. 57: Kitt Peak Observatory, Arizona. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Grand Canyon — Fig. 58: Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Grand Canyon — Fig. 59: Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000

Grand Canyon — Fig. 60: Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. One can see the green snake of the Colorado river on the bottom of the canyon. — Minolta XD-7, USA, October 2000