We hit Valley of the Gods around 7 pm in the evening of the second day. Found the entrance which looked well worn.
It's a 17 mile drive on a very suspect dirt road through the valley. I don't recommend any RV's of any size or long pull trailers going on the road. Maybe small class C's and B's. and those who would like to tent camp. Big motorhomes...ah...No!
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| The Bear |
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The size of this boulder is bigger than Christie and I
standing on top of each other
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| Some night photography |
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| Same monument different view |
Stone giants guard the valley, sentinels silently watching as starry nights blaze above. It's a wonder to behold. Christie and I arrived as the last rays of the sun were disappearing from the floor of the valley. We got the tent set up under car lights and lantern. The queen size air bed blown up via the inverter I purchased, a good investment by the way, and a cold dinner of spaghetti. It was good. We left the rain fly off so we could see the stars through the top of the tent. It was a cool 46 degrees. Great sleeping weather.
Christie managed to get some fabulous astro-photography shots of the milky way! It's a great place to view the heavens. The only problem she had was, we went off and forgot the tripod, so that was on the shopping list for when we hit Pace, AZ. So her tripod workaround was the roof of the car.
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| Starry, Starry Night! |
We had managed to hit the valley with enough just enough time to make a drive through to get the lay of the land. Each twist, turn wowed us more than the last twist or turn. How did we end up at the Valley of the Gods? I had been doing some research on line about staying in Monument Valley and came across someone's post saying it wasn't worth the price to camp there and the Valley of the Gods was BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land and free camping. I'm all for free camping. After looking up some pictures on the Internet, that is where I decided we were going to camp. It was suppose to have been a Day 2 destination and we were running behind, but what the hay! As the sun was setting there was one plant that looked like baby's breath that was bathed in gold and was just stunning. I truly wish I had gotten a picture of it.
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The Guardians! How many animals
can you spot?
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With the changing light and from which direction you were coming each stone giant changed. We camped below what I call the Guardians. Early in the morning you could see a rabbit, eagle, turtle, and Jabba the Hut. Across the way was the Conquistador and his mule. Across the valley was an arrowhead. At night the Conquistador and mule under the moon turned into a howling wolf. Interesting how light plays tricks on you and where you might view it from.
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| The Conquistador |
It is one place that you must see! I would love to go back and spend more time there and have a chance to investigate it more. It is so beautiful in its own special way. I highly recommend early to mid June to see the wildflowers.
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| Our trusty sleeping accommodations |
The next morning we woke up, the breeze that was there the night before was slight and we knew we must make haste and get things packed up before it picked up again. Driving out of the valley afforded us even more views of the stone giants we had missed the night before. Again we were wowed. Also the wild flowers were in bloom to boot.
Another surprise was in store for us. As we were leaving, Christie slams on the brakes of the car and exclaims "I don't believe it...Wind Rocks!" sure enough she had spotted rocks that had been moved by the wind that had left a trail in the hard packed dirt. Picture time!!!
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| Wind Rock! |
The Goosenecks were right around the corner from the valley so we decided to make a quick stop there and see that geological wonder, where the San Juan river cuts through the earth. It was well worth the $5.00 entrance fee. The pit bathrooms were fantastic, no odor and spotless.
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| The Goosenecks of the San Juan River |
As we were leaving the Goosenecks Christie spotted this little lovely.
From there we went and saw the Mexican Hat stone. What a balancing act! We stopped in the little town of Mexican Hat and got gas and ice and took the necessary pit stop. Met a real nice couple from Vernon, BC Canada, who were shocked that a couple of wild gals from Oklahoma would know where Vernon was! We bid them safe travels since they were on a motorcycle trike towing a small trailer up the west coast. Their next destination was the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
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| Mexican Hat |
On to Monument Valley... The valley is spread out over many miles. The most interesting part of the valley is on Navajo land, well all of the valley is on Navajo land, but the most picturesque you have to pay to see. It is where most of John Ford, the Director, shot most of his John Wayne western movies. We opted not to take the tour but to truck on since we wanted to get to the north rim of the Grand Canyon for the night.
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| The Long Stretch of Road |
The high desert is vastly different than the southwest desert, that is for sure. Christie and I saw only one small cactus plant, the rest an interesting sage type plant.
As far a Monument Valley goes one word comes to mind, Massive! Like the westerns that were filmed there. They seemed to be random across the valley floor. You could round a twist in the road and another one would seem to appear out of nowhere. Christie and I discussed it at length and between the two we decided we definitely liked Valley of the Gods better of the two destinations.
We hit the good size town of Pace, AZ and found the local Walmart, made our tripod purchase and took the necessary break. Pace is a very up and coming tourist destination as it sits right on the edge of Lake Powell. From there we drove through a pass that took your breath away as you looked out over the valley below not realizing what was across from you.
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| Stunning view of the valley below |
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The cut in the cliffs from Pace to
the valley floor.
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We started the climb up from the arid valley floor into the piney forest gaining altitude as we went. The higher we went, the air became thinner and a bit harder for me to breathe, but luckily no headache. We made Jacobs Lake about 4 in the afternoon and headed toward our campground in the Kaibab National Forest, heading for Demott Campground still some 60 miles away. Having a lifetime Senior Pass to the National Parks is great! Camping only cost us $10.00 a night and getting into the National parks nothing. We stayed 2 nights.
At one point we were worried as the National Parks was doing a controlled burn on the North Rim and we were afraid we would not be able to see anything due to smoke, but our fears were baseless. All was well.
Christie and I got camp set up and dinner thrown together and a fire built to cook our meal, sausage, peppers, potatoes, broccoli, butter and seasonings all wrapped up in foil on the campfire. We wrapped ourselves up and waited while our meal cooked. Christie got the doggies watered, fed and walked. We met several nice couples that were camped near us. One lady and her son, from Fallon, Nevada suggested if we were going to be going up by Susanville, CA that we go to Burney Falls up above Lassen Volcanic National Park. We took the suggestion under advisement.
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| Home sweet home |
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| The pups chilling out |
Dinner was done and we were ready to eat and boy was it ever good. After easy clean-up we played several hands of gin but it was starting to get cold so I decided to go to bed.
Christie however wanted to get some astro-photography shots and waited until the darkness had settled in and went looking for open space.
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| Night sky at the Grand Canyon |
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