Category Archives: water

Scaling peaks of stone despite achy bones: A memoir and and an aspiration

I wish I had discovered my passion for peak hiking earlier in life. Not realizing it until my early 60s has left me with less time to explore summits than I would have preferred. Despite the delay, the rewards often … Continue reading

Posted in art, book reviews, books, culture, deserts, ecosystems, entertainment, environment, family, fun, geography, Geology, health, hiking, history, infrastructure, land use, logistics, Love, Maps, Mining, mountains, natural history, nature, peace, pictures, placemaking, planning, pollution, psychology, reading, recreation, rivers/watersheds, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, topography, toponymy, tourism, trails, transportation, Travel, visual pollution, walking, water, Wilderness, Wildlife, Women, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The 50 largest canyons in the USA by land area

Below are the 50 largest canyons in the United States, ranked by land area. Using chat.openai.com, the list was generated and known errors were removed/corrected. *In addition, several parks containing multiple canyons, like Canyonlands, Cedar Mesa, Zion, Bryce, and Grand … Continue reading

Posted in ecosystems, environment, fun, geography, Geology, hiking, historic preservation, history, land use, Maps, mountains, natural history, nature, place names, recreation, rivers/watersheds, spatial design, Statistics, topography, toponymy, tourism, Travel, walking, water, Wilderness, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Scaling the sands: Toughest dune hikes trekked to date

As one who loves to scale to new heights, whether it be mountains, hills, ridges, lighthouses, dunes, or towers, I’ve got to admit some of the toughest treks have been trying to hike/climb sand dunes. While the other climbs involve … Continue reading

Posted in deserts, ecosystems, environment, fun, geography, Geology, health, hiking, history, land use, logistics, mountains, natural history, nature, pictures, place names, planning, Skies, Statistics, topography, toponymy, tourism, trails, Travel, walking, water, weather, Wilderness, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten planning lessons from our national parks

Provided below are ten planning lessons garnered from having the honor and pleasure of visiting countless national parks, monuments, historic sites, battlefields, lakeshores, seashores, trails, and preserves across our nation. The lessons are not necessarily presented in order of importance, … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, Animals, archaeology, architecture, art, Astronomy, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, branding, Bus transportation, Cars, charities, Cities, civics, climate, culture, deserts, diversity, economic development, ecosystems, education, electric vehicles, energy, entertainment, Environment, EVs and hybrids, family, fitness, geography, Geology, government, Green roofs, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, land use, mountains, natural history, Nature, parking, placemaking, planning, politics, recreation, rivers/watersheds, solar, spatial design, sprawl, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, traffic, transit, Transportation, Travel, Uncategorized, urban planning, walking, water, water conservation, water trails, waterfalls, Wilderness, Wildlife, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Albuquerque is a national leader in water conservation

As relatively new residents of New Mexico, we have been quite impressed by the water conservation efforts in the Albuquerque area. Even before arriving, we were planning on removing the remaining turf grass in the yard and replace it with … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, cities, civics, climate, climate change, deserts, ecosystems, environment, geography, government, history, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, natural history, nature, planning, rivers/watersheds, Statistics, sustainability, topography, urban planning, water, water conservation, weather, xeriscaping | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The buzz about America’s “bee-friendly” cities

Communities representing 37 states and the District of Columbia are listed beelow as designated “Bee City USA” members. Unfortunately, there are also 13 states without any city members including Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, agriculture, Animal rights, Animals, cities, civics, civility, climate, climate change, culture, ecosystems, education, environment, Food, government, health, insects, land use, landscape architecture, natural and organic foods, natural history, nature, planning, Science, seasons, spatial design, States, Statistics, sustainability, tourism, Travel, urban planning, water, water conservation, Wilderness, Wildlife, xeriscaping, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Mexico’s protected wildlife areas along the Rio Grande

As one of the corridors making up the Central Flyway, the Rio Grande Valley through New Mexico is host to a vast array of migrant birds flying seasonally through the state to breeding grounds further north or wintering areas both … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Animals, archaeology, civics, climate, culture, deserts, ecosystems, environment, geography, Geology, history, lakes, land use, Maps, mountains, natural history, nature, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, recreation, rivers/watersheds, Science, Statistics, sustainability, topography, tourism, trails, Travel, urban planning, water, water conservation, water trails, Wilderness, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten planning lessons from LA’s South Bay beach cities

We had the pleasure of visiting the three South Bay beach cities of Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Hermosa Beach over the Christmas holiday weekend. Below are ten planning lessons learned from these charming and beautiful communities. Peace! Esplanade nearest … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, architecture, bicycling, Biking, branding, business, cities, civics, climate, climate change, commerce, culture, demographics, density, economic development, Economy, ecosystems, electric vehicles, entertainment, environment, fun, geography, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, industry, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, pollution, recreation, Renewable Energy, revitalization, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, trails, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, walking, water, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten planning lessons from the death of Mountain Lion P-22

Source: Steve Winter of National Geographic via bbc.com and reddit.com The tragic death this weekend of Mountain Lion P-22 in/near Los Angeles’ Griffith Park struck a somber chord within me, much like the euthanized death of a neighborhood-roaming black bear … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Animal rights, Animals, architecture, Cars, charities, cities, civility, climate, climate change, culture, ecosystems, engineering, environment, geography, Geology, government, health, Highway displacement, highways, hiking, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, mountains, natural history, nature, opinion, Pets, pictures, placemaking, planning, recreation, rivers/watersheds, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, sustainability, topography, toponymy, tourism, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, water, water conservation, water trails, Wilderness, Wildlife, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Places that pay you to “kick your grass” goodbye!

After we moved to New Mexico this summer, one of the first steps we took was to have the grass lawn portions of our yard removed and replaced with xeriscaping that is more appropriate for a High Desert environment. We … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, cities, civics, climate, climate change, culture, deserts, ecosystems, environment, geography, government, health, Housing, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, natural history, nature, planning, rivers/watersheds, Statistics, sustainability, topography, urban planning, water, water conservation, xeriscaping | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment