Day 30-32 Jacob Lake, Arizona

Thursday we left Lake Powell for Jacob Lake, Arizona, at the northern rim of the Grand Canyon. Here is a picture looking down on our RV park and part of the lake.

We made a stop at Pipe Spring National Monument located on the Arizona strip between the Grand Canyon and the Vermilion Cliffs. Pipe Springs has been a water source for centuries in the middle of the high desert. The water fron Utah,200 miles north, percolates down to the shale layers and travels southward to the base of the cliffs and surfaces at places like Pipe Spring. The area was first occupied by the Ancestral Puebloans followed by the Paiutes. Next the Catholic Missionaries and explorers came through the area. Later Brigham Young decided it would be a good location for a tithing ranch during the construction of the mormon temple in St. George, Utah.

He placed Anson and Emmeline Windsor on the ranch to accept tithes of cattle from area church members. Cattle were also raised to help feed the laborers for the temple. A stone home, known as Windsor Castle, was constructed. In later years the National Parks purchased the ranch and designated it as a National Monument.

We checked into our RV park at Jacob Lake and ate at the lodge. Yesterday we drove 50 miles to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I think I need to check out the Thesaurus. I am running out of words to describe sheer amazing and beautiful nature. Pictures do not do the canyon justice. It has to be seen in person.

We drove to Point Imperial which is the highest point on the north rim at 8803 feet. We went back to camp for a group campfire and roasted hot dogs followed by s'mores. This morning we headed to the busier south rim, a 5 hour drive. We passed the Vermilion Cliffs and an area of balanced rocks.

We continued to the south rim National Park entrance and settled in to our campground. As we entered the park we saw many pull outs with views but could not safely pull our RV into the area. Tomorrow we will be taking a bus tour. Just in front of our RV we had a close-up view of an elk.

Day 27-29 ~ Page, Arizona

On Monday we left Monument Valley, Utah, and headed to Page, Arizona, on Lake Powell. On the way we stopped at the Navajo National Monument. After stopping at the overlook, we watched an interesting film at the visitor's center. We then took a 1 mile trail to an alcove and dwelling site of some Anasazi. We continued to our RV park at Glen Canyon National Park where we have a nice view of Lake Powell.

Tuesday we met at 6:45 a.m. for a five hour boat trip to Rainbow Bridge on Lake Powell. The night before we had quite a rain storm and very high winds. During the boat trip we could see rain clouds and lightening around us but by the return trip we had beautiful sunny skies.

The scenery on the trip was beautiful. The white on the canyon walls is from calcium deposits at the high water mark (the lake is 75 feet below full). The last time the lake was at capacity was 1983-1984.

After we docked the boat in a narrow canyon, we took an easy walk to Rainbow Bridge. This is a natural bridge, different from an arch since it has water running under it.

Today we went to the Lake Powell Lodge for breakfast then headed to Glen Canyon Dam for a tour. The dam is 25 feet thick at the top and 300 feet at the base.

This afternoon we took another open truck trip to Antelope Slot Canyon. It is impossible to imagine the millions of years of water wear that caused this amazing geologic feature. These picture are taking looking up from the floor of the slot canyon.

Here is the outline of a bear.

Do you see the heart?

After a long day we had a beautiful sunset.

Day 25-26 ~ Monument Valley, Utah

Yesterday our group took a 5 1/2 hour tour of Monument Valley. The entire trip was in open air shuttle vehicles along dusty red dirt roads. We really did have a great time.

Our guide explained that the reservation is making a concentrated effort to teach the native language and skills in the schools. The children learn how to weave, dye material, make jewelry and pottery. One of the formations is called "The Flintstones" - Fred & Barney.

We drove to some arches. Chig climbed up and took a picture of our group below.

We then saw an alcove dwelling called Square House.

Another alcove was called Baby House because there are children's hand and foot petroglyphs on the floor.

