Drive 2007 - Day 09 - Drives - Beneath the Waves

Drive 2007 - Day 09

article and photographs by Ben Lincoln

The middle of Arizona is the first place I've been in the US that makes significant use of roundabouts ("traffic circles"). I've run across them before, but never more than one or two in a given city. They seem to work very well, and I'd like to see how they fare in areas (within the US) that have more traffic than rural Arizona.

Another quirk of Arizona is that the freeway overpasses are made of yellow concrete with Aztec/Mayan-style designs cast into them. I thought that was a cool idea. My sister tells me that there are similar pink overpasses in New Mexico (although I didn't see any myself), which seems to confirm my suspicion that the colour is due to the rock composition in those two states.

I had come to this part of Arizona to visit Montezuma Castle National Monument. Montezuma Castle is a cliff dwelling built over a thousand years ago. It's not possible to get very close any more, but you can still get a decent view from near the base of the cliff.

Montezuma Castle 2

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The ancient cliff-dwellings of Montezuma Castle.

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 50mm (?)
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-04-05
Version: 2.1

Montezuma Castle 3

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A multispectral set of the cliff dwellings. I was hoping some amazing undiscovered aspect would leap out when viewed this way, but no such luck was to be had.

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 50mm (?)
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-04-05
Version: 2.1

Montezuma Castle 5

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A different angle of the cliff dwellings, showing some of the native plants.

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 28mm (?)
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-04-05
Version: 2.1

Montezuma Castle Handheld Shots

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Some handheld shots from the Montezuma Castle area.

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Various
Filters: LDP CC1
Date Processed: 2008-04-20
Version: 1.1

Prickly Pear Cactus

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I found this cactus (one of the few whose fruit was still ripe) in the parking lot of Montezuma Castle.

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 28mm (Probably)
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-04-05
Version: 2.0

Next I turned south again and headed through Phoenix and Tucson to Saguaro National Park. People from the Southwest already know this, but if you want to see a saguaro cactus in the US, you don't have much choice but to go to Arizona. It's the only state where they grow in quantity. Like the organ pipe cactus, it is also found in greater numbers in Mexico.

Saguaro National Park - Barrel Cactus 1

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There were several excellent examples of barrel cacti near the Saguaro National Park visitor center. Compare this one's variations across the spectrum with some of the other native cactus species.

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 50mm (?)
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-04-05
Version: 2.0

Saguaro National Park Desert Bush

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This odd bush was also just outside the Saguaro National Park visitor center. The little bumps on it reflect UVA light brightly, giving it an even more Dr. Seuss-like appearance with purple spots in false-colour images (this shows up best in the NIR-R-UVA version).

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 35mm (?)
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-04-06
Version: 2.0

Saguaro National Park Trees 1

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Some trees and a large succulent near the Saguaro National Park visitor center.

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 28mm (?)
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-04-07
Version: 2.0

Saguaro National Park Barrel Cactus 2

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A barrel cactus in bloom. The flowers' variation in UVA reflectivity (a simple bulls-eye pattern) is one of the most common in flowers of all types.

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 35mm (?)
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-04-11
Version: 2.0

Saguaro National Park Trees 2

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Large trees can grow in the desert, as long as they're provided with water :). Even so, it's interesting to see how in at least this case, the tree has created cloud-like webs of spindly branches to collect sunlight instead of large individual leaves or small, dense needles.

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 28mm (Probably)
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-04-11
Version: 2.0

Saguaro National Park Barrel Cactus 3

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A close-up shot of the flowers on a barrel cactus. At this distance, the middle ring of the ultraviolet "bulls-eye" is revealed to be a vast number of dark stalks with bright tips, waving about in the wind to attract bees.

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 100mm (?)
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-04-13
Version: 2.0

Saguaro National Park Handheld Shots Part 1

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Assorted handheld photos from Saguaro National Park, including one in the NIR that I shot blind. This one is a good example of the interesting false colour that will result from visible-light white balance when applied to pictures taken with a Hoya R72 or other similar filter.

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Various
Filters: LDP CC1, Hoya R72
Date Processed: 2008-05-04
Version: 1.0

Saguaro National Park Handheld Shots Part 2

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A few more handheld shots from Saguaro National Park.

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 28mm (?)
Filters: LDP CC1
Date Processed: 2008-06-14
Version: 1.0

Southern Arizona Rock Formation 2

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A strange (to my eyes) rock formation from the side of the freeway in southeastern Arizona.

Date Shot: 2007-09-08
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 50mm (?)
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-04-19
Version: 2.0

Date: 8 September 2007
Starting Mileage: 65173
Ending Mileage: 65633
Distance Travelled (Day): 460 miles
Distance Travelled (Trip): 3279 miles
Gallons of Fuel Purchased (Day): 13.3
Gallons of Fuel Purchased (Trip): 106.1

GPS Map of Day 9

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