Four Corners Part 3: Arches and Monuments

DAY 4

Sleep Inn lived up to it's name. We gave ourselves a few extra winks and had an enjoyable breakfast included in the stay. With one exception. Of the many breakfast offerings one was a bit... disturbing.

Hard boiled eggs.

What can you do to a hard boiled egg?

Well you can have them boiled and peeled perhaps weeks or years in advance, then sealed in some vacuum packaging so tightly that when the $5.80/hr breakfast clerk dumps them out into a bowl they're all shaped like little, glossy, rubbery bricks with rounded ends.

Other than that the breakfast was fine.

Off to Arches N.P.

The park took me by surprise. Sure we had seen pictures of Delicate Arch in a billion magazines and such



and of course we were bound to take a peek at it. What I didn't expect was the rest of the natural beauty of the rock formations here. Just a hop, skip and a jump above Moab is the park entrance with a visitors center situated inside the curve a beautiful canyon. Mitchell signed up for the junior ranger program and we were off driving up that curve.

Once atop the mesa, about 1,000 foot climb, you land on a lovely winding drive through some stunning scenery. Here we pulled over to the side of the road and you can see some of the rock formations. On the right of the road is The Organ and in the distance on the left are The Three Gossips.



Here's The Organ close up.



It was still early in the morning and the park wasn't at all busy. Many interesting formations loomed in the lifting morning light. We drove a bit further and, again right by the road, appeared Balanced Rock. The light wasn't great so I made a note to drop back later. We made a bee-line straight to Delicate Arch.

There's two viewing points for Delicate Arch. One is a three mile hike to the arch itself and the other is a viewing point with nearby parking. We chose the latter but in retrospect on the next trip I'll plan a day for this arch and make the hike. Turns out the viewpoint was twofold. There's the 80 yard stroll and there's the 800 yard hike up the ridge. This time we chose correctly. The ridge affords a lovely view of the arch some quarter mile off. If you click on the photo and go to the larger size you'll see the fellow sitting directly below the arch.



There were a dozen or so families and such clicking away. A fellow snapper offered to take this one of us.



Mitch was pestering me to go over that yellowish ridge seen behind us in the snap above to collect some rocks. I succumbed and off we went.

What Mitch had discovered was a whole second ridge, closer to the arch, with a stunning canyon below and killer views. No one was there, though as we waved for Kat and Kelsey several other travelers ventured out. Here's the view from the second ridge:



Self explanatory on why you can't get to the arch from this direction.

We headed back and landed at Wolfe ranch, named for the hardy homesteaders who managed to survive here some 100 years ago despite the rather harsh winter conditions and rustic, albeit colorful, lodgings.



Back behind the ranch is a shallow arroyo with a 20 foot cliff face. Petroglyphs abound.



Next stop Landscape Arch via the Devils Garden trail.

Now most people see and hear about these arches and scoot over hill and dale to take them in. As I alluded to earlier the destinations, impressive as they are, do not tower, literally or figuratively, over the journeys. Case in point the Devils Garden trail. I cannot think of a more splendid path on which I have trodden.

Here we are at the trail head.



Now indulge me here as I take you on a brief photo essay of just one small section of the trail about midway along in our trek. Five photos, perhaps 800 feet of walking distance covered in these snaps. Note in the photo below the trail meandering off into the gap on the left. Just to the right of the gap is a standing column of rock; what is called a "blade". Watch that blade.

We start with Mitchell making a mandatory bug inspection.



Now approaching the blade.



Hmm... nice tree.



Ah blade in sight.



Blade off the starboard bow!




Did I mention this trail is stunning and absolutely littered with the blade formations? There. I did.

Rising up out a nearby congregation of rock is Delicate Arch, presumably named for its current state as a recent traveler actually caught on tape, viewable in the visitors center, a huge chunk collapsing leaving a mere 6 feet of stone holding the center of the arch together. This being a 305 foot long arch the rangers fear that it may not be intact much longer.



Yes I said it's longer than a football field. It's huge. I'd pose someone directly beneath it for perspective but following the incident above you can't go underneath anymore.

It was hot out and we guzzled from our water bottles while taking in the view.



