Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

☰

Arizona – 5, DLOP

2010-04-12

outings travels usa arizona creatiff photos

Here you go, the Grand Canyon, as real as it gets. This is the DLOP, the Desert Landscape Observation Point.

Panoramic view of the Grand Canyon with deep terraced cliffs of reddish hues and the winding Colorado River below. In the foreground, under a blue sky with light clouds, several tourists stand on an observation deck among low trees.

Laugh all you want, but I'm not joking – the place is called Desert View Watchtower, the translation of which you just read.

Luckily, the internet is the internet, and I can give you a better photo than mine.

The stone Desert View Watchtower rises above the snow-covered edge of the Grand Canyon under a clear blue sky. In the foreground, two people walk along a snowy path among sparse trees.

Photo from here.

As you can see, winter happens in the Canyon too.

A large mural depicting a circle with four colored sections filled with stylized figures of indigenous people, animals, and symbols, surrounded by additional patterns on an earth-colored background.

Inside the tower, there are all sorts of curious pictures by Indians (or fakes). Climbing to the top, by the way, takes quite a while.

On the earth-toned wall of the room, there is a large stylized figure with outstretched limbs under a colored arch, along with patterned ornaments, a stylized structure, and a bird. In front of it stand two primitive chairs made of wood and leather; small windows are visible on the sides.

The chairs are authentic, no resting your ass on them.

Top view of the Grand Canyon from a circular observation deck with several people standing on it. In the distance, a river winds among multi-layered red cliffs.

The tower, following American tradition, is plastered with bans and warnings. The smoking one is self-explanatory, I hope (by the way, a phone number to snitch is listed there), in the center is a warning that the tower has been given a "with parents only" rating, and it sounds exactly like an MPAA movie rating. The last sign is about fire safety, I think I've written about those before. The door must always remain open as long as there are people inside.

A darkened wooden door or a fragment of a rough-textured wall with three English information signs attached: a no-smoking sign, a PG rating for the 'Watchtower', and a sign about keeping the door open during business hours. On the left, on a light wall, a stylized image of a person with a staff and a wavy line resembling a snake are visible.

A tarantula with a dark body and a fluffy orange abdomen crawls on dry, rocky ground dotted with sparse vegetation and small stones.

Friendly Americans will always call you over to see something interesting if they spot it themselves. The size of my fist, by the way.

Panoramic view of a deep canyon with multi-layered reddish cliffs casting long shadows. In the distance, an observation tower is visible on a shrub-covered plateau under a blue sky with cirrus clouds. This is already the next viewpoint, the previous tower is barely visible.

 

A smiling woman in a pink top and light pants stands by a metal railing against the backdrop of the majestic Grand Canyon slopes under a blue sky with light clouds.Here you see the entire Canyon as it is. So, are you impressed?

 

Panoramic view of the Grand Canyon with multi-level rock formations of reddish-brown hues. Deep in the gorge, a turquoise river is visible, and above it all stretches a blue sky with cirrus clouds. Me, unfortunately, not so much.

 

On the dry rocky ground near the edge of the canyon grow two bushes: a large dark green one with twisting branches and a fluffy silvery-gray one. Above them stretches a clear blue sky. On the plus side, the vegetation is quite colorful, for my taste

A smiling man in glasses sits on a rocky ledge, with a panoramic view of the Grand Canyon stretching out behind him, showing layered cliffs and a river visible in the distance under a clear blue sky. Sitting on the edge is scary; as a kid, I was less afraid of heights.

A man in a black hoodie and jeans stands on the edge of a rocky cliff, photographing a panorama of the Grand Canyon on his mobile phone. In the background stretch deep reddish-brown gorges under a bright blue sky with light clouds.

Now this dude has nerves of steel. It made me nauseous even just looking at him. Behind him is a cliff hundreds of meters high, certain death. Yet he was leaping around on the rocks like a little mountain goat.

To contents Ctrl + ↑