#36 Mesa Verde NP

Mesa Verde is one of my favorite National Parks. It is a series of ancient Indian cliff dwellings located in Southwestern Colorado. A few of the ruins are open to self-guided tours, but the more rewarding experiences are the ranger-led hikes.

The rest of my Mesa Verde Pictures are featured here.

#35 Hovenweep NM

Located along the Utah/Colorado border, Hovenweep National Monument preserves five different sites. It is not as well preserved as nearby Mesa Verde, and the smaller amount of visitors make this monument more manageable. This are pictures from the hike to the Square Tower Group near the Visitor Center.

The rest of my pictures of Hovenweep NM are here.

#34 Canyon d' Chelly NM

Canyon d' Chelly National Monument preserves two gorgeous canyons on the Chinle Wash, Canyon d' Chelly (pronounced d'shay), and Canyon del Muerto. The site is sacred to the Navajo and the canyon floor can only be visited on a guided tour or on the strenuous White House Ruin hike. The canyon floor is still used for agriculture. Note the signs advising tourists to take their valuable with them as this park has had lots of problems with theft from cars. This formation is known as Spider Rock.

See the rest of my photos from Canyon d' Chelly NM here.

The Nut, Tasmania

This is the geological formation known as The Nut, located in Northern Tasmania. The town at the base is Stanley. I rode a chairlift to the top and found it surprisingly full of vegetation. It was also cold and outrageously windy.

The rest of pictures of Stanley and The Nut here.

Denver

This is a view of Denver from the Rocky Mountains west of the city, taken in 1995, while visiting the area for Kirk and Denise Stueber's Wedding.

#33 Natural Bridge NM

Natural Bridges National Monument is home to three distinct natural bridges, Sipapu, Kuchina, and Owachomo. All have viewpoints and are connected by the 8.8 mile loop. Hikes of varying levels are offered to get closer to the bridges.

Here are the rest of my pictures of Natural Bridges NM.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

#32 Canyonlands

Canyonlands National Park is located in the same are as yesterday's park Arches. Canyonlands is a large park full of canyons and gorges with the Colorado River running through the middle of the park. Most of the park is only accessible by 4WD vehicle on rough dirt roads.

See the rest of my Canyonlands NP here.

#31 Arches NP

Arches National Park is another one of the National Park Systems truely great parks. Despite the variety of amazing rock arches, the park also encompasses desert and mountain landscapes. This formation is known as The Spectacles.

The rest of my pictures of Arches NP are here.

#30 Capitol Reef NP

Capitol Reef National Park encompasses a unique geological feature known as Waterpocket Fold. The park is one of the least heard about and most underrated parks in the National Park System. The area was once settled by Mormon settlers, and many of the building in that settlement known as Frutia still stand today. Also evident are the orchards, which are still maintained by the NPS today.

More pictures of Capitol Reef here.

Banska Bystrica

This is the main square in the Slovakian town of Banska Bystrica. Our tour group stopped there for a couple hours on our way from Hungary to Poland.

See more pictures here.

Lindsay's High School Graduation

This is my brother, sister and I at Lindsay's High School graduation in 1998. It is a rare picture of me without the goatee.

#29 Bryce Canyon NP

These are the rock formations known as hoodoos from Bryce Canyon National Park. Bryce isn't actually a canyon, but a naturally formed ampitheater, located about an hour North of Zion NP. The 28 mile scenic drive along the top of the ridge has many spendid viewpoints, and those who hike down into the valley also rave about that experience.

See more of my Bryce Canyon Pictures Here.

#28 Zion NP

This is Checkerboard Mesa near the Western Entrance to Zion National Park. Zion is another one of America's premier National Parks. The most popular part of the park is the Canyon created by the Virgin River. There are many spectacular viewpoints that can be reached from easy hikes, but there are also more challenging hikes that await the hearty visitor. One of the NPS' most unique hiking experiences is The Narrows, where you actually hike along a shallow part of the river through a very narrow slot canyon.

The rest of my Zion National Park Pictures are here.

#27 Pipe Spring NM

Pipe Spring National Monument in Southern Utah was set aside in the 1920 as a memorial of western pioneer life, but the spring and surrounding area have been important to the Native population for hundreds of years before the first settlers from the East. The ancestral puebloans and the Paiute Indians were the first to count on the spring. Later, the Spanish and Mormon settlers also relied on the spring for fresh water in this arid region.

More Pictures from Pipe Spring NM

#26 Glen Canyon NRA

This is a picture of Glen Canyon Dam, located along the Colorado River, North of the Grand Canyon and near the village of Page, Arizona. The man made lake north of the dam runs into Utah and is very popular with those who enjoy water sports.

Glen Canyon NRA pictures

#25 Grand Canyon NP

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the gems of the National Park System. It is the second most visited behind Great Smaky Mountains National Park. On my visit in May of 2003, I took a helicopter flight over the canyon. It is one of the most amazing travel experiences that I have had. The overwealming impression looking into the Grand Canyon gives me is how samll we are. My parents first took us to the canyon during the summer of 1982, when I was only 10 years old.

Pictures from the Flight over the Grand Canyon

Picture from along the South Rim Drive

Nikole & Kathy

These are my friends Nikole and Kathi from Mount Pleasant. They have three awesome dogs, Daisy, Tacoma, and the puppy, Isabelle. Nikole and I worked together at Papa Johns for four years while I lived in Mount Pleasant.

Dragon Building, Hong Kong

This building was built with the hole in the middle because there is a legend about a dragon that lives on the mountain behind the building. This is located on Repulse Bay.

