Day 13 Sunday 31st August (Travels into Monument Valley)

Oh my goodness - it was incredibly hard to select just a few photo’s so .....today has a lot.

We had an early start today when Maritta woke me to see the sunrise from our balcony, spectacular, the light show is incredible....   After sunrise I went back to sleep for a few hours, missing breakfast (not really a hardship for me as most would know).

But first, some sunset photo’s from last night:

Sunset looking West

The colouring in the sky was beautiful.  As they are just coming out of their monsoon season the clouds tend to gather in the evening allowing some really stunning photos.

 Now this morning's sunrise:

 

Sunrise looking east into Monument Valley 1

Sunrise looking east into Monument Valley2

Sunrise looking east into Monument Valley 3

 

 

First light starts to touch the buttes

After Dale finished his "sleep in" we decided to do a trip into the valley which really needed a local guide.  The road are really rough to non existent.  Warren was a treat - a local Navajo Indian who has strong family connection to this area although he was born in Utah.  He reminded me a little of my father with his slightly off the wall humour.  He was quite knowledgeable pointing out the formations, passing on tidbits of information about the Navajo culture which we learnt was a matriarchal system where the family roots are measure from the mothers side of the family.  Setting off - east and west mittens are the first stop.

Panorama of east and west mitten buttes.

Also having a guide also allows you to visit some of the “back country” which you cannot visit otherwise, and some of the local artisans which are some what further out of the way. The tour lasted about 4 hours.  We visited a traditional Hogan where one of the locals demonstrated their rug weaving processes.

Inside the Hogan

 

External view of Hogan - a mud exterior with timber interior

The Sleeping Giant

John Fords lookout - Dale on zoom!

Churchill's Nose

Indian Chief

The Big Hogan - still used for important ceremonies and meetings

 Once again the scope of the erosion that has taken place over millions of years is hard to grasp, first by sea, and then later by rain and wind.  All the formations are naturally occurring.

Anasazi rock carvings.

Totem Pole and Yei Bi Chei

One of few trees existing in this area - Cottonwood

The cube - (and Maritta)

Our hotel - just coming into view....

After 4 hours travel across some seriously bumpy roads - we were both glad to reach the cool interior of the hotel. One has to marvel at the hardiness of the people who live on the valley floor where there is almost no drinkable water, the few natural springs being very mineral in nature and only suitable for livestock. Speaking of livestock, how the sheep survive eating salt bush is beyond us.

Day 12 Saturday 30th August Canyon de Chelly to Monument Valley

Another relatively lazy day (we almost) - starting off at 9.30 am with a tour of the North Rim of Canyon de Chelly and Canyon Del Meurto, every part of the Canyon de Chelly scenery has a wonderfully different aspect. It is incredible that this canyon is between 5000 - 6000 feet above sea level - has snow cover in the winter and is seriously hot in summer.

The north rim has just 2 stops with 3 main point of interest.  The first we stopped at was Antelope House which also has a outlook over a cliff called "two fell from here".  It is said that a Spanish soldier chasing an Indian maiden, they struggled and both ended up falling from the cliff.  Then we stopped at Massacre Cave where the US army lead by Kit Carson caught fleeing women and children in a cave and started firing their guns into the cave.  Ricocheting bullets killed a substantial number of the Indians hiding in the cave. And the last lookout was Mummy Cave. 

Low on fuel for the trip to Monument valley we returned to Chinle then followed Highway 191 north through a number of Navajo towns including one called “Many Farms” (name of the town although there did appear to be a lot of farms there!), Round Rock and Rock Point then joined Highway 160.


The scenery is stunning - scattered across the plateau are great towering rock spires that rise vertically jutting into the air with some that must be 1000 feet or more tall.   

Turned west along Highway 160 to Kayenta and then North East on Highway 163. After a brief visit to Utah (about ½ mile) the road took us back into Arizona, arrived at Monument Valley and we are staying 3 nights in the View Hotel which has been built in the Park.  We are expecting some exceptional scenery here as well. It was hotter today and we found the walking a little more difficult.  We both have a little sunburn to boot.

Antelope House - Canyon de Chelly

View near Massacre Cave

View near Mummy Cave

Panorama - Monument Valley

Day 11 Friday 29th August - Canyon de Chelly, Arizona

Today we had a relaxed day, a late rising, a leisurely breakfast followed by a tour along the Southern Rim of the Canyon de Chelly.

