The Most Alien-Looking Place on Earth

Excellent pics.

There is so much of this Earth that people know nothing about. It seems like every day some new form of life is discovered, such as extremeophiles, in environments that had previously been believed to be too harsh for anything to survive.

We know very little about the oceans and the rain forests and really have an incomplete understanding of the intricacies of how everything ties together, making the entire planet into one vast organism.

Our search for life on other planets is made easier with each and every new discovery as we better understand the huge variety of life that occurs in our own backyard.

Posts like this are a fresh respite from all the political bickering that can take place here.

reply to post by Dr. N


Stunning images! Thank you for sharing.

Originally posted by zlots331
Our search for life on other planets is made easier with each and every new discovery as we better understand the huge variety of life that occurs in our own backyard.

Posts like this are a fresh respite from all the political bickering that can take place here.

Well said! Thank you for the positive support.

Originally posted by SteveR
reply to post by Desert Dawg

 

Great pictures Desert Dawg. Do tell where you took them.

Top to Botom:

Red Lake, a dry lake - 25 miles north of Kingman, Arizona - looking west.
Lots of things go on out here, model rocketry once a month, firing bowling ball cannons now and then (shoots bowling balls a measured 1/2 mile, target shooting in a bunkered area.
It's big enough to make low speed (150 mph) runs in a Land Speed Record car.
About 2 x 4 miles of smooth and then you hit the pucker bushes.

The dry lake stays very smooth.
Probably because it's off the beaten track a bit
When the rains come, better get off, it becomes a slippery red mud area in short order.

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Off to the east of the Chloride Murals

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East of Red Lake looking west in the very late afternoon.
Just east of the Western Grand Canyon access road.

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Arroyo Burro beach in Santa Barbara, California.
From a photo safari for a book.

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Looking north from the cliff area that's to the north of the Old Beale Wagon Road.
The road runs through a limestone rock bed area here and the BLM does not allow vehicles on the old and historical road.
Wagon tracks are worn into the road.
Just barely west of Kingman, Arizona - which has a lot of history and much of it is easily accessed.

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Some more of the Chloride Murals.
Do a search on the web for more information.
It's an interesting story and a short hike from the partially inhabited ghost town of Chloride, Arizona.
Great restaurant in town.
Good food and over 200 different beers in the cooler.

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N/E of Red Lake.

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Lots of intriguing stuff out here to explore.

Next trip, if we can get everyone squared away is a visit to the Gold Mine mansion.

A 4x4 trip on good dirt roads - meaning a car could handle most of it - with the last two miles requiring 4x4.
Hiking not recommended.

We have deer, coyotes, javelina, rattlesnakes, Gila Monsters, big mountain lions and elk in the area and that could be problematic to a hiker, but the biggest danger in my opinion is the two large by huge bulls that hang out in the area.
The trees in the area are too short to do any good and you'd need an African caliber rifle to put one down.

I'll post up a little story about the preliminary run, finding the trail in etc. that I did awhile back.

It'll be on the writing board in a bit.

Here is an interesting one for sure. This is a praying mantis that perfectly blends into the color of the orchid, making perfect camouflage.

Thanks for the kind remarks. Some more unusual landscapes from my travels:

Magnetic termites in the Northern Territory, Aus.

farm3.static.flickr.com...

A regular termite mound...

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And Ayers rock:

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The 12 apostles, South Australia:

farm3.static.flickr.com...

And the only remaining living stromatolites, Shark Bay, Western Australia:

farm3.static.flickr.com...

reply to post by Dr. N


Thank you for more beautiful pictures. I was waiting for someone to post a photograph of Ayres Rock and was looking for one of the stromatolites to post, but could not find a good one. Star for you!

Thanks. Appreciate it :-) Thanks also for keeping this running...

Yet more landscapes. Who needs to explore mars, etc. when this is in our own "backyard"?

www.greendiary.com...

These other-worldly looking places are all within 150 miles of each other:























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reply to post by Skyfloating


Simply stunning! Thank you for the contributions!

Subterranean shopping-center? This is not science-fiction, its the batu-cave in Malaysia.





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And speaking of caves....here are a few more.















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Pamukkale, Turkey. This is not the sort of landscape you are likely to see in 40C, I visted this place 4 years ago its fantastic. You used to be able to swim in the pools but there closed now. Its only a short drive from one of the wonders of the world, its a great 2 day trip if you ever visit Turkey.

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reply to post by estar


Excellent photograph! Thank you for the contribution. A star for you!

Here is a submerged forest. Wish I knew where it was at.

WOW, what a beautiful, crazy, exotic world we live in! I hope global warming does not destroy these amazing places. Thank you so much for sharing, so many of these I had never seen before and I grateful for this post, nothing like an armchair vacation.

reply to post by sheila947


It is my pleasure. The earth is a beautiful place with many "hidden gems"! In many ways it is unfortunate that so many people look upward for the unknown, unusual and beautiful...If only they would look forward and downward!

Ohhhh!! You stole my idea!

I, too, came across this page and was in utter awe of what I saw. I couldn't look at the page with out this smile on my face and a very strange feeling. Sounds extremely weird, I know, but I can't explain it. Something about seeing this landscape that seems like it could very possibly be on another planet just got my imagination flowing.

Could you imagine some insidious prank, like the one put forth on the site, where some buddies knock there friend out and wake him up on this island and convince him that they took him to another planet. I mean, at first the guy would be like hahahahha, no way guys!! nice try! But then he would look around and I would suppose he would freak out!

This place is beautiful and strange at the same time!