Trips of Utah: Statues and Monuments!

Day Two: Statues and Monuments!

With the previous day being more tiresome than we expected, we were just hoping that rest of the trip wouldn't be so. The hope materialized and the weather didn't bother us as much as it did on the first day! The plan for Day two was more of a drive with lesser hikes. We planned to cover Valley of the Gods and the Monument Valley before crossing the border and heading towards Page AZ. 

Waking up late had erased most of our previous day’s tiredness. Heading south in 191, we crossed small town Blanding, and continued into route 163 soon after crossing Bluff. After 70 miles from Monticello and after a drive of an hour and a half, we were at the signboard on 163 , pointing towards an unpaved road at the right, which read ‘Valley of the Gods Road’.

Valley of the Gods 

This is an 18 mile stretch of unpaved bumpy road connecting 163 to 261 (I think the route name is FR 242, but it is nowhere written). We had earlier made sure that this was not a four wheel drive road, so we were bold enough to step into it. But there were signboards stating that the road is un-passable when wet. So people coming here in

winter might have to check for road conditions or might have to get a four wheel drive.

Not even a mile on the road, and the views of tall statue-like rocks unfolded one after another.  We first stopped by the ‘Seven Sailors’ and further ahead we took a glance of Setting Hen Butte and the Battleship rock(There are no signboards after entering the road, we just got to know these names from a map in the internet). The peace in this valley was enchanting. Completely invisible from the main roads, you will reward yourself a moment of loneliness and peace as you cross through the valley. There were no other vehicles on the unpaved gravel road, which gave us the advantage of stopping on the road wherever needed! 

Along the 'Valley of the Gods' road

Structures unfolding one after the other along the road made us feel like being in a museum of mammoth work-pieces of modern art. The plain land ensured unobstructed views of distant monuments, some of them even a mile apart.

We couldn't drive more than 20 mph because when I tried to do so, I heard the road bang a couple of times into my car underneath. There are one or two slopes in the otherwise level road. For us, this was equally good compared to the Monument valley (we are going to head there next),in fact,Vijetha liked this one more than the Monument Valley.We reached the highway 261, soon after crossing the 'Valley of the Gods Bed & Breakfast' (the lone building on the entire stretch),  almost an hour of drive on the unpaved road. Turning right at this junction would take you towards Natural Bridges National Monument( just in case, if you are interested), but you should keep in mind that to reach there, you would have to cross Moki Dugway, one of the most dangerous roads in America!. This was the very reason we had skipped Natural Bridges, and a round about would cost us an extra day.

Turning left onto 261 takes you towards Mexican Hat. 

Goosenecks Point overlook

Our car raced through the road as we headed towards Goosenecks State Park, a 3.6 mile deviation from an intersection further down on 261. We expected a visitor center here as it was a state park, but there is nothing else here but a view point and a restroom. 

Peeping down the overlook 1000 feet beneath, we saw 4 folds of unwinding water carving terraced zigzag bends, creating a peculiar yet beautiful landscape.   The display board provided more details of the sight that we were viewing.  The river flowing beneath was called San Juan, and the canyon created is supposed to be one of the finest entrenched meanders in the world.  It is always curious to understand the geology behind such formations, in this case, the San Juan river became entrenched, when the entire Colorado plateau was slowly uplifted. It seems the river further joins Lake Powell. We tried capturing all the folds of water in a single frame, but couldn't find a point from where it could be done. We ended up taking 3-4 shots.

 

Route 163 - On the way to Monument Valley

Our next destination was Monument Valley which is 25 miles from here, on 163.   On the way, we passed through Mexican Hat, a stand-alone structure visible from the main road 163. As we continued towards the Monument valley on 163, a trailer of what we are going to see next had already begun.  The straight, seemingly endless road appeared to culminate right at steps of the mighty monuments. Turning left at the Monument valley road, near the welcome center, we realized that we were ahead of our planned schedule. Within couple of miles, we were at the Navajo Tribal park visitor center. As we stepped into the viewing deck, a view as spectacular as never before, stood in front of us.  Right in front of the visitor center, stood three mighty Mesas, a postcard picture of the Monument Valley, a view we were longing to see. Towards right, down along the canyon, was a thin line of road, heading towards numerous similar rock structures. We had our lunch just outside the visitor center, digesting less of food but more of the view!

Monument Valley - View from the visitor center

Unlike the National parks, Monument Valley is a Navajo Tribe owned park, and the differences were definitely perceptible. The visitor center has employed many of the local Navajo community. The road leading into the valley ( a 17 mile unpaved dirt road) was inviting us and we decided to drive along it. With enough experience of a dirt road at the Valley of Gods, we considered this one to be a similar one. But the road was much worse than we thought.