When you first enter the National Monument it is a little disappointing as the Entry and Lodge are situated on the plateau and there is no canyon to be seen but it is not until you travel along the rim you realise what a spectacular place it is (even panorama shots don't do it justice!). The canyon is like a miniature Grand Canyon, however that doesn’t mean it is small - the canyon wall can be from 250 to 700ft tall, quite a drop if you step off the edge which would be quite easy to do in some places. We imaged what a sight it would have been..... riding along on your horse when you are suddenly confronted by the canyon rim, you certainly wouldn’t want a nervous horse who didn’t like heights.

Tsegi Overlook

White house Overlook (see magnified views below)

Ruins of White House

Ruin of White House (see photo's above)

Near Sliding House Outlook

Ruin near canyon mouth in picture above

Spider Rock Overlook, see close up below

Ruin near Spider Rock

The canyon is also the site of several pueblo ruins, some of which are estimated to have been several stories tall with 80 rooms. These where occupied around 800 to 1200 AD.

The tour along the Southern rim is approximately 16 miles with seven outlooks which took us about 3 hours, and round 400 photos plus quite a bit of video. Maritta couldn’t resist buying some jewellery and CD’s from a couple of the Local Navaho’s who where very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about their country.. Would have liked one of the wooden flutes they make (and play extremely well) but being made of wood makes it very difficult (if not impossible) to bring home.

We then went back to the Visitors Centre (probably should have gone there first), for some information on the area and its history and geology.

Arriving back at the lodge at around 3pm we spent the rest of the afternoon checking emails and updating the blog.

Dale editing photo's for the blog, bit hard to take really?  No wine in hand as we are on Navajo Land where alcohol is prohibited.

Day 10 Thursday 28th August - Wiilliams to Canyon de Chelly, Arizona

Originally we planned on taking the historic train ride to the Grand Canyon however we discovered this is a full day trip, leaving at 9:30am and not returning till 6pm, after which we would have a reasonably long drive to reach our over-night destination. So instead we took a walk around Williams to soak up the fabulous atmosphere of a city lost in the 1950'3 as the last town on Route 66 to be bypassed by the interstate highway.

Train in Williams, appears to only be used on special occasions, not the daily trip

 We fuelled up and then headed off to the Grand Canyon via a back road yet again. The spectacle of the Grand Canyon cannot really be shown in photographs however we will include a few for your enjoyment.  We also took the opportunity to watch the IMAX Grand Canyon movie which was great.  Lots of action and tended to give one the occasional feeling of vertigo.

Type of boat used for the first successful Canyon navigation on the Colorado River

Panorama shot of the Grand Canyon (you're going to get a lot of these for a few days......) Breathtaking!

After dragging ourselves away from the many spectacular views of the Canyon we headed east through the Painted Dessert to Cameron and then further east through the Hopi Indian Reservation (another back road - well worth the effort). We then turned north into the Navajo Indian reservation before arriving at Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "d'shay") at around 7:30pm.  They are actually following daylight saving and are aligned with New Mexico. 

Hopi Reservation, Painted Dessert

The scenery through all of this area is both ever changing and Spectacular. The one aspect that has really surprised both Maritta and I is the elevation which has rarely been below 5000 feet for the last three days.

Formations in the Painted Dessert - don't look real!

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Day 9 Wednesday 27th August (Tuscon to Williams - old route 66)

To date food has been a experience for us - Las Cruces tended to be burgers and burgers and just for a change - burgers.  Huge amount of fast food is available.  Following advice from Anita we discovered Cracker Barrel and finally got to choose foods we know - their meat loaf was great!.  In Tuscon, we ate at the resort and dinner was lovely (but pricey).  We shared an entree of battered - onion rings, carrots and prickly pear served with a very tasty dipping sauce.  Then for mains Dale had a seared sea bass which he loved and I had steak (as I was beginning to crave meat I could chew!), 2 beers and 2 wines and this came to $100 (including tip).   

 

The following morning , after breakfast, and following advice from the chatty security officer for the resort we took a short walk around the resort to take some rather nice photo’s of Pusch Ridge which sits behind the resort.

View behind Hilton look towards Pusch Ridge

Leaving the resort it was off to Biosphere 2 the rather well publicised facility used in an experiment in the early 1990's to see if humans could live in a fully isolated self contained sealed environment.  Biosphere 2 is located near Oracle and is called Biosphere 2 because Biosphere 1 is deemed to be earth.  The experiment  worked to some degree although there were some unexpected problems. Apart from the first team suffering from isolation and poor nutrition and falling oxygen levels.  The isolation much like the groups in Antarctica and other isolated environments experience.  The poor nutrition was due to lack of carbohydrates as they had to grow all their food.  An interesting un-expected problem and un-explained for some time, was the oxygen level dropping dramatically to the extent that in the end it had to be replenished. Part of this “loss” was due to the much larger number of microbes in the soil working overtime to convert oxygen into carbon dioxide, but a much larger problem was the concrete that was absorbing the oxygen and removing it from use by the other organisms (like people). Eventually the concrete was sealed to solve this problem.

