Nature at its best (warning.. lotsa purty pictures)

I'm browsing some sites during lunch at work as usual... and here's the string of thoughts going through my head in the past few minutes...

Caves are amazing products of nature and I really must visit these: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/13/SPSE11NA5M.DTL&type=travel  Out of the listed, I have visited one only, the Shasta Caverns.  

Needless to say, some of the caverns were breathtaking.  I can only imagine what other cave systems must be like. 

Also, one day, I must, must, must hike Angels Landing in Utah, possibly the BEST hike in the US (according to multiple sources) http://www.zionnational-park.com/zion-angels-landing-trail.htm  

Sure looks beautiful...

This all brought me to think of my brief glimpses of the grand canyon and surrounding national park areas.  I was actually in Vegas a couple wknds ago and took a brief daytime detour by air over to the Grand Canyon, flying over Lake Mead, the Hoover Dam, past the new Skywalk, etc and down into the canyon for a brief visit in sweltering 117 degree heat.

Previously I had visited the Grand Canyon with my parents when i was much younger.  Though we went on one of those Chinese bus tours, there were still some memorable moments (Chinese bus tours = rushing to as many places as possible in a short amount of time).  When we arrived at the Grand Canyon, we took a few pictures and went on our merry ways.  That was "visiting the Grand Canyon".  However, we did visit Lake Powell later on and take a boat ride down the Lake.  I will never forgot the scenery.  Near the end of the ride, we disembarked our boat, hiked a short distance past the most aqua-green creek I have ever seen even up till this day, round a corner.. and suddenly there it was ... it literally took my breath away... Rainbow Natural Bridge National Monument in Utah... We had traversed a narrow canyon of red rocks, but just around that sudden bend we were met with a natural wonder... a natural bridge carved by the Colorado River that could top the size of any man made dome in the US.  Right below it a large arm of Lake Powell resided.

Here are pictures of Lake Powell:

The great Rainbow Bridge.. Spanning 275 feet, the Rainbow Bridge is the largest natural bridge in the world!

Ahh how I wish I were outdoors enjoying gorgeous scenery right now!