Hong Kong Pictures- http://www.eriksmith.com/Asia/HongKong.htm

#24 Wupatki NM

Wupatki National Monument is a series of five dwellings built over a thirty mile area. The largest of these dwellings is Wupatki House located behind the Visitors Center. It contains a fascinating ball court, something unique in the dwellings of the Four Corners region. Nearby, a road leads to the dramatically perched Wukoki House. The people who lived in these dwellings were attracted to the area by the fertile farming lands aided by the eruption of the nearby Sunset Crater Volcano. The Mountain seen in the background is Humphries Peak, the highest point in Arizona.

#23 Sunset Crater Volcano NM

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument is the cone of a volcano that erupted in 1064-1065 AD. Due to erosion, the cone itself is off limits for hiking, but there is an interpretive trail that leads right up to the base of the mountain, and another trail that leads up a lesser cone nearby. The eruption of the volcano effected Native living for hundreds of years. The hiking trails highlight the unique nature of volcanic areas, much like the ones in El Malpais and Capulin Volcano did.
http://www.eriksmith.com/sw03/sunsetcratervolcano.htm is where to find the rest of my pictures.

#22 Tuzigoot NM

I visited Tuzigoot national Monument on a blazing hot day in May of 2003. It is a ruin located on a hilltop in the middle of the Verde Valley of central Arizona, just south of Sedona.

For the rest of my pictures from Tuzigoot, click here.

#21 Montezuma Castle NM

This is Montezuma's Well, it is part Montezuma Castle NM. It is a natural water hole that the native American population of the area used to satisfy their water needs. It is located eleven miles away from the ruins that are also a part of this monument.
http://www.eriksmith.com/sw03/MontezumaCastle.htm has the rest of my pictures.

#20 Walnut Canyon NM

Walnut Canyon National Monument is located 10 miles southeast of downtown Flagstaff, Arizona. The cliff face dwellings were built here between 112- 1250 A.D. by the Sinaguan. Sinagua is Spanish for 'without water'. They built the one room pithouses (seen in the photos below) to tae advantage of the natural shelter and the water recessed in the limestone walls. It is assumed that these people were assimilated into the Hopi culture. A one mile trail walks around the canyon walls to look the ruins close up.

Here is a link to more pictures- http://www.eriksmith.com/sw03/Walnutcanyon.htm

Christmas 2007

This picture is from December of 2007, when I came down from Mount Pleasant to visit my nephews, Colin & Eli.

Athens

This is a picture of the Acropolis complex in Athens. It is taken from one of the other hills in the outskirts of Athens on our December 1999 trip. This, unfortunately, is as close as I got to the actual Acropolis, as I was sick and spent most of this trip in the bathroom or in bed. You can tell by looking at this photo that Athens does not have the highest air quality in the world.

#19 Hubbell Trading Post NHS

John Lorenzo Hubbell was a trader whose friendly relations with the Navajo made him a southwest legend. The Trading Post and many of it's other buildings are preserved today. The Trading Post still sells things it sold in Hubbell's day, Indian Jewelry and Rugs, and well as modern things like souvenirs and candy. The day I was there it was overrun with school groups, so I didn't stay long inside the packed Trading Post. Hubbell is reported to have been buried in the Navajo tradition, in a unmarked grave, on the hill behind the site.

http://www.eriksmith.com/sw03/HubbellTP.htm

#18 Petrified Forest NP

Petrified Forest National Park is two parks in one. Most of the Southern half is the Petrified Forest (bottom picture), which contains lots of different pieces of Petrified wood, the largest such collection anywhere is the world. The Northern Part of the park is the fantastic and beautiful Painted Desert (top picture), which stretches northward toward the Navajo Indian Reservation.

Both parks are featured here-http://www.eriksmith.com/sw03/PetrifiedForNP.htm

#17 El Morro NM

El Morro National Monument is a huge sandstone bluff that stands out in the desert and so has attracted people for centuries. The ancient decedents of the Zuni called this area home over 1,000 years ago. The Spanish are responsible for the earliest dateable inscriptions on 'Inscription Rock', and the Americans also carved their names on the rock, as the young country expanded westward. El Morro is Spanish for 'The Headland'. Today, inscriptions are visible on the rock from the easy loop trail that circles the front of the rock. A longer two mile trail leads to Indian Ruins on the other side of the Rock.

This carving in the rock is that of an two army men, one from North Carolina and one from Michigan. Lieutenant Breckenridge would die a few years later in the Civil War.

The rest of my pictures are posted at http://www.eriksmith.com/sw03/elmorro.htm.

#16 El Malpais NM

El Malpais National Monument is Western New Mexico is a large area of lava flows, pine forests and lava tube caves. The name comes from the Spanish for "badlands", and today the area is popular with both hikers and rock climbers.

See my very limited set of photographs at http://www.eriksmith.com/sw03/elmalpais.htm.

#15 Bandelier NM

Bandelier National Monument is named after Adolph Bandelier, a anthropologist who is said to have first reported the dwellings here. The park is 40 miles west of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Most of the dwellings are located in Frijoles Canyon, a lush canyon set against the Jemez Mountains. The site is important to the Native history, as it was occupied for over 500 years and some of the other cultures such as those from Mesa Verde and Hovenweep may have migrated south to here. The dwelling was also populous, holding as many as 40 families at one point in time. I took the Frijoles Canyon Trail, which followed a cliff side path through the remnants of this society. It is not even as close to as well preserved as Mesa Verde, so understanding it's importance in history is important.

See the rest of my pictures here- http://www.eriksmith.com/sw03/bandelierNM.htm