Biosphere 2 in Oracle Arizona

Now the biosphere is not fully sealed, some smaller birds and reptiles are now able to seek refuge from their predators

Small test sea which is being converted from a tropical coral reef to represent the Sea of Cortez (California coast)

The Biosphere facility has since gone through a number of changing uses until its current owners, University of Arizona, converted it to a semi sealed experimental environment. This means that visitors (like us) can be catered for, and currently approximately 100,00 people visit each year. We visitors also help to fund the research with half the entry fee being used for this purpose. It was a very interesting place to visit and walk through the various environments - from tropical rain forest, marine environment to desert in just a few hundred feet.  Our guide was great and the tour took a little longer than it should have. 

Leaving Biosphere 2 we headed to Globe then through Snowflake to Winslow of Route 66 fame. Travelling on the high plains with the altitude around 5,000 feet and apart from some spectacular canyons, the scenery is almost billiard table flat in vast area’s.

We had a quick stop in Winslow to photograph the “Man on the Corner” and then to Williams for our overnight stop at the Red Garter Inn.

Then we headed for Wialliams just the other side of Flagstaff and following on old route 66.  We stayed at the Red Garter Inn - which in a previous life was the local brothel.........!

Red Garter Inn, Williams, Arizona

Day 8 Tuesday 26th August (Las Cruces to Tucson)

Today we are leaving Las Cruces and driving to Tuscon, Arizona.  Started the day driving towards Alamagordo for a few miles to a lookout on the top of the San Andreas Mountains which we had managed to miss on both previous trips, there are no warning for this lookout which is fantastic and well worth the stop.

The last couple of days have allowed us to practice with the panorama function of the new camera.  What a great idea and partcially appropriate for the vast wide scenery we are seeing at the moment.  I think it will just keep getting more grand as we move on.

View from San Augustine Pass into Tularosa Basin

Travelled back towards Las Cruces and took the I25 towards Truth or Consequences. The shortest way to Tuscon is via the I10 but this is almost dead straight road for about 280 miles and Dale and I have always sought out the more scenic routes (and how could we avoid the opportunity of going to "Truth and Consequences"....... The ever helpful Border Patrol Officer......this is the third time we have had to produce our passports to get out of Las Cruces.....asked where we were going and when told him Tuscon, asked how we would be getting there with a very concerned look on his face!  When assured we where taking the scenic route from near T&C, he relaxed a little but did ask a few more questions just to be sure we knew what we were doing!  Apparently its not unusual for tourists to take the wrong road and find themselves hundreds of miles from where they should be.....

Turning off just before T&C, we headed towards Hillsboro and Silver City. Very picturesque with twisty roads which is far more to our liking.  It is also minus the large variety of trucks shipping goods day and night.  This back road eventually lead us to Emory Pass in the Black Mountains.  At this point we were 8,200 feet above sea level.  It is amazing seeing the wide flat plains and assuming it is close to sea level and the altitude is not something we are used to as in Australia our highest levels are around half this height above sea level.   

Emery Pass, Black Mountains, at 8,200 feet above sea level (panorama shot again!)

View of the road up to Emery Pass

Conrinued to Silver City and Tyrone, came across the site of an enormous copper mine - this was and is a vast mining operation. Apprently the copper was shown to early explorers by the local Indians in 1799 and the mine has been worked since then.

The first copper was found on the surface, then dug up along the seams, followed by underground mining and finally by open cut operations. Since open cut operations began in 1910, 2 billion tons of material has been moved  (see we do read the signs!)  Older parts of the mining operations are now being extensively rehabilitated.  An interesting environmental outcome of the operations is that the now abandoned underground tunnelling operations have allowed bats to take up residence so the rehabilitation also involves installing doors allowing the bats in and out access but stop inquisitive humans from getting in.

Copper mine (Santa Rita) near Silver City

Massive open cut operations outside Silver City

Mining rehabilitation works near Tyrone

Texas Canyon, just over the New Mexico, Arizona Border.

At Silver City we re-joined the I 10 and finished our journey to Tuscon.  No real alternate options and the day was getting a little late.

Entered Tuscon and immediatelty you can see and even "feel" the difference.  It is clearly a city of more wealth - cleaner, brighter and we did see the level of abandoned building we has seen in New mexico. 
Staying at the Hilton Resort tonght and heading to northen Arizona tomorrow. 

A welcome visitor at the Tuscon Hilton Resort.  Woodpecker??

Pusch Ridge behind the Hilton Resort.