California’s Desert vs Arizona’s Desert landscape, which is more scenic?
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I’m surprised at how everybody voted for Arizona (I was the 1 who voted California)
Are we all just voting for the underdog here and feeling bad for Arizona not having an ocean so we’re choosing out of guilt? I mean CA’s desert isn’t bad at all. I’d post pictures if I could. We got sand domes that look straight out of the Middle East. CA’s desert mountains are also much taller exceeding 10,000 ft+.
Arizona's desert is "greener" for lack of a better word than CA in the pretty parts of the Sonoran. Both states have some pretty unremarkable desert as well.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Originally Posted by I Love Skyscrapers
I’m surprised at how everybody voted for Arizona (I was the 1 who voted California)
Are we all just voting for the underdog here and feeling bad for Arizona not having an ocean so we’re choosing out of guilt? I mean CA’s desert isn’t bad at all. I’d post pictures if I could. We got sand domes that look straight out of the Middle East. CA’s desert mountains are also much taller exceeding 10,000 ft+.
Has nothing do with being underdog or how tall the mountains are. I just think aesthetically Arizona has better looking desertscapes. The vegetation that grows in the Sororan desert gives it a more interesting look than the Mojave. Check out photos of Sauguaro National Park or Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and you'll see what I mean. Throw in the crazy red rocks up on the Colorado Plateau (Antelope Canyon, The Wave) in the northern part of the state and that just puts AZ over the top in my opinion.
I like the Sonoran desert far more than the Mohave. But that is just me, because I like more lush scenery and the Sonoran desert overall is more lush relatively for a desert.
Out of all the deserts in America, I prefer the Sonoran personally.
The eastern part of the Sonoran Desert around Sierra Vista, Arizona and Eastern suburbs of Tucson gets three or four times the average rainfall as much of the Mohave.
While, Western Parts of the Sonoran desert are very dry around Yuma in the Telepgraph Pass area the desert overall to the east has lots of natural growth do to the summer rainfall.
Much of the Sonoran Desert (eastern part of it) has much more comfortable late-summer weather overall than the Mohave desert which doesn't have the monsoon rainfall.
The Sonoran is not as "harsh" as the Mohave and Coronado deserts in California and that is worth noting. Take the drive between Vegas and Reno (some of which is Great Basin) and you'll understand what I mean by this. There is significantly less plant life, hotter temperatures, less rain, more sun, taller/rockier mountains, creating an idea of "harsh and dangerous" even if subconsciously in our minds. It takes a certain person to enjoy beauty in the harshness like that, someone who would also enjoy brutalist architecture as it is not "comforting", etc. Most people do not appreciate that for what it is, against the grain of being welcoming. The desert is already harsh and fairly lifeless in comparison to most of the Earth which is why most people don't like deserts as it is, and the Mohave is one of the harshest if not the harshest desert on this continent since Death Valley exists. It's only natural that people would prefer the Sonora, maybe in our human nature since we may have purposely sought areas that were better for our survival to begin with.
With all that being said, I am fascinated by all deserts, but I am a bit biased for the one I was born and raised in.
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