The Desert Speaks

The creation of Lake Powell forced the evacuation of many Navajo families and forever changed the lives of many others. Today, host David Yetman and his brother, geologist Dick Yetman, travel with native Navajo families to learn some of the geological and spiritual history of the Glen Canyon region.

Host David Yetman takes a trip to the pueblos of the Sierra Madre, where traditions are slowly dying out as the big cities become more accessible to the population. After stopping to see a donkey-powered Pinole grinder made of stone, he heads to agrarian community of Sahuaripa to visit its talabartería (a leather goods shop) and call upon the last remaining weaver of palm hats and baskets.

Utah’s San Rafael Swell is one of the most remote and least-visited wonders of the desert southwest. Host David Yetman and his brother, Geologist Dick Yetman, camp out and explore the geology and vegetation of this intimidating stretch of desert. They also trek through Utah’s Little Grand Canyon to see the pictographs and petroglyphs that were created thousands of years ago.

Host David Yetman and his brother, Geologist Dick Yetman, take a geological road trip to Southeastern Utah’s Colorado Plateau. After hiking through an ever-changing slot canyon named Canyon X and the aptly named Kodachrome Basin State Park, they take an eerie trek through Goblin Valley State Park where the mysterious entrada rock sculptures known as “goblins” surround you from all angles.

Host David Yetman travels along with the Northern Jaguar Project to see how they use motion activated cameras to track jaguar movements through Eastern Sonora Mexico. By paying local ranch owners for any jaguar images captured on their land, this project working to convince the vaquero (the Mexican cowboy) that el tigre is worth more alive than dead.

David Yetman joins Herpatologists in their various quests to learn more about the many venomous creatures that call the Sonoran Desert home. They track Tiger Rattlesnakes using radio implants before heading up to the mountains to observe rattlesnake dens. While studying the impact urban developments have on the movements of a Gila Monster, they encounter rattlesnakes, tarantulas and desert toads.

Interstate highways allow for quick trips, but they also provide a gateway to some of the most amazing places you’ll ever visit. Host David Yetman travels by foot, car, bike, and motorcycle to examine the caves of Kartchner Caverns State Park, the historic sites of Tombstone, the Sandhill Cranes of Sulphur Springs Valley and the “Wonderland of Rocks” in the Chiricahua Moutains.

Host David Yetman heads west of Tucson to visit some undiscovered places. After visiting the largest dune field in the United States, we head to Yuma for a hot air balloon ride and a walk through “the hell-hole of Arizona,” the Arizona Territorial Prison. Other stops include the Sonoran Desert National Monument and Picacho Peak State Park.

Beginning at the San Pedro River and heading west, journey through some of natural wonders that would not be part of the United States if it hadn't been for the Gadsden Purchase. The crew travels through the hard-core desert of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, and visit the historic desert oasis, Quitobaquito Springs before finishing off their trip at the Colorado River near Yuma.

Host David Yetman and Naturalist Jesus Garcia, of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, begin at the eastern border of the Gadsden Purchase and head west along the border to explore some of the social, political and financial ramifications of the Gadsden Purchase. They stop off at a cemetery in Hachita, New Mexico, the Geronimo Surrenders Monument, and the Gadsden Hotel to name a few.