Boomeranging -- Monument Valley AZ/UT and Valley of the Gods, UT

To those of you that provided it, thanks for the feedback. Enough of you are not Facebookers and said that you faithfully follow my posts and enjoy my adventures that I’ll see what I can do to keep them going. Are any of you other there ‘techies’? I did an internet search to see if a Hot Spot would give me better coverage than using my phone’s hot spot and it didn’t look like there would be any boost in signal reception by getting a separate hot spot unit.  The person that super-charged their Travato and posted the details on the Travato FB site paid $1,200 and had someone cut a hole in the roof to install an antenna (besides buying a bunch of other gizmos). I’m not sure I’m quite ready to go that route… I’ll see what I can find out next time I’m in a big city and can visit an electronics store.

I’m feeling a bit like a boomerang. Once I took my last hike in Bandelier I called Mesa Verde National Park in SW Colorado to find out about conditions there. I first tried to go there the year the government shut down. That and Glacier National Park (and more time exploring CO) are must-do items on my list. It looks like everything won’t be open in Mesa Verde until Memorial Day. Meanwhile, it was cold and threatening snow in Bandelier and farther north in NM is only higher elevation. I decided it was time to head back toward the lower altitude sites in UT, which meant driving back on some of the same roads I’d already been on (my 3^rd time for a couple of them). I camped again at the RV campground I’d been at to go see Acoma Pueblo and watched it snow that night. On my drive farther West the next day I drove through several hail storms and snow storms (including one with heavy snow and dense fog – yuk!). None of it was sticking on the road but visibility was poor.

I made a brief visit, again, to Canyon de Chelly – the first destination I’ve re-visited on this trip. I had seen something on my first visit there that I realized, after I left, that I really wanted, so I stopped back in briefly to see if I could accomplish my quest. I took the hike down into the canyon again because it’s a nice hike and I needed the exercise. The wind was gusting and it had been snowing earlier but there was no precip when I hiked down. I thought I might find what I sought at the canyon bottom but the bad weather meant no one was down there. On the way back up I ran into the person that had the items I sought. How amazing is that?

Mission accomplished I headed farther north on new roads. On my way past last time I had bypassed Monument Valley. It’s Navajo Land with impressive rock spires, made famous by John Wayne movies. You have to pay $20 to enter and it’s a nasty 17-mile gravel road that you can drive or pay for guided tours along the road or deeper into the canyon. One of my Travato friends said it was a “must see” place so I decided to give it a whirl. But rather than pay for someone else to drive me or rattle myself and my van by driving the road myself, I decided I’d bike the road. After a too-long day of driving in some not-so-nice weather (snow storms, fog, and hail), I got to Monument Valley just in time for the “Golden Hour” of magic light – the hour or 2 before sunset. I joined countless other photographers (mostly with “real” cameras and tripods) to catch the long shadows of the landscape and the famous “mitten” rock formations.

Just outside of Monument Valley.

 

The late afternoon light was casting some fun shadows on the Mittens in Monument Valley.

Contemplating (part of) the road I would be biking the following day...

After shooting all the angles, there was still plenty of time before sunset so I decided to check in to the “View” campground. It was just skinny parking spaces on a gravel lot (no hook ups) for $42 a night (but they did have a shower). The proximity to amazing views and photography made it worth it for one night. I selected my site, paid my $, and headed off again (a short distance) with Iphone in hand to catch the sunset.

The next morning I was up at 5:50 a.m. to brew a cup of coffee and stroll out to catch the sunrise. A fellow photographer looked at my coffee with envy and asked if the restaurant was open. The joys of life in a van with everything easily accessible.

After capturing the sunrise I went back to my van for another cup of coffee and breakfast, packed my lunch and moved my van to a scenic parking spot near the Monument Valley road I was about to bicycle and the trail head I intended to hike after I got back. The road into the canyon involved a lot of rough terrain and a lot of downhill, after which it leveled off (I dreaded the ride back out after a long ride).  I chatted briefly with a woman selling crafts at one of the stops along the road (who also worked at the campground in the evening). She said she had never seen a cyclist on the road; it was better to drive it. I’m happy I rode instead of driving. Actually, there were 2 cyclists that day. When I first got started down the road and stopped to shed a layer, a man in a sedan was driving out and asked how it was. He was headed back out to put together his bike and ride it; I ran into him later in the day. He was from Newfoundland; ex-military, speed climber and long-distance runner. 

I'm sure the ride would have been easier and more pleasant had I had a mountain bike with fatter tires and shock absorbers but my hybrid bike (one bike fits all riding occasions) did the trick.

