Bedrock & Paradox

I dream of a hard and brutal mysticism in which the naked self merges with a non-human world and yet somehow survives still intact, individual, separate. Paradox and bedrock.

7

Today is my day off from 0500 rides and gym-knee therapy, so I get to sit in the coolness and drink coffee and eat waffles and hang out, reading.

I stumbled across this a bit ago, and it got me thinking. The premise of only human created ones I can understand, unfortunately (as of today) I haven’t been to many of the places in contention, and consequently don’t have too much to say about them. I have been around the US quite a bit (every state except Hawaii, Arkansas, and Louisiana) , so, what would be the “top seven” natural wonders of the United States? They have to be coherent, distinct units. Saying “the Colorado River from the grand confluence to Lake Mead” is cheating, though the Dominy Resevoir fucked that one up, anyway.

In no particular order, and subject to debate and revision:

-The Grand Canyon

Include the rims and significant side canyons and you have all of the southwests major biomes and geology, excepting alpine. The easiest choice.

-Denali

Delineated by it’s ridges and glaciers. Huge. When I first saw it from the northeast corner of the national park, I mistook it for a cloud because it’s so damn big. That and it’s latitude make it unique.

-The Dacks

We’ll take the high peaks region, or even just everything that drains off Marcy, or even just the full eastern cirque and John’s Brook. If you take the eastern mountains as a type, old rugged, steep V valleys and lush vegetation, this is in my experience the single most outstanding distillation thereof.

-Glacier National Park

The other American mountains. Limestone must represent.

-Death Valley

A whole different scale of time and geology. It’s disorienting at first, until you hang out for a few days and realize that you can see more by standing a mile north of Badwater and spinning in a circle than you can in any other valley, anywhere. The primeval referent for everything else on the continent.

-The Little Missouri badlands

What happened to the wonder of the grass seas? Soybeans and corn, a national tragedy. The area around the two units of Teddy Roosevelt are where the seas start to meet the outlying islands of the mountain mainland, and one of purest iterations of the type we have left. For shame. Our countries most beautiful memorial?

-The Dirty Devil river drainage

Yeah, it is theoretically contained within the Grand Canyon, but the big ditch is so inaccessible and mysterious (much more so than any other on this list) that we’ll allow these gentle and nuanced canyons. Red rock being, after all, THE American landscape. See the far upper forks of the Robbers Roost complex in late March for green cottonwoods, clean walls, and flat sand with small deer tracks.

Well, that was an exercise in futility. Please, discuss..

DaveC

9 responses to “7”

  1. Dave Avatar
    Dave

    What can I see in my list?No love for the ocean.Little if any love for subtle landscapes, at least at first glance. (It’s the subtlety within violence I love.)High and dry.Above all, water creating negative space.

    Reply
  2. Adam Lisonbee Avatar
    Adam Lisonbee

    I thought Wal-Mart was the THE American landscape. ;)I’d have to add Moab, as in the La Sals, and the Arches. Pretty unique to have blown sandstone bumping up against the high alpine.Denali is pretty impressive. I was blown away by how massive everything up there is. The mountain itself, the surrounding forests, the bears…Alaska is incredible.

    Reply
  3. moonbeam Avatar
    moonbeam

    This really has nothing to do with the 7 wonders, as I was de-railed by the fact that you haven’t been to my homeland of humidity and mosquitos–Louisiana!! Y’all gotta get down there, eat up some crawfish, dance to the Zydeco music, gawk at the sights on Bourbon Street. It’s a good place to visit. There’s maybe 2 nice places to go in Arkansas…one is a smokehouse with some killer fried pies to compliment the salty meats (Burge’s in Lewisville), and then the Ozark hills. Okay, I’ll go back and read the rest of today’s musings now. :)carol ann

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  4. Dave Avatar
    Dave

    CA, they’re both on the list. I do find it hard to put them towards the top, for better or worse.

    Reply
  5. Meredith Avatar
    Meredith

    Yeah really- where’s the appreciation for the water features of this country… this is why I’ll never get you to live our east- in the east, water still naturally exists in bodies. Water primarily exists in bodies in the West Un-naturally- and in that respect this list defines a lot about your preferences.Ironically- when it comes to subtlety you won’t find it in bigger abundance then staring out at a stretch of the Robber’s Roost- the landscape looks generally flat until you get down into it.Really- I think subtlety is all over your list… comprehending the enormity of Grand Canyon is a lesson in looking past the obvious and appreciating the subtleties that lie within. And that’s why you appreciate it and not Zion or Yosemite or other drastic and singular canyons that don’t have the convoluted intricacies of the Grand Canyon

    Reply
  6. moonbeam Avatar
    moonbeam

    Being from that area of the US, I can defintitely understand why they don’t make it to the top of your list. Especially after reading through some of the other places you spend your time. It’s pretty interesting and mind boggling to think about the 7 wonders of the US. The Great Lakes/Boundary Waters would make my list for the amazing fishing and variety of land/flora/fauna surrounding the waters. But that might not be contained enough to make the cut. Alrighty, good daydreaming for me today on this one. cal

    Reply
  7. Cellarrat Avatar
    Cellarrat

    The big hole would make my list…. haven’t been to AK but i’m sure the big D would make my list…Eagles nest in the Gore range would be making my list… so would Pismo beach/sand dunesYellowstone’s old faithful would be on my list that is just so cool =)

    Reply
  8. Geoff Avatar
    Geoff

    my list would include the dirty devil drainage as well as at least 2 or 3 other “wonders” in utah: escalante drainage, san rafael swell, zion canyon, and maybe more.

    Reply
  9. Dave Avatar
    Dave

    Back in the early part of the 20th century, one president (can’t recall whom) contemplated “Utah National Monument” which would have included Zion, Arches, and pretty much everything in between. This was before that region contained ANY paved roads. What could have been………

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