I live in the United States. It's a BIG place. It's big enough that you can drive for days and not hit a border. It's diverse enough that you can see deserts, rain-forests and mountain ranges all in the same day. The people here hail from all over the globe. You can be in one of our major cities and spend time in Chinese, Italian, Irish and Polish neighborhoods.
I can remember the first time I realized that my country could seem "other worldly". I was driving through the Rocky Mountains for the first time at 18 years old. I saw those big peaks rising in front of me, something you just don't see growing up in Michigan, and I realized that there must be so much more beyond them that I hadn't yet considered. Worlds... other-worlds.
The place that I've been in the US that seemed the most "other-worldly" to me is Glacier National Park in Montana:
I just seems like it's not of this earth, it's too beautiful.
What about you? What place seems other-worldly to you that you've been to?
The middle of the goddamn ocean during a storm. When the boat rocks and the entire horizon goes up and away and your faced with a wall of water that was perpendicular to you only a second previous. I don't believe in God but holy fuck did I believe in him then and did I pray to him.
Not a day goes by where I don't think about this tall ridge at Arches National Park. I dream about going back there everyday to feel the happiness and sense of being alive I felt there. There truly is something mystical about this place.
A little more Arches. I very much like panoramas.
Both of these photos were taken with my phone and no editing was done.
Beautiful photos BC, I can see why you dream about going back. I'm about due for some outdoor adventure. I've got the bikes all tuned-up, just need an interesting trail to go ride.
A biking trip sounds incredible. You know, there are cross country biking trips I hear people take all the time. Perhaps a summer cross country Hubski trip is in order?
Arches is amazing. Do you live near there? Next time you go, give Goblin Valley a try, or even Little Wildhorse Canyon a try. indeed we do have similar tastes.
Nowhere near. I go to school outside of Chicago. Moab is high on my radar though of places to go once I'm out of here. I thought I'd like being in a dense urban area. Unfortunately it turns out I was meant to be right in the heart of nature. I don't see how I couldn't go to either of those places after learning about them now. I can't imagine what it would feel like being surrounded by that much beauty.
That sounds like an incredible offer. I've been starting to think of places to take my summer vacation and that might be the answer. I've been thinking of where to go after here and Portland is high on the list. Kansas City is up there also just because that's where I grew up and all of my family is there as well as a lot of friends. If I check out Denver soon, that might be taken into consideration.
On the same trip as the one to Moab, we drove back to KC and camped at Sylvan Lake in Eagle, then stopped at Colorado Springs/Manitou Springs to check out some sites.
I realize this is taking it in a completely different direction but here goes: I was driving back to Ohio from spring break in Florida, and I ended up getting off the highway in rural Georgia due to bad traffic. I'm not completely blind to American rural poverty, but for some reason this particular time as I was thrust into the midst of it, I became extremely disoriented. Like the bubble I spend all my time in had been popped and I was falling. I have no idea why I reacted the way I did, but I remember people in the car talking to me, and I was so wrapped up in my own shock that I couldn't process what was being said. It's not like my surroundings were depraved or anything; they were just suddenly very strange compared to what I'm used to. I've done a fair amount of international travel, too, to places rich and poor, bustling metropolises and wilderness many miles from civilization. I don't know what happened to me or why, but it's by far the most other-worldly my surroundings have ever felt. As for the natural beauty side of the question, I'd have to second the person who said Central American cloud forests. They're beautiful, disorienting, and unlike anything I've ever seen.
People always point out the jarring experience of confronting extreme poverty and for good reason. Have you ever experienced extreme wealth? I'm not talking about someone with a nice house with a pool and a cleaning service. I'm talking about someone with a personal jet, chefs and chauffeurs. Believe it or not, it's equally as jarring. The extremes on both ends of the spectrum are disorienting. I believe that this is what we are really experiencing when confronting extreme poverty for the first time, a disorientation.
Great question. The first thing I think of when I see "other-worldly" is Peter Jackson's portrayal of Rivendell, incidentally. Anyway, several places jump out at me. The Smokies under an early-morning or late-evening fog:
Highway 101, wending down the craggy Pacific coast with dropoffs on your right and 200-foot tall trees on your left. Fog in the mornings there, too. But the place that takes the cake is a little back road I got lost on in central Washington near the Yakima River (maybe Willamette National Forest? I don't know, I was lost). The classic cliche of branches forming a perfect arch above the road -- for miles -- coupled with bright sunlight that filtered down, but the trees so well covered the road that I had my lights on at noon. Never gonna forget how amazing that felt.
