Monday, April 20, 2009

From Page, Ut we had to decide whether to head generally west towards Kanab, and the Grand Staircase Escalante area, or to the east and towards Moab, Utah.It was decided to head north-east, but first we had to head to the south east on Highway 98 from Page to it's intersection with 160. Then it was north from Kayenta through the Monument Valley which offers some pretty spectacular scenery, featured in many movies, book and CD covers, and even video games.
My camera was going full time, just driving through.
Every change of light and angle brings a new perspective, and begs yet another photo.

From wikipedia:

Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast and iconic sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor. It is located on the southern border of Utah with northern Arizona (around 36°59′N 110°6′W / 36.983°N 110.1°W / 36.983; -110.1), near the Four Corners area. The valley lies within the range of the Navajo Nation Reservation, and is accessible from U.S. Highway 163. The Navajo name for the valley is Tsé Bii' Ndzisgaii (Valley of the Rocks).







Eventually, well into southern Utah, was the small town of Mexican Hat

which was named because to the appearance of this rock formation, which appears like an inverted Mexican sombrero.By this time, it was getting late and a campsite location was required. From Mexican Hat, we turned off onto the smaller, quieter highway #261 towards Goosenecks State Park. We did not check out the park, but obviously missed some spectacular scenery there. Instead we continued on towards the Cedar Mesa area. There were grave warnings about the road ahead, and the types of vehicles that were not recommended.

The road appeared to head directly toward an inpenetrable mesa, with no way up!
But, amazingly, the road wound it's way up the sheer cliff, with switchback after switchback.
The view back to the south east and Goosenecks and Mexican Hat.
Not being sure what was ahead, and it being rather late, camp was made on a suitable switcback with a flat spot to park off the roadway.
The view was impressive.
I clambered around the nearby rocks to take more photos, as darkness fell.

The next day promised even better scenery if that was possible.

2 comments:

  1. Great trip reports, the Borrego Springs part makes me nostalgic for the PCT! (Yes, I loved the desert...)

    Hope you're doing well!
    Sophie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great trip reports, the Borrego Springs part makes me nostalgic for the PCT! (Yes, I loved the desert...)

    Hope you're doing well!
    Sophie

    ReplyDelete