Back we ambled to the trailhead. There is a water fountain there and a tap. I probably drank and refilled my water bottle three times in 5 minutes. Did I mention it was hot?

Off we went to the Cove of Arches. Now we were in mid afternoon, fierce heat and still looking at a 2 hour drive south at the end of the day. So we limited the remainder of our meanderings to the Double Arch.



The Double Arch was a site to behold and still very accessible by a brief hike from the nearby parking lot. Note the folks clambering beneath.



Driving out I stopped to take a few shots and noticed the face on the rock face below. Look at the gap on the right. Note the rock face looking in on the right side of the gap.



It's pretty park.



We stopped again at Balanced Rock. The light was better. The Rock is about 150 feet high.



We blasted the A/C and headed out of the park. A quick side route on 128 as a diversion was worthy. The canyons there are nearly as good as those in the park and the ride is free. We scampered up and back for 30 minutes and then south on 191.

We drove along for nearly an hour before hitting the gorgeous rim of the White Mesa and the road dropped down into the canyon that housed Bluff. The first town we had seen in 20 miles. Then we switched to 163 south to Mexican Hat. Very empty country out here. The hat was named for a local balanced rock that does look like an inverted sombrero.

Another 20 miles of flat desert and we see signs for Monument Valley. The one place on this trip I had truly dreamed of visiting. The entrance is near the border of Utah and Arizona. There's no town. Just a left turn in the desert with a right turn going down a road to a nearby hotel.

The park is run by the Bureau of Land Management (Native American org). There's a shack to collect the 20 clam entrance fee. The visitor center is a shadow of perhaps a more glorious past. We hunker around for souvenir and walk out on the deck. The place is well situated. Again the light is not good, in fact its quite cloudy out now.

There's a 17 mile drive, no doubt graded to match the one in Pebble Beach, but its strictly dirt the whole way. We noodle along and take in the views. Most notably John Ford's view, that he described as the best in the park. It was so dark that photos really didn't do the place justice.



Various wild horses, cows and children crossed our paths as we drove through the park. The place is simply stunning with these buttes just rising into the air as if summoned by gods. But frankly I was deeply disappointed as the weather just got worse. It started to drizzle. We finished the drive and headed back to the visitor center. I was ready to leave. It was 7:30 and we still had a 40 minute drive to our hotel but Kathleen chided me to stay and see what happened at sunset.

Well there was a line below the clouds where the sun might just peek through. Sunset was still an hour away...

She's the best. Sure enough the few photographers milling about turned into a dozen, then 20 or so. I had a good spot. Here's snapper boy awaiting the light.



Low and behold. Around 8:20 the sun started to come through the low horizon of clouds and for a few brief minutes lit the Left and Right Mittens and Merrick Butte. For a fleeting moment the horizon looked like this:



Yes.

Kathleen broke out some wine and I broke out in a smile.

Kayenta is about 30 miles south in Arizona. The Hampton Inn awaited. It was run by the local Navajo's. At $134 one of the more expensive places but it was very nicely done with native decor and dinner was onsite.

Kelsey ordered a Ceasar salad with grilled chicken. The young waitress had a bit of a time with the order. Coming back to the table after a minute or so.

"I'm sorry the chef says there's no chicken for the Ceasar."

"OK... hmmm... how about fajitas?"

"Yes there's chicken for that."

[pause] "Huh? Uh OK we'll do that."

She runs off to check again. Then back.

"There's no chicken for fajitas either. Wait a minute."

Runs off again. Then back.

"There's chicken for the Ceasar salad. I saw some on the grill when I went in last time."

At this point I was considering leaving as who knows what kind of meat would show up with dinner but as exhausted as we all were...

"OK... she'll have the Ceasar with chicken."

[perkily] "OK"

Golly.

Kathleen and I went for the Navajo tacos, a local specialty, that consists of fry bread, sort of like Italian Zepoli but flatter like a pita bread, smothered with beans, cheese, some kind of meat, lettuce, tomatoes and green chilies.



Tasty but a tad rubbery. Mitchell had a steak. Much sawing needed for ingestion.

Nevertheless we were truly sated from such a long, enjoyable day and the beds were comfy.

CLICK HERE for the next part in our Four Corners Trip.