93 Million Miles

Thanks to my Uncle Earl for this lively look at life on the International Space Station: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zLp1bINKW4&feature=youtu.be. Fabulous!

Where Hath the Ice Gone?

Recently, my friend Walker M. sent me a link about repeat photography that has been done on certain Alaska glaciers. The results are stunning and I encourage you to look closely at these photographs and see just how much the ice has retreated in these few years.

Muir Glacier and Inlet, 1895

Muir Glacier and Inlet, 2005

The comments at the end of the link are as always quite entertaining.

Imagine......

Could A Canal Be In Nicaragua's Future?

It's a little unsettling to me to think of a giant industrial project like this across freshwater Lake Nicaragua. But as the world fills with ever more people, I guess it was only a matter of time. Jeez - see the link above for a larger story.

Phantom Ranch

This 9 minute video captures some of the magic to be found at Phantom Ranch - one of my top three favorite places in the world. Kick back and enjoy the wonder of it all.

Video of Pompeii's Destruction

Watch this 8 minute video from Australia's Melbourne Museum of the the city of Pompeii being destroyed in 79 AD.

Depression Era Photos from Around the USA

Check these out: http://photogrammar.yale.edu/map/

The corner of Route 66 and San Francisco St. in downtown Flagstaff, AZ in March, 1943

The Grand Canyon Escalade? Hopefully Never!

A travesty in the making:  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/opinion/sunday/two-development-projects-threaten-the-grand-canyon.html?_r=0

Drawing by Simon Roussin

The Nature Conservancy Stands Up For The Colorado River

You will love seeing this video production by Peter McBride on the Colorado River.

Phil Collins (Genesis) Donates Western Memorabilia

I am a huge fan of the band Genesis. Recently, Phil Collins donated his entire collection of Alamo 

memorabilia. 

Taos, New Mexico - The Renaming of the City's Kit Carson Memorial Park

Kit Carson

An interesting row has blossomed in Taos, New Mexico regarding the name on the city park. It was recently changed from Kit Carson Memorial Park to Red Willow Park. The Albuquerque Journal ran a bang-up article about the fracas here. (You might have to answer a silly question to read the article and see the photographs).

I read the book mentioned, "Blood and Thunder," by Hampton Sides and found it to be a fair treatment of all sides involved. I liked the book and highly recommend it if you like Western history. It is not biased toward any one side.

Atrocities were committed on both sides of the "Indian Wars." Kit Carson was genuinely conflicted about how to deal with the Native peoples of the US. It is a complex issue.

Perhaps the tribes who advocated for the name change can issue some kind of statement to the effect that the name change was not undertaken to demean or denigrate Kit Carson per se, but meant only to remove the controversy from the name of the park. Kit Carson did some things to promote the good of Native Americans and using selected deeds from his life serves only to forget the rich and complex history involved with this time period. Read the book!

In the UK - Teaching of Creationism as Science is Banned

It's only a matter of time before this happens here, one would hope. Note that discussing creation myths is OK in a religious studies class.

http://aattp.org/hey-america-uk-bans-teaching-creationism-as-science-in-all-public-schools-and-academies/

Should Death Valley's Racetrack Playa Be Made Off-Limits?

Read this very interesting article and an invitation to discuss the idea. It will help you to understand why the answer to the question might be yes.

Photo by James Brandon

The Heart of the Grand Canyon

My wife, Helen, took this shot of the Grand Canyon recently. As we looked at the photo, we couldn't help but notice the very obvious heart formed by the shadows of the clouds over the canyon. And the center of that heart goes right through the axis of Bright Angel Canyon! So there it is, the Heart of the Grand Canyon.

Slide Fire Reveals Archaeology Sites

The Slide Fire in northern Arizona is mostly history now but it is still making news for other reasons. The fire caused archaeologists with the Coconino National Forest to work with fire fighters to determine if certain sites should receive protections. An old cabin and railroad were revealed in the process. Read an LA Time article here.

Also, Ted Grussing has taken some really nice aerial photos of the burn. See them below, along with his commentary.

"The fire crews have done an incredible job and while I am normally no fan of prescribed burns the decision to manage this fire really looks like a great decision. A large percentage of the trees in West Fork appear to be in very good condition and only a few cliff faces have been charred leaving no vegetation on them. On the top, the ignited perimeter fires stopped the advance of fires that came over the top and the areas on top that are burned appear to be pretty small over all.

I'm attaching two photos that I shot early this morning of the area.

