Ed and Colleen in the Southwest: Monument Valley to Mesa Verde

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Monument Valley to Mesa Verde

We expected yesterday's drive from Monument Valley to Mesa Verde National Park to be a bit dull and parts of it were. However, there was enough stunning scenery to tempt us into many stops along the way.

This is where Forrest Gump stopped running...

Mexican Hat Rock

"Est. 650 A.D."

Mokey never told us he owns a motel!

We finally arrived in Mesa Verde National Park late in the afternoon... later than we thought we arrived, as it turned out. There is this strange thing going on with time zones here. Arizona does not observe daylight savings time. Utah does. So, each time we cross the border between Utah and Arizona, sometimes several times in a day, the time changes. Any reservation we make for an activity or tour we have to be darn sure what state it is in, or be late, or early. O.K., bad enough... but add to that the Navajo Nation does observe daylight savings time. So, even if we are in Arizona, but have crossed into the Navajo Nation... yup... you guessed it. Time change. So why... given our dedicated focus on trying to understand this time zone thing... did we arrive at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado at 3:30 in the afternoon when we were so sure it was 2:30? We still have no idea...

Our hotel is inside the park, about a 45 minute drive from the park entrance, so by the time we checked in, then went back out to see a few sites, sunset was threatening and a cold wind was blowing. Not a good time for pictures, but I am sure we will have many to share tomorrow. It was so fascinating that we stayed out as late as we possibly could. Within this park are archeological sites that trace the development of the Early Pueblo People from very basic pit houses, around 700 A.D., to elaborate cliff dwelling communities, around 1200 A.D. It is fascinating to follow that story as we travel from one site to the next, witnessing the evidence of the development of their culture and architectural style.

As you can see... the unexpected happy surprise is that we have wifi here.

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Itinerary

October 4&5 - Great Basin National Park, Nevada...a place we've never been. The combination of high elevation, low humidity and no light pollution makes this one of the darkest places in the country, and therefore one of the best places to watch a night sky. Darker yet is the underground world of the Lehman Caves, which we will explore in this park.

October 6&7 - Cedar Breaks National Park, Utah....another new spot for us. This is a high-altitude natural amphitheater with brightly multicolored sculptured rock, similar to Bryce Canyon. It is surrounded by a lush subalpine forest.

October 8-10 - Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. We visited here on our honeymoon, but because a freak snowstorm covered all the trails, we were only able to look down into this spectacular canyon. This time we hope to be able to hike down into the hoodoos.

October 11&12 - Zion Canyon National Park, Utah. We were so knocked out by this park the first time, that we had to come again. As long as no flash flooding is expected, we'll explore some slot canyons. Since our first visit, when I (Ed) chickened out of the Angels Landing Trail, Colleen has seen photos and videos of terrified hikers clutching a chain while navigating a narrow spine of rock with a 1,000 foot drop on one side and a 1,200 foot drop on the other. So she has agreed that we will not attempt this trail. Whew!

October 13-15 - Grand Canyon North Rim, Arizona. This is the less-visited side of the canyon, and far less commercialized. It is also about 1,000 feet higher elevation than the South Rim, so the vegetation is more forest-y here, and generally cooler.

October 16 - Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona. Not an easy place to get into, as it requires obtaining one of a very limited number of daily permits in advance (Colleen got ours within minutes of them becoming available online!) And you either need to be a serious desert backcountry traveler, or be part of a 4wheel drive tour to access this area. But if you see photos of this park you'll understand why it's worth the effort. We hope to take some photos of our own that do it justice.

October 17-19 - Page Arizona. Antelope Canyon, another spot that is heaven for photographs, is on Navajo land, and as such requires that we be part of a tour. We also may take a boat tour on Lake Powell which provides access to the other end of the canyon and we will most definitely walk to Horseshoe Bend.

October 20 - Monument Valley, Utah. We'll explore around the vast sandstone buttes, mesas and pinnacles.

October 21&22 - Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. Much of the park will be closed this late in the year but we will explore as much as we can.

October 23-25 - Farmington New Mexico. We will explore Chaco Canyon and other archeological sites in the area.

October 26&27 - Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, Some of the best preserved archeological sites of the Pueblo culture are here. We will explore the rim and take a tour of the canyon with a Navajo guide.

October 28-31 - Sedona, Arizona. Hiking and photographic opportunities abound in this beautiful country. On the way there, we may stop to see Meteor Crater. And if we want to see something so spectacular that all other sights pale by comparison, we may stop in Winslow, Arizona. There we can see the statue of Jackson Browne in Standing On A Corner Park.---No, we are NOT making this up!

November 1-3 - Grand Canyon, South Rim. We shall brave the tourist hordes to see this, but since we're staying right by the rim, we should be able to get out on trails before the tour buses from Vegas arrive. Colleen was here once, long ago, with a guy whose idea of exploring was to look over the edge and say, "OK, we've seen it. Let's go." This time, Colleen will get as far into the Canyon as four senior-citizen legs dare go, without hiking to the bottom. We may also splurge on an aerial tour of the Canyon.

November 4-6 - Joshua Tree National park, California. We'll spend a few days hiking the desert landscape, hopefully with some more excellent night sky views.

November 7&8 - Now, for something completely different, we will skirt Los Angeles and come to rest near Malibu. We'll use this as a base to visit a couple of Getty Museums.

November 9-11 - Heading back toward home, we'll take a few days to explore Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The last time we were here, we were too young to remember much of anything. So, as with almost all of this itinerary, it will essentially be a first visit.