!!!Lake Powell, Utah-Arizona, USA

by Mike Reyfman,
members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

6 December 2011

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Lake Powell is a man-made reservoir on the Colorado river, situated on
the land of two states: Utah and Arizona.

The lake was created in the river's valley, following the resolution of
the US Congress. Construction works commenced in 1956 with building a
178-meter high Glen Canyon Dam, and ended in 1960s, however, the
blue-and-green waters of the Colorado River have only filled the entire
lake by 1980. The newly created lake was named after the Major John
Wesley Powell who created a first map of this territory in 1869.

The dam was constructed over the Glen Canyon for the logistics purposes
— in order to obtain a water storage area. This are has become the Lake
Powell — the second largest lake in the US after the Lake Mead.
Depending on the season, it can hold up to 30 km3 of water. However, the
development of the area did not come down just to the administrative
matters. Since this man-made landscape turned out to be really
spectacular, in 1972 the Lake and the surrounding territories have
become a part of the Glen Canyon National Park, spread over a million
acres of an incredibly beautiful and wild land.

As it could be expected, flooding of Glen Canyon has generated a wave of
protests. Some were fighting against the distortion of the nature's
balance, some — for preservation of the remains of some ancient Indian
settlements which were going under the water, some — for other
causes....

In my personal opinion, flooding of Glen Canyon has created a landscape
treasure that is completely unique not only in the US, but in the entire
world. The shore line of the lake is cut up by over a hundred of large
and small canyons that join the main riverbed, some of which spread over
many miles. In turn, they are joined by many small canyons, thus, a
beautiful labyrinth is created: steep walls of reddish-orange color are
rising from the water, crowned by towers and spires.

Significant infrastructure has been built in order to provide for the
dam construction needs, which brought life to the entire region. Before
that, the location of the dam was many miles away from the nearest
fairly accessible roads. Route 89 was laid between Flagstaff and Kanab,
and Page town was build just several kilometers away from the dam.

A list of popular places that have become accessible after creation of
this infrastructure will take quite a few lines. Upper and Lower
Antelope Canyon, Colorado River Horse Shoe Bend, Rainbow Bridge, Coyote
Buttes and Wave, Buckskin Gulch, Paria Canyon, Valley of the White
Ghosts, Rimrock Hoodoos, Nipple Bench have been almost unaccessible
before, and therefore, unknown. Moreover, the entire Glen Canyon was out
of reach for the ordinary travelers, and special expeditions had to be
organized for its visit.

Nowadays, Glen Canyon National Park is one of the most popular tourist
destinations in the US. This region receives about two million visitors
per year. However, even with the large number of tourist, overall size
and quite a few hard to access places allow the Nature Preserve to
remain a partially unexplored territory. Total extent of Lake Powell
curvy shoreline equals to 3200 kilometers, and its length exceeds the
West Coast of the US.

The area presents an unlimited potential for a landscape photographer.
There are no roads along the shores of the lake, and the large area of
this incredible labyrinth are only accessible by water or air, and
sometimes — only by air. This inspired us to organize several photo
expeditions, with aircraft and vessels.

Our first expedition allowed us to photograph one of the first aerial
spherical panoramas in the world.

I was fortunate participant of that flight, which had become a starting
point for the AirPano project.

This virtual tour is only a part of our story about the American South
West. You have already seen a tour about the Colorado River Horse Shoe
Bend, located only a few kilometers to the southwest of Glen Canyon Dam.

We have already photographed Marble Canyon (several more kilometers to
the south-west), and now the photos are in post-production, as well as
the images of the Grand Canyon — the continuation of the Marble Canyon.
To the southeast of Lake Powell you can find several equally interesting
locations. Our collection already has the images of San Juan River
bends.

Our future plans include: Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse Park
and the landmark of the American South-West — the Monument Valley. Most
challenging part in photographing these locations from the air is
creating an abstract composition. My "Hieroglyphs of The Land" series of
abstract photographs shot several years ago over the Lake Powell has won
various international contests. It's been featured at many exhibits, and
distinguished with many prizes and awards.

[Photos (1) in Mike Reyfman's Galleries|http://www.mikereyfman.com/info/about/awards/10-MastersCup-Certificate-Earth-Hieroglyphs_Aeriall.html]

[Photos (2) in Mike Reyfman's Galleries|http://www.mikereyfman.com/info/about/awards/Earth%27s-Hieroglyphs-Series.Part-II_InterPhotoAwards-09.html]

We are inviting you to join us in this virtual helicopter tour over lake Powell.

\\ \\
[4 Panoramas of Lake Powell|Geography/America/United_States/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Lake_Powell]










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