A young version of John Wayne (Navajo style). He was posing for a photo safari group. Monument Valley was first made famous by the filming of western movies, especially John Wayne movies.

The scenery was great and being on a bike it was easy to stop anywhere and take photos. Traffic was fairly light in the morning but picked up as the day went on so I ate a fair bit of dust. The climb out wasn’t near as bad as I anticipated. I had to walk about 50’ of it when I was muscling my way up a very steep hill and hit some soft sand and lost traction. Alas, a mountain bike would’ve been better than my hybrid with skinnier tires but it did the trick. I pushed my bike up that small bit and caught my breath at the top (it’s more than a mile high there), and watched cars struggle to get to the top of that steep bit. 

I got back to my van after 16 miles of biking, changed my clothes and grabbed my hiking stuff to do 6 ½ miles of trails. One trail went down and around one of the “Mittens” (The Wild Cat trail) and the other went up to the high point of the rim above the hotel (Mesa Rim trail). It was a 22.5-mile day. 

The view from Mesa Rim looking down over the first part of my bike ride from my last day hike of that day. A long day that started before sunrise.

My van had a great view while I was out  playing.

I grabbed a shower before I left and drove 33 miles to Valley of the Gods, near Mexican Hat, UT to camp for free on BLM land.  Valley of the Gods is a 17-mile-long gravel road that goes through a lovely stretch of land with scenic rock formations and connects 2 different paved roads. The sign, when I first pulled off the highway said ‘don’t go if it’s wet’ and the first thing I see is a small stream I need to drive across. It looked doable but I wasn’t really sure what I’d find beyond that so I pulled off the dirt road, just below the highway, and settled in for the night. After dinner I strolled across the stream and up the hill and found a very solid road on the other side and a big pull out that would’ve been a better place to camp (farther off the road than where I was) but there were a few gray clouds in the sky (but no rain in the forecast) so I decided to be cautious and not cross the water. In truth, I was too lazy to move my van so I stayed put (there was minimal traffic on the road so no big deal). 

 

The view during my evening stroll -- Seven Sailors rock.

I decided I’d bike ride the dirt road the next day so in the morning I drove across the water in the wash (only a few inches deep) and up to the pull out and took down my bike and headed off for the day. It was a 28.8 mile bike ride (at 5,000’’+ on a dirt/gravel road), so a bit more of a task than riding on a paved road. I don’t think I saw more than 20 cars along the way so I didn’t eat NEAR the dust as I’d eaten the day before in Monument Valley. 

The toughest part of the bike ride, but the picture doesn't really show how steep it is.

On the way out and the way back, I was checking out alternative campsites to where my van was currently parked and found a good one about 3 miles in that has amazing cell coverage. It’s a new thing for me to be back at my van and settled into a campsite by 3:30. I sat in my folding chair outside my van for a while and caught up on my Facebook posts. 

I thought I’d get brave and try my awning to get some shade from the sun. I hadn’t used it yet; it looked so fragile when we unfurled it during my tech introduction to my van at the RV dealer...  I waited until the wind died down and gave it a whirl. I learned 2 lessons. Lesson 1: If the sun isn’t above or behind your van the awning doesn’t give you any shade. Lesson 2: Unfurling the awning wakes up the wind gods. I had barely gotten it unfurled and was working on securing the support arms when – BAM – the winds came alive again. I hung onto the awning for what seemed like forever as it bucked and flopped and once the wind had died down again for a LONG spell I dashed back into my van to hit the button and get that thing back into its cover. Phew! Mission accomplished. It’ll be a long time (if ever?) before I try that again. I see that the newer Travatos now have a heartier looking awning of a different brands… 

Later in the evening I settled inside as the sun just went behind the ridge. I had the screen door on the side and back deployed and the back doors open. It's such a pleasant night with the desert breeze blowing through my van. It was 69 in the evening but felt much warmer.

The view from my bed the next morning (the bits of black in the sky are because the camera lens is looking through a screen).



I enjoyed a leisurely morning, lounging and soaking up the views, and then took off on a 3 mile hike (who needs trails?).


I zoomed in to the far end of the canyon so it's a little blurry but the light and shadows on the rocks were interesting and you can see a few campers down there.


Seven Sailors from the back side.


I hiked around to the back side and up on top of the long ridge I was looking at from my campsite and then headed back.
From there I drove to Hovenweep National Monument where I've hiked for 1.5 days and where I'm posting this (with slow cell coverage but it's working!)

So I'm pretty much caught up. I'm going to quick get this posted (I hope) before my computer battery dies.