AZ airplane trip

  Last end of March, when I was in Arizona I took an airplane trip from Deer valley airport to the Grand Canyon airport with a fly over of the Canyon itself.  I just rode in the plane taking a lot of pictures and not thinking much about what I was seeing.  I figured I'd figure it out once I got back.  I thought if I Google Earth it would be easy to figure out what I was seeing after all I was looking down on things, just like a satellite does. Boy was I wrong. I wasn't looking down on things but looking at it from different angles and directions. Unless I could find a key man made land mark, that was very identifiable- like roads intersecting, I was at a loss as to where I was.   I've been trying to figure some of this stuff out ever since.
  At first I thought we just did a straight shot north, but once I started to look at things I realize we did not go directly north like I thought we did.  Coming back I realize it was pretty much a straight shot back, following some power lines and Hwy 17. Also we were flying higher than we did going up. Going up we were about 1000- 1500 feet high at a speed of about 150 miles per hour.
  One of the things that surprised me more than anything was not seeing some of the same things coming back as I did going up.  I was sitting in the same spot on the plane on the left side of the plane next to a window. Going up, occasionally I would look out the window to the right (east) but since I was having to look over my husband, I just mostly concentrated on things to the west, figuring I would see it all when we came back.  I was very disappointed to realize we were taking a different route coming back and I missed some of the stuff he got to see.  I was glad I did occasionally reach over and did take a couple of pictures.  The geology going up was a more interesting to me than what we saw coming back.
Here are some of the more interesting spots.

 I'm not too sure where this was.  We were flying over the Bradshaw mountains and the Tonto National forest.

Verde River

Sink hole

 

Camp Verde & Hwy 17

 I found it fascinating at how quickly the topography changed. 

 I think this is Sedona AZ because of all the colorful red rocks and the airport that can be seen in it.

 

 This was heading north toward the San Fransisco Mountains.

 This might be Mormon Lake again we were headed north toward the San Fransisco Mountains.  I wasn't expecting to see as many lakes as I did.

 It was exciting to see some cinder cones as we headed toward the San Fransisco Mountains.

Wing Mountain ? (35 16' 14.65"N & 111 47' 06" W)

   The mountains were to the east of us as we flew by them. I was so intrigued with the cinder cones I was seeing I wasn't paying any attention to looking out to the east until the pilot came on and told us to look at the San Fransisco Mountains.

San Fransisco Mountains abt 35 20' 00" N & 111 40' 00" W

cinder cone to the west of San Fransisco Mountains, AZ

Cinder Cone near the San Fransisco Mountains, AZ

Cinder cone near the San Fransisco Mountains, AZ

Painted desert, AZ

Here's the painted desert and I could see why it is called the painted desert.

The Grand Canyon

 Finally we made it to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  I figured we entered the canyon near the East Entrance Station.  If you look closely you can see Lipan Point.

I think this may be Tanner Canyon.

I think this is Temple Butte.

The Little Colorado River joining the Colorado River, Grand Canyon, AZ

The Grand Canyon is one of the most photographed places on earth.  I've just included a few of mine that I liked.  Because they were being shot through a window they are a little bit hazy. I have a lot more but I won't bore you with them unless you want to see some more.
 
Then the trip back:

Red Butte, AZ

mining operation

Red Horse wash with Red Butte in the background

 This was interesting to me.  I could tell it was a mining operation of some sort.

Cinder cone, Kaibab National Forest, AZ

I think this cinder cone was in the Kaibab national forest

Kaibab Naitonal Forest

 in the background is Kendrick Peak and the San Fransisco Mountains

 Prescot National Forest

 Prescot National Forest, what I liked about this photo is you can see how the rocks have been faulted and are now tilted.

 Verde River

 Cooks Mesa in Tonto National Forest, I could be wrong on this.  I  just liked the way the light was playing off of the hills.  A friend saw this picture and said it looked like a giant shoe print and thought this was very artistic.

 New River?

New River?  Bradshaw Mountains.

So much to see, all so different, now to muse about caused all these land forms to form.

Balloon ride in Arizona

   I went to Arizona the last week in March.  One of the most amazing things I did was to go for a balloon ride again.  I just absolutely love riding in balloons.  If you ever get a chance go, its worth it and ten times more.

    This ride was so different from the other one.  This time we were only traveling about one mile per hour while before we were going about 35 miles per hour.  The other thing was with the first ride we were going about 1000 feet above the ground.  This time we were about 400 feet.  We did get up to about 1000 feet once but did not stay at that altitude for very long.  I also notice that with this one the pilot had to do a lot more maneuvering with the levers.  I assumed it was because there wasn't much of a wind that day and that was the only we could get around.  The funny thing was once the other balloons started to land we got swept up in an air current and couldn't land with the others, and our trip ended up being longer than the others too.  I was glad that happened because I got to see some things I wouldn't have otherwise. I'm not complaining, I was just happy that I got to go longer and see that stuff. 

Inflating a balloon

It was so fun to look down upon the other balloons as they took off

We were riding in the Sonoran_Desert.  (about 33 46'40"N and 112 11' 49" W) 

Balloons taking off in the morning.

Granite Reef Aqueduct, AZ

Pyramid Peak, AZ (Sonoran Desert)

Looking at the other balloons on this trip.  The Granite Reef Aqueduct, AZ is in the background.

Balloon rising above a  hill

Balloon shadows on the desert floor

Desert drainage

 I liked this picture because you could see where it was greener along the path that the water would travel.

Looking down and seeing all the weathered rocks in the area of Dead man wash.

Looking down upon a Saguaro cactus

Balloon ride in the Sonoran desert

Balloon ride in the desert

Dead man wash area, Sonoran desert, Carefree AZ

I could understand why this area had the name it had.  It was so desolate and so little water.

Balloon ride in the Sonoran desert, AZ

Looking over Ludden Mountain to the northern suburbs of Phoenix

Looking down on the top of a balloon

Looking at the Arizona Game and Fish Dept. Headquarters

Pyramid peak in back ground, Granite Reef Aquiduct, Carefree AZ

 This picture really helped me locate where we were flying while in the balloon.  I was able to google Earth it and got the location at 33 46' 54.47" N, 112 11' 55.38" W elev 1538.  After I figured this out then I could locate other things that we saw.

 The New River and the Carefree Highway, Carefree AZ

 I really like looking at this river flood plan and the drainage pattern I saw.  It is so different from the things I'm used to seeing.

New River, Carefree AZ

 Here's another picture of the New River.  It just made me wonder why it was draining in this area. 

All good things must come to an end.  Balloons landing in the desert.

 We were trying to land in the same location when a gust of wind took us up again.  I was glad it did.  It took us north and we got to see Lake Pleasant.

Lake Pleasant, AZ

 Like the others, our trip had to end too.  I thought it was so pretty to look up into the balloon and see the top being pulled close so the hot air could escape and we could land.

I really look forward to the next balloon ride I will take.  Now I muse at where that will be.