Game: Where-is-it? (international)

[GPSGuided]

You got it Eggs! LA being a single hop city from the east coast, it's a regularly accessed city, and Mt Wilson is part of the San Gabriel Mtn range at over 1700m with an extensive network of hiking trails that are out of the horrors of LA smog but very nice panoramic views on a clear day. Mt Wilson Observatory was founded by Hale and was where Hubble correctly identified the Andromeda Galaxy as a standalone galaxy. For air travellers sitting by starboard windows on flights approaching LAX, Mt Wilson rises sharply over a flat LA on the north side. With a massive bank of communication masts and white observatories on top, it's a formidable sight, especially towards dusk with the last sun ray on it. Well worth a visit and walk when in the LA area.

So back to Eggs.

BTW, the famed 'Hollywood' sign is set on Mt Lee (512m), much further west and on the foothills north of Hollywood. In a line of sight towards Palos Verdes, the prominence in the distance, LA city would have been to the left of the sightline.

[eggs]

There seems to be a lot of USA.

Anyway - try Africa again, name of the lake:

A small section of the many Flamingos in Lake Bogoria lying under the eastern edge of the Great Rift Valley escarpment

Last edited by eggs on Tue 06 Jan, 2015 3:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[GPSGuided]

Ummm... What clues and features could one gain from this photo? Flamingos? Temperate forest over highish hills in the backdrop? Lake Nakuru?

[eggs]

Actually quite close - the background escarpment is very significant and is over 600m high.
There are some very hot springs along this shoreline.
Its lower than Nakaru at around 1000m high.

[GPSGuided]

Lake Bogoria? Can see on satellite the high hills and you'd be on highway E461, along the western shores.

[eggs]

Highway E461 ?? A bit of a dodgy dirt road really! - but good enough for any basic car.
Yes. Bogoria nestles in tightly under the eastern edge of the Great Rift Valley escarpment and is home to an amazing number of Flamingos.
A real highlight of our travels in Kenya.

[GPSGuided]

E461 was what's listed on Google Maps, along the western shores. Little would I know it's a dirt road. Still, lovely angle it got you with the flamingos and all.

Now for something far easier and from the air to capture its immense size. Hiked down there in mid-summer one year and the heat nearly killed me. I'll just indicate it's on the planet Earth for this one.

Just finding out that much of my European and elsewhere photos are either in albums or in slides. Going to take a bit of work to scan those in...



The Grand Canyon, AZ, USA, viewed from the air with the South Rim at the bottom of the photo.

Last edited by GPSGuided on Tue 06 Jan, 2015 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[johnw]

I haven't seen this from the air except other photos but I think I recognise some features fom my one visit. Let's say Grand Canyon, Arizona USA, possibly looking across towards the South Rim? I was there early last May and hiked Bright Angel Trail down to Plateau Point, still hundreds of metres above the Colorado River. It was fairly comfortable weather and believe I could have made the river and back in a day had I started an hour or so earlier (although the NPS advise you not to try). Strangely it was snowing lightly when I started out, and at the top the South Rim is kinda subalpine. Once you descend the 900 odd metres to the plateau it's literally desert full of cacti and so on. I found that contrast quite bizarre but very interesting.

[GPSGuided]

Got it John! There's only one such "big hole" in the ground. In terms of POV, the South rim is lower in the photo. I believe the south rim visitor centre is just to the bottom left corner of the photo. The scale of this geologic feature is just indescribable. So many trails but must avoid mid summer. It was just crazy! Flights heading east out of LAX routinely pass over this area and the Capt. would remind passengers over the PA, similar to our local flights over Uluru. So the lesson here is to always book portside window seat on east bound flights for this view as well as to avoid the sun.

Over to you.

[johnw]

Thanks GPS, I'll remember that for next time we're able to visit. Yes it's definitely the biggest hole in the ground I've ever seen.
I had trouble thought processing how immense it was when I first saw it.

Staying with the USA:

Geothermal springs and travertine terraces - Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone NP, Wyoming USA

Last edited by johnw on Sat 10 Jan, 2015 4:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[GPSGuided]

Yellowstone NP... Now, needing to be more specific.

[johnw]

Yellowstone NP... Now, needing to be more specific.

Yellowstone is quite large and with many geothermal features. I'll offer some clues to help narrow it down. This is on a short walk very close to a major centre. I'm not sure if this is the largest of this particular type of feature in the park but the location is well known for this type of landscape, which is quite extensive. The name of the locality is good enough for me.

[GPSGuided]

Mammoth Hot Spring - Minerva Terrace. Right? Pretty famous but poor trees...

[johnw]

Mammoth Hot Spring - Minerva Terrace. Right? Pretty famous but poor trees...

Good work GPS, Mammoth Hot Springs is all I needed. To be honest I'm still trying to find time to rationalise over 2,000 photos I took from our US trip completed over 7 months ago. My recollection is that I am probably above Minerva Terrace at this point as we walked an anti-clockwise circuit then I doubled back to pick up some missing sections, including Minerva. There is a quite famous photo from 1896 of men from the 25th Infantry with bicycles standing on it (WHS issue!). So without reviewing my other photos (I'm at work) I think this may actually be looking across the top of Main Terrace. I'm inclined to think that may be Bunsen Peak in the distance (a walk I wanted to do at the time but the advice was that the trail was still under 10 feet of snow ). All yours...

Last edited by johnw on Wed 07 Jan, 2015 3:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[GPSGuided]

Thanks John. Sounded like quite a memorable trip for you and a good supply of fresh photos for this thread. I haven't had the chance to visit the Yellowstone yet but one day.

As I am heading out for the airport shortly, I'll pass my turn as I won't be able to monitor this thread in a timely fashion for the coming days. John or anyone else who have not had a post are welcome to post the next challenge. We haven't had Europe, South America and the Antarctica yet...

[Graham51]

Okay, since I didn't get a chance to post the other day I'll step in.
In USA - What am I looking at and in which park, OR where was I?

Attachments

Half Dome from Clouds Rest, Yosemite National Park.

078 (Custom).JPG (96.12 KiB) Viewed 174093 times

Last edited by Graham51 on Thu 08 Jan, 2015 5:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

[eggs]

I haven't seen that angle on Half Dome before.
Great view of Yosemite Valley.

[Graham51]

I haven't seen that angle on Half Dome before.
Great view of Yosemite Valley.

Yes, it's Half Dome from Clouds Rest.

[eggs]

Fantastic.

Back to NZ now.

Mouth of the Dart on Lake Wakatipu - adjacent to Kinloch

Last edited by eggs on Thu 08 Jan, 2015 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

Glenorchy end of Lk Wakatipu? Near the mouth of the Dart maybe?

[eggs]

Correct. Mouth of the Dart [which is adjacent to Kinloch]

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

OK. Still in middle earth...

Attachments

[wayno]

rees saddle

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

rees saddle

Correct

[wayno]

NZ, on a well known track

Attachments

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

Lk Mackenzie... With the water down a fair bit!

[wayno]

yeah someone lost the plug...

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

Still in NZ (sorry!). Which hut is this?

Attachments

[wayno]

outerere on the Tongariro northern circuit

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

outerere on the Tongariro northern circuit

Yep, Ruapehu in the background