Fire Mountain, Malpias Flattop Mesa and the Black Mountains on the Colorado River. This very clear faulted ridge-line runs alongside the Colorado River, forming the border between Nevada and Arizona. This is the Mojave Desert early in the morning from an altitude of 1,200 feet (365m) above ground.
In the Foreground to the left, that dark brown mountain is Mt. Davis. The small dark mountain alongside the river in the center of the picture is Fire Mountain. The dark mountains in the distance right above the left side of the river are the Eldorado Mountains and the canyon the river meanders through is called Black Canyon. At the very top of the image in the distance are the River Mountains that site above Boulder City, Nevada.
The canyon formed about 15 million years ago during the Miocene Basin and Range uplift. Black Canyon gets its name from the black volcanic rocks that are found throughout the area.
I was attracted to take this image by the distinctive protuberance of the ridge running beside the river. Flying 2,300 feet above the desert floor I shot this image looking due north. Boulder City Nevada is on the other side of the ridge in the distance and I am on the Arizona side of the Colorado River, which forms the boundary between Nevada on the left and Arizona on the right.