Homeward Bound

On the 16th I left the motel in Flagstaff about 4:00am headed for Texas. I was thoroughly worn out and decided to drop the excursion to the Big Bend NP. Wish I had remembered to cancel the motel reservations in Alpine. Anyhow, I made it back to Austin before sunset.

This is very nearly sunrise just outside of St John, Arizona. I had a little farther south to go before turning east and crossing into New Mexico. Just before I crossed into NM I came across half a dozen or so elk cows grazing on the roadside in the Apache National Forest. They were not concerned initially, but when I started taking pictures - none of which was worth anything in that dim light - they crossed the road, walked up to the barbed wire fence and jumped it from a standing start. Impressive for critters that big.

I chose this route simply because I'd never been this way before and I had no idea what the countryside would be like. I think I checked Google Maps Street View but didn't see anything of interest. I was really surprised just how pretty this western section of New Mexico is.

I think I reversed these last two pics. This one was from just east of Luna, NM, near where I saw the elk. The picture above it was from a bit farther south, in the San Francisco Mountains.

That's it; I'm done. I'll answer any questions that come up but I'm going to relax a bit.

The five panoramas I promised you.

Looking SE along Professor Valley RD from Utah 128.

The Henry Mountains (Mt Ellen), looking east from Utah 12.

Checkerboard Mesa, Zion National Park.

Looking west at the Streaked Wall, Zion National Park, from Utah 9.

Looking east over the big surprise of the trip, the San Francisco Mountains of western New Mexico.

Additional Panoramas I came up with after publishing my plan. I shouldn't be penalized for doing extra...

View looking west from Water Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park.

View looking NE from Point Imperial, Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim.

View looking NE from Vista Encantada, Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim.

The Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, near Marble Canyon, AZ.