 Heading a little more than a mile in the road, we realized that we were not even looking through our windows for the views but were busy escaping the pot holes.The bumpy ride that started just in front of the Mitten Buttes, continued till Elephant Butte point, where we decided to head back after shooting a dozen of pictures of the distance sequence of the monuments. I personally felt the view from the Visitor center was much more rewarding, than the view down in the valley (Possible that the views at Valley of the Gods had saturated my senses ). But of course, if you have an SUV or a four wheel, don't limit yourself, go ahead!  But if your plan is to drive a mile or 2, then better not do that, because, the views that you see after crossing a couple of miles is not much different than what you had seen from the visitor center.

Monument Valley - On the Valley road

When we reached back the visitor center, I inquired one of the Navajo Tour bus drivers about the trips that they conduct. He told that they had different packages (1.5 hour, 2.5 hour packages etc). When inquired about the prices, the driver turned towards the owner, asking him to respond. He responded saying it starts at $100 per person. He told that they would take us back-country where there is some more varieties of rock formations and also take us into some of the local Navajo communities.And that would be $200 ! At this moment, I predicted that one of the reasons for the horrible conditions of the roads is because these tourist operators wanted it that way so that less people take their personal vehicles!   How I wished this place to be a national park!  I would have cruised it across within 30 mins.

The Valley and The Road

Back in the Visitor Center, we browsed through some of the old photographs of the valley; it was surprising to realize that these tribal’s even do vegetation in this long forbidden desert! As we left the valley, I was still wondering how this place was so different from the rest of the Utah Parks, with respect to culture, the aesthetic outlook and the people. The bus driver and the owner combo and they way they marketed their tour resembled a typical duo at one of the many tourist spots in India!

We headed towards Page AZ at around 4 PM, it was a couple of hours of drive from here. Our main attraction at Page was undoubtedly the Horseshoe Bend. We had skipped it during our last visit to Page, an year back. We had been there to visit the Antelope canyons, but somehow we had missed this place. Now that we were ahead of the schedule, we planned to reach Page by 6 PM, which would give us enough time to cover it later that evening.

As we drove pass the UT-AZ border, scattered thunderstorms spilled some rain and to some extent cooled the outside temperature. We first headed towards our Hotel to check-in (plus, most of the maps online had revealed that US 89 N, the road that led to Horseshoe Bend trail-head , was closed due to landslide. So we wanted to confirm with someone in town on the alternative routes).  The receptionist guided us well with a map and confirmed that 89 N was open till the trail-head start point.  She also informed about couple of good places to visit for the evening near Glen Canyon dam. This boosted of enthu; within next 15 mins , our car was at the Horseshoe bend trail-head parking.

Horseshoe Bend - Page AZ

 The hike to the viewpoint was a 1.5 mile round trip, most of it was on the red sands which was still wet because of the downpour an hour back. The walk was almost like walking on the beach sands.  The place was crowded, but not the extent of denying any of the views of the bend. This indeed was a surprise spot. The late evening light colored Navajo Sandstone Rock and the greenish blue water beneath making a 270 degree bend around it, was a scene of a lifetime!  The after-rain weather was perfect, added with a cool breeze scripted a pleasant, beautiful summer evening.

Our another advantage for the day was the time gain. We had MST all through Utah and AZ(even though in MST), doesn't follow Daylight Savings. So we gained an extra hour at Page and were still not done for the day yet! We headed towards Glen Canyon Dam, which was just a couple of miles away.

A view just across Glen Canyon Dam

Driving on US 89, we reached Glen canyon dam. There was a bridge to cross over it. We strolled around the bridge to have the view of the canyon, the dam and its waters. The walls of the canyon were dual colored,  most of the top portion were orange and the belly belt that touched the waters was grayish pink. We drove further ahead and took a deviation along the 5.5 mile Lakeshore drive towards Wahweap Marina, a part of Glen Canyon National recreation area.

As we had a National Parks pass, this was one free excursion for us!  The Wahweap Bay was crowded with jet boats and house boats, the very point for which, I thought, it has been identified as a recreational area. The sun was setting, and there were no good points for viewing sunset here. If planned well, we could have been there at the Horseshoed Bend for the sunset.

Day 2 Agenda

Heading back to Page, we stopped by at couple of places to have a view of the Dam and the bridge, which completed our eventful second day of the trip. The dinner at Downtown Page was delicious.  Later at the hotel, as I peeped through the balcony of our room, the Glenn canyon and the lights at the Dam were still visible!

 I became a fan of this town, for the second time, again!