While the Princesses Sleep

While Katie and Jerri slept, Bart, Don and I arose early and headed for Deadhorse State Park to see more red rocks.  Bart was hoping to catch the morning light, and I decided I would come along for the ride.

Deadhorse State Park is about 40 minutes from Moab, just northeast of Canyonlands National Park.  Bart had seen pictures of the meanders made by both the Green and the Colorado rivers before they enter Canyonlands and he wanted to try to get a beautiful morning shot of the cliffs.  Fortunately, the pups were allowed to walk with me, so we all piled out of the RV, each going our separate ways.

The cliffs were quite steep . . . very steep, as a matter of fact . . . and the light was changing the looks of them by the minute.  The pups and I walked a 2 mile trail, but Bart decided to walk around to a point to try to get the whole river on the gooseneck, so he walked about 5 miles.  Unfortunately, he was not able to get the shot he wanted, but he did get his 10,000 steps, so it was a win!

I was able to get some pretty spectacular shots of the river below, accented by wonderful shadows.

Shot from the east rim, the sun muted some of the beautiful colors.

This is the west rim, shooting with the sun.  I love the dark shadows!

Then while Bart was still taking pictures, I decided to whip up some butterscotch cookies for the eating.  I nearly finished the batch by the time he returned.  Another win for sure!

Don as a Second Language

Don has always had trouble with the Spanish language.  He was really not introduced to until he met me, and by then, it was too late.  But he tries.  For years, he has called the Sangre de Cristo mountains the Sangria de Cristo.  Well, I guess they are both red, but the Blood of Christ Mountains certainly sounds different from the Sangria of Christ Mountains - I think Christ only drank wine.

Then he began to call vegetables that were cooked to taste El Dante, rather than Al Dente.  On this trip, Sipapu (pronounced See pa poo) has suddenly become Sipapu (Sigh pa poo), though he has heard us pronounce it numerous times.

Chinle, Arizona (Chin lee) has become Chenille - like the fuzzy blanket.  

Who knows what other new terms he will come up with . . . but he has kept us entertained!

Arches National Park

By the time everyone was ready to go, Don and I had taken the dogs for two walks, eaten breakfast, taken showers, made reservations at three campgrounds, Facetimed with Diana and Caleb,  and gotten supplies ready to go.  Meanwhile, the other RV was a little slower . . . but that is ok.  Maybe we need to chill a bit.

Anyway, we arrived at Arches National Park about 11:00, and once we got our bearings, we began our journey.  We stopped first to see the Three Gossips, the Sheep's Head, and the Tower of Babel.

The tower of Babel is a huge rock cliff that looks intricately carved, even though it has been shaped by wind and water.

The Sheep's Head really does look like a sheep . . . or the Sphinx.

My favorite part was the area where the North Window and South Window were.  The walk was very pleasant, and the windows were spectacular.

I think they look like a pair of glasses, frankly, but no one asked me

We then went to two different areas where there are spectacular arches.  This final one, the Landscape Arch, is the size of two football fields.  It won't be too many years (in geologic time) before this one collapses.

After our steak dinner, we came back to take pictures of the full moon over the mountains.  When we arrived, however, the balancing rock looked amazing with the full moon behind it.

Natural Bridges National Monument

Don and I seem to get around a little more quickly than Bart, Jerri, and Katie.  So we took the pups for a walk to a hidden arch right near our campground.  It was a pretty walk, if you like red rocks, red sand, little vegetation, and steep cliffs.  Good thing it is in our DNA.

Once we were on the road, we stopped at Natural Bridges National Monument.  This particular monument includes three large bridges as well as some ruins and many beautiful cliffs.  We decided to hike partially down the rather treacherous trail at Sipapu bridge.  It included two staircases and one ladder.  This was a huge step for me, since the last ladder on a cliff I had climbed was at Puye, where I froze halfway up.  But I decided I had to do it.  Luckily, the ladder was very short and quite sturdy, and I was able to climb up and down it just fine.

The trail led us to a very steep area, no guardrails included.  The view of Sipapu Bridge was magnificent, however, and I just made sure I stayed away from the edge.  No jumping allowed !!!  Jerri took several pictures of us, and she made sure not to tell us to step back a little ways.

We could have hiked all the way to bottom of the cliff, but that included one more staircase and two more ladders.  We were running low on time, so we passed and came back up to finish the drive around the park.  It was an interesting place.

Goosenecks

After driving the Moki Dugway, we decided to check out the Goosenecks of the San Juan River.  This meandering river has dug itself a series of "s" curves called the Goosenecks.  They have eroded through 1000 feet of sandstone, and the water continues to erode its way deeper and deeper.  The muddy San Juan, which is clear when exiting the Navajo Dam, is proof that erosion continues.

The fee for the Goosenecks State Park is only $5, and although we only stayed thirty minutes, it was well worth it for the view!

The first gooseneck

The second gooseneck

Monument Valley

We have seen many movies with Monument Valley as its backdrop, but we have never been there.  Now we can cross that one off our list.

It is pretty obvious from the road where Monument Valley is.  Huge slabs of sandstone left thrusting up from the floor of the desert like orange-red stalagmites.  Positioned against the blue sky, they are an imposing sight.

After visiting the museum that tells about Monument Valley and the Navajo Code Talkers, we took the 17-mile drive through the valley.  The red-dirt road, rough at times, forced us to drive slowly, which allowed us to enjoy the subtle nature of the spires and hills.  Each one highlighted a different aspect of the valley - the places where John Ford filmed, the area where artists like to paint, the totem pole spires.  All were interesting perspectives of the Valley floor.

We returned in the evening to catch the monuments as the sun was going down.  I suspect sometimes there are better sunsets, but I am glad for the few pictures I took.

The moon looks pretty small in this picture.  I wish we had been able to see the valley in a full moon at night.  We did have dinner in the restaurant, however, and although the prices were rather high, the food was very good.  And you can't beat the view, which is why it is called The View Restaurant.  We enjoyed our day at Monument Valley . . . now it is time for the next adventure.

Moki Dugway

We had heard about Moki Dugway from Betsy Sturm.  When we looked on the internet, it appeared in a blog on www.dangerousroads.org.  Oh boy.  Sounds fun!

After spending the morning in Monument Valley, we grabbed the Jeep and drove to Mexican Hat.  Bart reminded us that Dad had rafted down the San Juan with his brother, Ed, and they camped near Mexican Hat.  Dad had suggested to Uncle Ed that they go to the hotel just above them and catch a shower . . . but Uncle Ed declined and they continued on down the San Juan.  

Not far from Mexican Hat, we found the road where the Moki Dugway is.  In 1958, the road was built to bring ore from the mine down to Halchita from the Happy Jack Mine on Cedar Mesa.  It is a road with an 11% grade, no guard rails (only built-up piles of dirt), and narrow switchbacks.  There is a reason they do not allow RVs on the road!

As we climbed the very steep road, we could not believe how well the road blended into the side of the cliff.  We could not see the next level of road after the switchbacks, it was so camouflaged.

Once we drove to the top, we turned around and came back down again.  It was a pretty exciting ride back down, and we were very glad for the good weather.  This was a very fun diversion, and one we would recommend - as long as it isn't raining or snowing!