We currently reside at the town of Amado in Arizona some 40 miles from the border with the state of Sonora, Mexico.   We find Arizona more focused on the issue of border security than most.  This has lead to controversy, I suppose, but the people here have bigger concerns than criticism from those who think they know better. 

A nemesis bird is one that frustrates a birder's best efforts to observe it by staying elsewhere or out of sight despite best efforts to locate it.  We have had various nemesis birds, and the White-tailed Ptarmigan was working hard for this distinction. 

Snow near summit of Black Face Mountain, Elevation 12020ft

Cliff Palace, occupied in the 1200's is the largest cliff dwelling in the park.  We were thrilled to be able to walk through it with a ranger.

This photo looks tame, but we finally arrived at Druid Arch after hiking 4.5 miles and 2000ft elevation change.

This first view of the Needles at Canyonlands early daylight reminded us of the NYC skyline.

Coming east for the past month, we finally ran out of Utah.  There we ventured by a multitude of strange rock formations including arches, natural bridges, pinnacles, fins, cliffs, and slot canyons.  Traveling to lower elevations we passed through thousands of feet of sediments that comprise the Colorado Plateau.  This mass of nearly continuous deposits over the last 500 million years was shoved up some ten thousand feet and is now being furiously washed out by the streams that flow