Desert Southwest

While much of the Southwestern United States is arid, its two main desert regions have little in common. The Desert Southwest - the warm deserts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas form a region of incredible beauty, and offers some of North America's strangest, wildest and most modern of cultures. Follow me as I explore America's Desert Southwest.

Lower Antelope Canyon, near Page, Arizona, at the heart of the American Desert Southwest.

Websites & Friends

My Marrakesh

Mud Road to Coyote Buttes
Desert Southwest | February 2, 2009
Low clouds move with surreal speed along the cliffs above the Colorado River; they swirl, shapeshift, and from time to time, they seem to disappear altogether. Day will come soon, but until then, the movement of the clouds brings unexpected shapes.

Coyote Buttes

Mesa to Canyon along the Colorado Plateau
Desert Southwest | March
I drank water on a grassy plateau, and entered the gulch. This slot descended to 500 feet under its cliffs, and it was narrow. Soon, there were patches of water.

Colorado Plateau

The Saltwater Fish of Death Valley
Desert Southwest | June
It's unlikely that anybody beyond a handful of scientists would care much about this tiny fish, except for the fact that farmers were keen to use this same series of springs for their crops.
Death Valley

Atomic Agriculture on the Rio Grande
Desert Southwest | MAY
We decided to take a walk up the mountains near Las Cruces, in the evening when the sun casts its long glow over humble Las Cruces.

Rio Grande

Bombay Beach and the Salton Sea
Desert Southwest | sEPTEMBER
The truck slowed at my presense, and a bald man and his scruffy wife grinned at me and drove on. While I was walking down the main street of Bombay Beach, I noticed the blue truck had stopped, and the couple was watching the sunrise.

Bombay Beach

Paddling and Driving the Los Angeles River
Desert Southwest | May
We walked the gentle ridge of the Los Angeles River's first dam, and down into a marshy bed of sand and water; through the bamboo, and out into the shadow of the iron claws of the dam.

Los Angeles River

Death and Salvation on the New River
Desert Southwest | June
That mountain - it's one of the geological 'slabs', is really just a clay hill. The slabs are a series of wasteland buttes that extend into the empty desert beyond. Leonard began painting one day when it was 118 degrees in the fierce Salton Sea summer sun.

Slab City

Barren Anza Borrego Desert
Desert Southwest | April
As I rounded a cliff, I saw two bulls fighting on a plateau; and this was a thoroughly stunning scene. But I was getting concerned; the rain was creating a fog as I drove higher into the mountains. Soon, the fog grew to a visibility of 50 feet.

Anza-Borrego

Panamint Valley Roach Motel
Desert Southwest | June
My plan was to hike two miles on a mud flat at the center of Panamint Valley. The valley is gigantic, and parts of it fall within the Death Valley National Park boundaries. The Panamint Valley can defy imagination.

Panamint Valley

Four Seasons of the Western Mojave
Desert Southwest | March
From here I can see five miles of trees, and a Jack Rabbit, the size of a small dog ditching his Chuparosa hideout. I find a Prickly Pear Cactus, and examine some lichen through my loupe - lime, aqua, red-orange and pitch.

Western Mojave

Trona and the Unusual Lake Searles
Desert Southwest | February
Go to any small bar in any small town, and you will get the same answer. "Too many people there huh?" "Yeah." "Way too many fucking people there huh?" "Yeah." And he started laughing and drew the last sip from his pitcher and said...

Trona, California

Reefs of Pollen on the Carrizo Plain
Desert Southwest | April 15, 2010
On my way to Los Angeles, I explore the idea of travel and limitations during some of the amazing wildflower blooms in California history.

Carrizo Plain

Skateboarding Las Vegas
Desert Southwest | February 12, 2009
A few years ago, I decided to cross Las Vegas by skateboard, and then write about it. I've yet to complete the project, but in its pursuit, I've already come across places and experiences in this sprawling, growing city.

Las Vegas, Nevada