This September my family decided to go to the USA again. To see natural attractions. From the point of view of logistics, it is the parks of the South-West that are very well and compactly located: you just go by car and watch everything along the way. Well, Yellowstone is just a must have. Moreover, they predict - probably the same British scientists - that he will soon bang. So we hurried on to the west of the United States.
Yellowstone Park impresses with a variety of geological activities. There are various hot springs here. On the upper terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs, you can see the following picture: pools with different colors of water are located nearby.
The entire territory of the park is landscaped, paths are laid over the fields. But you still feel like on Mars.
The greater the difference in temperature between water and air, the more vapors from sources.
Local geysers "work" in any way. Some - like this Castle Geyser - are scheduled at regular intervals. And some even without a schedule, as if it would come to mind.
The Castle Geyser erupts approximately every 13 and a half hours. Moreover, the eruption should be expected in the interval of two hours during a possible burst of activity. We waited ten hours.
Each hotel in the park has a table with predictions of the nearest eruptions of large geysers.
The large prismatic source cannot be grasped at close range. To do this, you have to climb the lookout located on the nearest mountain. But it's worth it: the view from there is really wonderful!
In the evening, opposite a large prismatic source, you can observe such a slightly mystical picture.
This source is called Morning Glory.
Of course, in Yellowstone, we were all in awe of the uninhibited animals, especially the chipmunks. These cuties could sometimes be approached by a meter.
And moose are walking in the fields here. But this is no longer Yellowstone, but the adjacent Grand Teton Park.
The summits of Grand Teton on the day of our arrival opened to us only for a few minutes.
Grand Teton is especially beautiful in autumn. And we just got into such a period when the foliage on the trees has already turned yellow.
Park "Arches"
One morning was booked to visit one of Utah's most famous sites at Canyonlands Park, a photographic mecca - Mesa Arch. We left there after dark, that is, an hour before dawn, to be there 20 minutes before dawn.
20 minutes before dawn, suffering photographers and smartphones were already crowded in three rows on the spot. The first line of defense was occupied by a Chinese photographic group with their photographic guru, arranging tripods with crabs in half of the territory. The second row was the owners of smartphones and the third - just those who came to admire the dawn.
My husband and I stood in the fourth row. Little by little, I moved between the rows and in the end remained in the first row, a little constrained in movement, but still in the first row.
At Mesa Arch everyone was waiting for the sunrise like manna from heaven. And it was wonderful. Although the sun played hide and seek with us a little.
This area is called Island In The Sky for a reason. Indeed, it seems that the mountains are soaring straight in the rising rays of the sun.
Another sunrise was met at Dead Horse Canyon Park. The name is funny and as the legend says, once someone noticed on the slopes of this canyon grass, grown or crushed, resembling a horse in shape. But we didn’t notice anything like that. Although the canyon itself is very beautiful.
Monument Valley is America's most recognizable brand. Personally, I immediately think of old westerns and other films about the Wild West.
And yes, mitten rocks have appeared in many films. This place is also famous for the movie Forrest Gump.
This place is hard to miss for someone who is in the city of Page. The famous Colorado River Horseshoe in the early morning.
These rock mushrooms - Hoodoos - can be found in many places. It was next to these that we were the only tourists. How nice it was to meet the sunset with such a view.
Another beautiful site on Lake Powell near Page town, Alstrom Point. Here we were almost alone, because it was not easy to get here even by jeep.
Upper Antelope Canyon is one of the wonders of Arizona.
And the canyon is really very beautiful! Its walls bend smoothly, and the reflected sunlight glides smoothly over the red field of its walls. In every room, everything is different: both curves and color. It is so narrow that sometimes it is difficult to miss it.
These crevice canyons are the result of centuries of soil erosion by temperature and water, whose streams are washing sandstone from a crevice in the ground at a rate. The guide says that when it starts to rain, the water can rise to a height of 12-16 meters and rush through the canyon at the speed of a good car.
Grand Canyon is impressive for its size. Of course, photographs cannot convey this.
We met the sunset at one of the many viewing points. A haze hung in the air, which, due to the depth of the canyon, was closer to the bottom and farther to the horizon, eating up colors and clarity of perception. But despite this, all the grandeur of the natural plan, embodied by Mother Nature in stone in such a huge size, was felt.
We also took a ride along the famous Route 66 route, which at one time connected the west with the east and became a great help for the development of trade and business. One of America's first numbered highways and a full-fledged highway opened in 1926. Then it was not yet all of its parts were covered with asphalt, many parts of the road were unpaved.
Hundreds of local roads in eight states of America were connected into one powerful network using Route 66. And small towns on the highway became an integral part of it.
