Western US landscapes
Flickr user kawkawpa has posted a great set of high-resolution images taken on a flight from Philadelphia to San Francisco. He has already identified the locations for most of the photos from the Midwest, so here we'll focus just on the shots from the western US that don't have locations specified. See his full set to see the rest of the photos. The first image shows a line of cliffs in Laramie County, Wyoming, about 45 miles northwest of Cheyenne.
The next image shows another line of cliffs, this one in Moffat County, Colorado. The high-resolution image shows what looks like drilling activity on the bluff in the center of the photo - probabably gas wells.
This image shows mountains along the Utah / Nevada border. The state line runs right through the center of this photo. On the left, in Nevada, is Mt. Moriah, part of the Snake Range in Humboldt National Forest. On the right is Utah's Snake Valley.
This image shows low hills in Nye County, Nevada, just south of the town of Duckwater.
Just west of the previous image, this shot shows the eastern foothills of Portuguese Mountain in Nye County, Nevada.
To the west of Portuguese Mountain, this shot shows dry watercourses in Big Sand Springs Valley, Nevada.
This image shows the site of the "Faultless" nuclear test conducted on January 19, 1968 in Nevada's Hot Creek Valley. In the late 1960's, the Atomic Energy Commission was concerned about the impact that the existing Nevada Test Site, located 90 miles south, could have on the growing tourist economy of Las Vegas. Tests were planned for the Hot Creek Valley location to evaluate the suitability of local geological conditions. The Faultless test was the first and only test conducted at this location. The one-megaton device, detonated 3,200 feet underground, produced extensive surface damage, and further testing at this location was cancelled. The site of the explosion is in the left center of the photo, inside the circular marks just left of the largest cleared area. See the high-resolution version of the original image for more detail.
The final image shows a series of river valleys in Mineral County, Nevada, on the Nevada / California state border. The left portion of the image is in California.
Photos taken: January 19, 2007
Photos by: kawkawpa
Route: Philadelphia to San Francisco
