September 13, 2008

September 13, 2008

I woke early this morning to get a dawn panorama shot of the Goosenecks of the San Juan, but the canyon is so deep the sunshine doesn’t penetrate till hours later. When the sun rose higher and lit the canyon better, it washed out the colors. I guess I need a cloudy day for the best photo. Unfortunately those are rare in this region.

Leaving Goosenecks we head south crossing the San Juan River at Mexican Hat, a little village named for its distinctive sombrero-shaped rock. Crossing the Paiute Strip we can see the mesas of Monument Valley in the distance. I instantly recognize this spot from the movie Forrest Gump. I stop and try to get a photo while dodging cars.

I have wanted to visit Monument Valley forever. This iconic landscape on the Navajo Reservation was THE classic set for Western movies. It is so recognizable, being dotted with distinctive red buttes. I would love to know the geology of why they are in the middle of nowhere, but I am not going to find out here. This is a tribal park and not a National Park. Organization doesn’t seem to be the tribal strongpoint. The park looks like it just opened for business. I am sure there is plenty of tribal in-fighting between keeping the park primitive and those wanting to exploit the resource. There is a 17-mile scenic dirt road you can drive around the valley. That is way too long for our rattletrap motorhome and I hate those inflexible guided tours. So we opt for a great shot of the three Mittens from the Visitor Center and then a 3-mile hike around one of the buttes. We have already decided we need to return pulling a jeep to better explore many of these more remote, but very cool sites in Utah and Arizona.

From Monument Valley we drive southwest into Arizona and visit Navajo National Monument. This is another cliff-dwelling site of the ancient Anasazi Indians. After the obligatory film we take a short hike to an overlook of the main ruin. It is a small village built under a huge overhang in the cliff. It is late in the day so we find a spot in the park's campground. We are surprised at how nice (and free) it is.