Trekking a curious path via Wikipedia, or: Wikichain.

[Gleb Gamow]

The root of the name Vistula is Indo-European *u̯eis- ‘to ooze, flow slowly’ (cf. Sanskrit aveṣan ‘they flowed’, Old Norse veisa ‘slime’) and is found in many European rivernames (e.g. Weser, Viesinta).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit


A poem by the ancient Indian poet Vallana (ca. 900 – 1100 CE) on the side wall of a building at the Haagweg 14 in Leiden, Netherlands

[Gleb Gamow]

A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of the Hindu Epics—the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata


Draupadi with her five husbands - the Pandavas. The central figure is Yudhishthira; the two on the bottom are Bhima and Arjuna. Nakula and Sahadeva, the twins, are standing. Painting by Raja Ravi Varma, c. 1900.

[Gleb Gamow]

About 1.8 million words in total, the Mahabharata is roughly ten times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined, or about four times the length of the Ramayana.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad


Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus (1855) by the Russian realist Nikolai Ge

[Gleb Gamow]

The Catalogue of Ships in particular has the striking feature that its geography does not portray Greece in the Iron Age, the time of Homer, but as it was before the Dorian invasion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorian_invasion


A record of Pylos, preserved by baking in the fire that destroyed the palace about 1200 BC, according to the excavator, Carl Blegen. The record must date to about 1200, as the unbaked clay, used mainly for diurnal or other short-term records, would soon have disintegrated.

[Gleb Gamow]

They destroyed the palace of Iolcos (LH III C-1), the palace of Thebes ( late LH III B), then they crossed Isthmus of Corinth (end of LH III B) they destroyed Mycenae, Tiryns and Pylos, and finally they returned northward.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenae


The Lion Gate at Mycenae.

[Gleb Gamow]

Orestes then built a larger state in the Peloponnese, but he died in Arcadia from a snake bite.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake


Carpet python constricting and consuming a chicken.

[Gleb Gamow]

In the Late Cretaceous, snakes recolonized land, and continued to diversify into today's snakes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous


Although the first representatives of leafy trees and true grasses emerged in the Cretaceous, the flora was still dominated by conifers like Araucaria (Here: Modern Araucaria araucana in Chile).

[Gleb Gamow]

The now-famous "Ring of Cenotes" (visible in NASA imagery) outlines one of the shock-waves from this impact event in the rock of ~66 million years of age, which lies more than 1 km below the modern ground surface near the centre, with the rock above the impact strata all being younger in age.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenote


The Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá, Mexico.

[Gleb Gamow]

Cenotes are formed by dissolution of rock and the resulting subsurface void, which may or may not be linked to an active cave system, and the subsequent structural collapse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave


Lechuguilla Cave, New Mexico, USA

[Gleb Gamow]

This is a rough generalization, as large expanses of North America and Asia contain no documented caves, whereas areas such as the Madagascar dry deciduous forests and parts of Brazil contain many documented caves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar_dry_deciduous_forests


Coquerel's Sifaka in arboreal feeding mode in Anjajavy Forest.

[Gleb Gamow]

These dry deciduous forests span the coastal plain with its limestone plateaus emanating virtually at sea level to higher altitudes to 800 metres.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plateau


Hardangervidda, the largest plateau in Europe

[Gleb Gamow]

<Apologies for breaking the Cardinal Rule pertaining to image size restrictions, but it's the Grand Canyon; Also, been there, done that [at sunset]!>

In northern Arizona and southern Utah the Colorado Plateau is bisected by the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon


View from the South Rim

[Gleb Gamow]

Canyon tourists and residents of Supai, a town located in the bottom of the canyon, were evacuated from the Supai area on August 17–18, 2008 due to a break in the earthen Redlands Dam, located upstream of Supai, after a night of heavy rainfall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supai,_Arizona


The Wigleeva rock formations watch over Supai

[Gleb Gamow]

Tourists and some residents were evacuated from Supai and surrounding area on August 17 and 18, 2008, due to flooding of Havasu Creek complicated by the failure of the earthen Redlands Dam after a night of heavy rainfall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havasu_Creek


Mooney Falls

Bonus Excerpt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havasu_Creek#Mooney_Falls

Mooney Falls is the fourth main waterfall in the canyon. It is named after D. W. "James" Mooney, a miner, who in 1882 – according to his companions – decided to mine the area near Havasu Falls for minerals. The group then decided to try Mooney Falls. One of his companions was injured, so James Mooney decided to try to climb up the falls with his companion tied to his back, and subsequently fell to his death. The Falls are located 2.25 miles (3.6 km) from Supai, just past the campgrounds. The trail leads to the top of the falls, where there is a lookout/photograph area that overlooks the 210-foot (64 m) canyon wall that the waterfall cascades over. In order to gain access to the bottom of the falls and its pool, a very rugged and dangerous descent is required. Extreme care and discretion for the following portion is required; it is highly exposed and should not be attempted when the weather and/or conditions are not suitable.

The trail down is located on the left side (looking downstream), up against the canyon wall. The first half of the trail is only moderately difficult until the entrance of a small passageway/cave is reached. At this point the trail becomes very difficult and very precarious. The small passageway is large enough for the average human, and leads to a small opening in which another passageway is entered. At the end of the second passageway the trail becomes a semi-vertical rock climb that is similar to descending a ladder. Strategically placed chains, handholds, and ladders aid in the climb.

Mist from the falls often makes the rock slippery, and the climb is also difficult because of having to pass people going in the opposite direction. The pool is the largest of the three, and some people jump from low cliff ledges into the pool. It is possible for strong swimmers to swim to the left of the falls to the rock wall and then to a small cave that is located just above the water line, approximately 15–20 feet (5 to 6 meters) away from the falls. An island breaks the pool into two streams.

[Gleb Gamow]

It is possible to swim behind the falls and enter a small rock shelter behind it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_shelter


Rock shelter in the Little Carpathians

[Gleb Gamow]

Transhumant nomads, people who move with their livestock - often from lower permanent winter residences in the valleys to higher summer pastures - frequently build semi-permanent camps, often of rocks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumance


Haru Oms at Glybank near Kuboes in the Richtersveld

[Gleb Gamow]

The film, Brokeback Mountain (2005), portrays shepherds driving sheep into BLM mountain meadows for grazing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brokeback_Mountain


Theatrical release poster

[Gleb Gamow]

It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, as well as the title Best Picture from the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association, the Florida Film Critics Circle, the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Circle, the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the Utah Film Critics Society, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTAs).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas


Desert scene near Red Rock Canyon in the Las Vegas area

[Gleb Gamow]

Due to water resource issues, there has been a movement to encourage xeriscapes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeriscaping


Cacti are one of the low-water-consuming plants used in Xeriscaping.

[Gleb Gamow]

The specific plants used in xeriscaping depend upon the climate. Xeriscaping is different from natural landscaping, because the emphasis in xeriscaping is on selection of plants for water conservation, not necessarily selecting native plants.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_landscaping


Banksia spinulosa, a Sydney, Australia local plant which attracts wildlife