The first photo titled West Fork was shot from about ten thousand feet msl over the SW end of Long Canyon looking towards the North. Boynton Canyon is just out of sight lower left and Long Canyon extends to the NE to the right of the photo and ends at the mountain ridges; just over the ridges is Oak Creek Canyon, engulfed in smoke. Oak Creek Canyon extends northward on the right side and is marked by the smoke filling the canyon. The smoke line that cuts to the left side of the image is West Fork and the many little canyons and sub canyons of West Fork can be seen as smoke rises above the very deep canyon walls. On the horizon from the left to the right is Sitgreaves Mountain, Kendrick Peak, The San Francisco Peaks and Mt. Elden.

The second photo titled West Fork 1 was shot from the left side of the smoke in the first photo and is looking generally to the NE. This shot was taken from about twelve thousand feet directly over the TFR area. It shows the beauty of West Fork and the mystical beauty enhanced by the residual smoke in the canyons that will be smoldering for some time. Although there are quite a few trees that were damaged the vast majority seem to be in pretty good shape ... when you consider what it looked like last week when it was burning so intensely it seems a miracle that it came out so good."

Privatize the Water System at Grand Canyon?

An interesting proposal to say the least. Read about it here. The two comments seem to address the issue quite nicely.

Yeah Argentina! The World's Largest Dinosaur Discovered

Read all about it here.

Graph of CO2 Levels in thew Atmosphere Since 750,000 BP

A graph which shows the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere has been released on You Tube. You can watch it here. You can read the full article here.

Historic Showdown in Recapture Canyon, Utah - May 10, 2014

As if living in Wild West dream from the past, local residents in Blanding Utah are attempting to circumvent federal law by trespassing into Recapture Canyon. See the post by the Friends of Cedar Mesa here: http://www.friendsofcedarmesa.org/recapping-the-recapture-canyon-atv-protest/.

I think things are coming to a head in the management of federal lands in certain Western states.

Historic Crash Site in Grand Canyon Listed As A National Landmark

It happened today. Read it here: http://azdailysun.com/news/historic-grand-canyon-midair-crash-site-made-monument/article_f2f17c6a-cb33-11e3-8121-0019bb2963f4.html

Can Wolf Populations Change Landscapes?

 Watch for yourself and see.

Happy Valentine's Day 2014

My wife Helen sent me a link to this charming video produced by the US Department of the Interior showing couples embracing their love inside various national parks and forests. It is touching to say the least. Enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day.

Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_ckCheNhow

Indonesian Volcanic Eruption and Its Pyroclastic Flows and Tornado's

 The Sinabung volcano in Sumatra, Indonesia erupted in January and sent a large pyroclastic flow down the volcano's slope. Pyroclastic flows are hot ash clouds that hug the ground moving oftentimes at 100 mph or more. Check out the video of this surge and the resulting tornado's that developed off of it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/04/volcano-pyroclastic-flow-tornadoes_n_4725903.html

Arizona Republic Article on Petrified Forest Expansion

The Republic ran a great article on the difficulties of expanding the boundaries of Petrified Forest National Park. Read it here: http://www.azcentral.com/travel/articles/20131106petrified-forest-national-park-fossils.html?nclick_check=1

Another Grand Canyon Controversy

There is quite a controversy going on in the blogosphere about God and the Grand Canyon. It started with an article in Time magazine. Here is a link to the original article.

And here is a link to a summary of the controversy.

Fantastic Photographs From National Geographic

 

My friend Howard C. forwarded this link to some pretty amazing photographs from National Geographic. Not surprisingly, I have been to many of these places but my photographs are nowhere near this good. Have a look here.

The Ultra Deep Field - 13 Billion Years Ago

This 4-minute video explains how we came to see all the way to very edge of the universe, some 13.5 billion years ago. Watch the humbling video here.

I post this in the memory of Joe Orr, who began his celestial journey on Dec. 9 of last year. Joe loved the night sky and the wonder it engendered in our inquisitive selves.

Happy New Year From Flagstaff

Dawn Kish - photographer par excelence in Flagstaff - took this shot of the famous Pine Cone Drop that occurs every New Year's at 10 PM and 12 AM from the balcony of the Weatherford Hotel in downtown Flagstaff. The Pine Cone Drop is becoming well-known throughout the state as a must-see event.

Dawn Kish and her photography can be reached at:

dawnKISHphoto
1810 N. San Francisco St.
Flagstaff, Arizona  86001
c e l l : 9 2 8 - 3 8 0 - 4 7 4 8

http://www.dawnkishphotography.com
http://twitter.com/dawnkishphoto
http://www.facebook.com/DawnKishPhoto