Game: Where-is-it? (international)

[GregG]

Could be Monument Valley, Utah.

[johnw]

Could be Monument Valley, Utah.

Not in Utah Greg.

Repeating the photo due to a new page. USA:

Arid landscape near Plateau Point, Grand Canyon NP Arizona USA

[GregG]

Wherever this is, I have not been there and do not recognise the mountains in the background, as distinctive as they are. Just looking at the vegetation in the foreground I can see opuntia and yucca and can take some inference from that, so I reckon that narrows it down to about seven states! For my next wild stab in the dark I'm saying somewhere in Texas.

[johnw]

Wherever this is, I have not been there and do not recognise the mountains in the background, as distinctive as they are. Just looking at the vegetation in the foreground I can see opuntia and yucca and can take some inference from that, so I reckon that narrows it down to about seven states! For my next wild stab in the dark I'm saying somewhere in Texas.

About half of Texas lies on the same latitude but Utah was closer distance wise, and Utah borders this state. The majority of the many visitors to this area would never see this view. I descended about 900 metres elevation from the distant escarpment and the return hike was around 20 kms.

[GregG]

Yes John, I can visualise your hike back: discarded equipment marking your track, empty water bottle flung aside, skull of a dead longhorn staring from empty sun-bleached eye sockets, buzzards patiently circling overhead........

[GregG]

...... so you must have been in Arizona. But where exactly .....

[GregG]

Another half-informed guess: the painted desert.

[johnw]

buzzards patiently circling overhead........

That bit actually did happen

...... so you must have been in Arizona. But where exactly .....

Yes it is in Arizona

Another half-informed guess: the painted desert.

Not the painted desert Greg, Google maps estimates that's about a 300 km/3 hour drive from here, much shorter as the crow flies.

[ribuck]

I wonder if it's the Parashant National Monument in northwest Arizona.

[ribuck]

I've changed my mind. Perhaps it's Cottonwood Cove in the Coyote Buttes area of Vermilion Rocks.

The majority of the many visitors to this area would never see this view. I descended about 900 metres elevation from the distant escarpment and the return hike was around 20 kms.

That would explain why all the public photos of Cottonwood Cove are taken from the top looking down. You must have been keen!

[johnw]

I wonder if it's the Parashant National Monument in northwest Arizona.

I've changed my mind. Perhaps it's Cottonwood Cove in the Coyote Buttes area of Vermilion Rocks.
That would explain why all the public photos of Cottonwood Cove are taken from the top looking down. You must have been keen!

I've never been to any of those. Looking at the map Cottonwood Cove could be marginally closer than other guesses so far.
We have been here previously in the game, just not from this angle. Rethinking my position, my point of descent/ascent may be just out of view on the right.

[eggs]

Looks like Grand Canyon from a shelf below the rim. Probably on Bright Angel Trail?

[GregG]

Just thinking back over previous posts of yours John, did you happen travel to this general area by train?

[johnw]

Just thinking back over previous posts of yours John, did you happen travel to this general area by train?

Not to this area Greg, I arrived at the Grand Canyon by bus from Las Vegas for a few days by myself, while my wife stayed in Vegas doing her shopaholic thing.
But we did travel by train from Denver to San Francisco later in the same 5 week trip.

Looks like Grand Canyon from a shelf below the rim. Probably on Bright Angel Trail?

Yes eggs, some way down in the inner canyon. I'm out near Plateau Point, somewhere between there and Indian Garden.

[eggs]

Thanks John

Name of the river in the Pacific

Rafting on the upper Navua River in Fiji

[johnw]

We might be revisiting the Upper Navua River in Fiji? I assume the falls are unnamed?

[eggs]

Correct on both counts

[johnw]

USA:

Hiking the Kilauea Iki Crater, Hawaii Volcanoes NP via Hilo, Big Island, Hawaii USA

[ribuck]

John, did you happen travel to this general area by train?

I arrived at the Grand Canyon by bus from Las Vegas

I travelled from Los Angeles to Grand Canyon Junction by train (with a short bus connection to the canyon rim), and what a train journey it was! A double-deck train with a very spacious sleeping compartment, at a reasonable price, and great food in a sociable dining car (they sit you with random other travellers rather than at a table of your own).

Anyway, johnw, is your photo the Kilauea lava flow on Hawaii?

[johnw]

John, did you happen travel to this general area by train?

I arrived at the Grand Canyon by bus from Las Vegas

I travelled from Los Angeles to Grand Canyon Junction by train (with a short bus connection to the canyon rim), and what a train journey it was! A double-deck train with a very spacious sleeping compartment, at a reasonable price, and great food in a sociable dining car (they sit you with random other travellers rather than at a table of your own).

Anyway, johnw, is your photo the Kilauea lava flow on Hawaii?

Yes we've done a couple of enjoyable sleeper train trips in North America, although I wouldn't call the compartments spacious. We had the same dining experience and met some interesting people, the food was superb and included in the fare, except wine, which we had to pay for (not at breakfast of course ). Curiously my bus trip from Vegas included a nice lunch at the Grand Canyon Railway in Williams. I was staying a couple of nights at the canyon but the other bus passengers were all day trippers on a tour, so I got whatever they got.

Back to the photo. Yes, I'm walking across the floor of the Kilauea Iki crater.
A fascinating and surreal experience, which I suspect is no longer possible since the recent eruptions.
Over to you ribuck.

[GregG]

the food was superb and included in the fare, except wine, which we had to pay for (not at breakfast of course )

Pleasing to hear that the fare was includes in the fare and that you didn't have to pay for wine at breakfast, hope you downed a few bottles then.
( sorry, its a very slow day here!).

[johnw]

the food was superb and included in the fare, except wine, which we had to pay for (not at breakfast of course )

Pleasing to hear that the fare was includes in the fare and that you didn't have to pay for wine at breakfast, hope you downed a few bottles then.
( sorry, its a very slow day here!).

That will teach me to check my own grammar for ambiguity

[ribuck]

we've done a couple of enjoyable sleeper train trips in North America, although I wouldn't call the compartments spacious.

Well, spacious compared to the Indian Pacific sleepers anyway.

Back to the photo. Yes, I'm walking across the floor of the Kilauea Iki crater.

A great experience. When I was there, the crater floor was closed. But nearby was an active flow, and we were able to go right up to it and tease a piece of lava out with a long stick and watch it cool. Fascinating.

Anyway, this photo is in North America.

[creeping_moses]

That may be at Delicate Arch, in Arches NP, Utah?

[ribuck]

That's correct, creeping moses. Your turn next.

On our first night we watched the sunset from where this photo was taken. Having seen the ant-like people on the ridge near Delicate Arch, we had to head out there for the following night's sunset, and it didn't disappoint. Not the sunset specifically, but the ambiance of that amazing place and the contagious excitement of the people there.

[creeping_moses]

Thanks. Sounds like a great spot, Ribuck!

Where was I just prior to lockdown 3.0 in the UK...

WHERE?

[GregG]

.
.

[commando]

Two dots in Morse code is, i

[ribuck]

Heading south off High Street in the Lake District?

[eggs]

Crag Hill track but on Sail looking towards Scar Crags with Keswick in the distance.
PS Fantastic photo