Earlier this year we were on a nonstop flight from Chicago to San Francisco, headed home after our grandson’s confirmation. Rather than taking a direct route west from O’Hare, our pilot flew southwest almost to the Texas panhandle before turning west. We were taking an end run around a line of intense thunderstorms, and the strategy gave us a smooth flight. The plane was relatively new, so the windows were clean and clear enough to be able to see some interesting views along the route. All of the photos below look out of the north side of the plane.
Canyons on the Colorado River and Green River in southeast Utah, well upstream from Grand Canyon.Erosion patterns around some terrain that is high enough to pick up some moisture in winter (note the green forest).Massive erosion pattern somewhere south of the San Rafael Swell.Terrain similar to the previous photo, but note that the area to the left (west) has some vegetation, suggesting higher elevation and more rain.Interesting outcrops of white sandstone or limestone.Farmland (mostly on the left) and rugged terrain — I think this might be in the Bryce Canyon area but don’t know exactly where to look.Nice snow-capped area north of Zion National Park and northeast from Cedar City, Utah. I spent six weeks in Cedar City for a geology field camp many years ago, and guess that this might be the Brian’s Head area (elevation of about 13000 feet if I recall correctly).Not sure what these are. Solar panels plus some other things? If you look closely, you can see rows of massive wind turbines for scale.Open pit mines (how many pits do you see?) in southern Nevada. Betting they mine gold, copper, or possibly iron.
Technical info: we were flying at 34,000 ft altitude and I shot these photos with an iPhone using the ProCamera app. Next time maybe I will try to bring a physiographic map along to help identify features.
During grad school many years ago I taught classes on remote sensing and air photo interpretation, and I usually enjoy taking in the views when flying across the US. Hope you enjoy these views, too!