I've traveled all over the world, but one of the most "odd" places I've ever been is right here in my home state. The norther parts of Minnesota up near the border are down-right prehistoric looking. Some friends and I go camping up near a town called Ely every year, and the lakes all look like this... (sorry for linking to pics directly on other peoples sites, but i'm at work and can't access image uploading services) Some others from the boundary waters and areas that look like it up north... There's no sand, or dirt, or a lot of mud. It's just rock with water filling up any low areas, and it's all old pine forests. It just looks really prehistoric and odd up there, but its absolutely beautiful. Best Northern lights you'll ever see in the states if you go the right time of year. It honestly feels a bit like another planet, and it's empty up there population wise except for other people camping who you rarely see or come across. More likely to see a moose or a bear than another human being. Also, no motorized boats on most of the lakes up there, and non in the obviously named Boundary Waters Canoe Area. So the only way in and out is by foot, canoe, and bringing everything you need with you. It adds to the sense of wonderment in a big way. Highly recommend it. Bring a gun, or camp on an island... or both. Bears aren't scared of people up there because they don't see them too often. :)
Ah ... I did some Boundary Waters canoeing once. Moose muck, waterfalls, portaging, beavers, interlocking thousands of lakes. Good call -- the lack of people once you get far enough to avoid motors is surreal. Add in some rain and a little wind on the water and I would never want to leave.
I couldn't agree with you more. Glacier is one of my favorite places on earth. Check out some of this guy's photos. I met him last summer and started looking into his work. He specializes in sportsmen photos (i.e. hunting), but has some amazing landscapes as well.
http://tonybynum.com/featured-galleries/ I can't figure out how to post a photo here. Duh, I know, but it's just not happening for me. Please advise.
Hey fever, use imgur.com, upload it there then click on the image. Then copy and paste the images URL here and voila. Also for anyone else tuning in to thenewgreen's PSA the imgur app works really well for these purposes too. Also, welcome to Hubski Fever!
The only place I can think of is the sky around our home. When we first moved into the place we were stuck by the view we had. We live in a little dip between two hills and have an amazing view of both Vancouver Airport in distance to the west and Mt. Baker to the east. We laugh because can see the horrible weather of my home town an hour east while we have relatively clear skies near the ocean. Just a week after our wedding we were privy to front row seats to an amazing lightning storm which went right over us. I even tried to take a picture of what I saw last week but of course it can't even remotely capture the view. The sun was setting but the light still hit the clouds and made them look like cotton and they seemed so much closer than usual. I can't even describe it well, but it was breath-taking.
Sounds wonderful forwardslash, there's nothing quite like a pink-cotton-candy looking sky, especially when you can look to the sky above your hometown and laugh at the horrible weather they are receiving. -ha.
The cloud forests in Costa Rica are very strange. At first it was hard to make out details; it looked like a solid mass of greenery, but as I got used to it, I saw that there was a lot going on, it's just that everything around me had similar coloring. I also went to a bioluminescent bay on Vieques, a small island off of Puerto Rico. It's ringed by mangroves and there are clouds of mosquitoes. At night, if you paddle out the dinoflagellates react and each stroke results in these glowing blue swirls. You can also see light trails from the fish as they flash by. If you swim in it, it's a bit like making snow angels or wearing an intangible robe made of fireflies.
The Cloud Forest looks amazing:
I had to look up the dinoflagellates's, thanks for the introduction. It looks like an amazing experience. Here's a photo that looks like what you are describing regarding the "snow angels".
The desert outside of Dubai. Not a tree, not a blade of grass in sight, nothing but an endless expanse of red sand. Felt like I was on Mars.
Dubai is a place that I'd be interested to visit. It appears to be such a juxtaposition between geography and human endeavor, like Vegas on steroids.
I dreamt last night of a few places in China I visited years ago. The Stone Forest in Kunming China is amazing, and the Li River will take your breath away and convince you that you can be a national geographic photographer. I don't think I've ever seen a bad photograph of the place.