Awe Awe Utah!

 

On April Fool’s Day, we took some twisty, turny roads north, past many grazing cows, sheep and horses.  Up near Prescott in the National Forest at 7000 feet, temperatures cooled. Vistas over the valleys of the Kaibab National Forest were breathtaking. We found a couple of dead coyotes at a rest stop with nose bands and wood in their mouths. Can anyone enlighten us about this?         

       

We camped in Williams where we stayed last year for our sojourn to the Grand Canyon. A number of shops and restaurants have been preserved or renovated to resemble their former fame on the old Route 66. Chris was intrigued into an old garage where some vintage cars were under repair. Local mechanic Mike was full of information about the town and countryside. We took his advice to drive a few miles into the country at sundown where we saw some elk grazing in a meadow. At this time of year the antlers are shed so it was difficult to tell if we were looking at males, females or both!?

       

       

    

            

           

The following morning was crisp and chilly as we set out north east into new territory. Snow-topped Williams Mountain sparkled in the morning sun and we headed past  fresh green fields and dazzling green forests. The drive became tense when the road began curving up around red rock buttes and sharply down into their valleys. Then we hit the flat plains where the miles of clouds took on a pink hue reflected from the red rocks and ground.

    

    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

When we entered Monument Valley, Navajo Land and saw the first of the majestic “stone towers” our breath was taken away! I found myself short of breath and felt cool sensations across my back. Of all the places we’ve been, I think this place humbled and awed me the most. 

         

 

Our camp site at Goulding’s RV Park couldn’t be more perfect. Just short of the front window was a wall of scarlet cliffs beckoning a hike. Out our living room window was the famous view past “our” bluffs to the plains of Monument Valley where we watched the sunset turn the russet formations into blushing, golden-rose. Breathtaking!

                   

We spent the next day hiking and driving about the dusty roads and rocky climbs of Monument Valley. Dixie was happy to explore the icons with us as temperatures were moderate and there was plenty of sand and grass to welcome delicate paws. The Navajo visitor centre is a wealth of art, maps, artifacts and information.  The big draw is to view the buttes at sunset when the red rock glows orange and even the worst photographer can come away with  a masterpiece. The most amazing aspect of these monuments are their position, appearing to have raised up from the expansive  flat lands surrounding them and maintaining their shapes for thousands of years. We dragged our dusty selves back to camp where we plopped down in our comfy chairs outside to toast the sun’s descent and wait for the mighty rocks to get their glow-on! I’ve not had the gumption to edit the way-too-many-pictures that I shot in the valley but here are a sprinkling of a few of them.