After viewing a large wall of petroglyphs we had Navajo Burgers cooked by our Navajo guides.

Today we drove to the visitor's center for Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. The center had a small museum and large gift shop. We then started out on the 17 mile loop road through the park. At the first turnout we turned around. The road was rutted dirt with a lot of bumps and dust. The speed limit was 15 mph but we were only able to go 5 mph. Because we had other places to visit we continued on to our next destination, Goosenecks State Park. The pictures do not do it justice. The San Juan river flows in loops at this point and has carved three Gooseneck shaped land masses. It was really quite a sight.

We continued to a dirt road and another 17 mile dirt/gravel road through Valley of the Gods. The road condition was much better. We saw some interesting rock formations along the way. This is Lady in a Bathtub.

We thought this looked like a train engine.

This afternoon our tour directors treated us to a fantastic quesadilla, nacho, margarita social.

Day 23-24 ~ Cortez, Colorado & Monument Valley, Utah

At one o'clock Wednesday, we boarded a rather old bus. I think it may have been a school bus at one point in time but the seats were a little nicer. It brought to mind our raft trip earlier on this trip. We traveled to the river in a Barney-purple school bus. The driver informed us that the life of a bus goes from school to church to prison to tours. In any case, we were all happy to be on our way back to Mesa Verde National Park. On the long uphill drive we were served a delicious box lunch from the park's cafeteria. Our tour guide was very good and we made many stops throughout the park. Mesa Verde, and most of the four corners region, was originally populated by a group called the Anasazi from 1 to 1200 A.D. Current terminology refers to the group as Ancestral Puebloans. After 1200 A.D. the area was abandoned. The cause is still unknown but many suspect it was due to a severe drought lasting for years. While living in the area, natural cliff alcoves were used as a protected location for homes. The alcoves were reached by using a series of finger and toe holds in the cliff face and ladders within the alcove.

Most of the vegetation in the area was similar to what is there now, Utah Juniper, Pinon Pine and the Yucca plant. The trees were used for wood but all parts of the tree were used in some way.

Turkeys were treated as domestic pets and their feathers were used for bedding. Only during droughts is there evidence that the turkeys became a food source. Our first stop was to view a pithouse (575 A.D.) Part of the dwelling is below ground level. Wood poles where then driven into the ground and additional wood formed a frame which was then covered with mud or dirt.

Our second stop was to view a kiva (900 A.D.) The underground portion is deeper. They were often used for ceremonies.

Although we could not take the guided tour of the Cliff Palace, we were able to see it across the canyon. It is another example of an alcove dwelling. The black streaks are called desert varnish which we have seen throughout the Southwest. It is caused by iron oxide.

We stopped at the largest cliff community, Spruce Tree House. Here there was a 1/4 mile paved path to the cliff dwellings.

Yesterday was a travel day. Enroute we traveled onto the Navajo Reservation where we stopped at four corners.

In this picture Dawn is in Arizona, Chig is in Utah, Curt is in New Mexico and I am in Colorado. I then had to "be" in all four states at the same time. Not the easiest position.

Our trip continued through Navajo land to Mexican Hat Rock. It is viewed as an upside down sombrero. See what you think. The small town of Mexican Hat is just a few miles down the road.

We are staying at Goulding's RV Park, Monument Valley, Utah, on the Navajo Reservation. This was originally the location of the ranch of Harry and Leone "Mike" Goulding. They arrived in the 1920s and made a living amongst the Navajo as sheep traders. During the Great Depression, Harry brought famous movie maker John Ford to the area where he made the first area film, "Stagecoach", with John Wayne. The film industry brought employment to many on the reservation. Nearly all 44 RVers went to the lodge for dinner. Many of us had the Navajo Taco which was served on fry bread. After dinner we went to a small theater and watched the John Wayne movie, "The Searchers", which was filmed in this area.

Monument Valley Update Sept. 21st

I have been trying to upload pictures and my blog update but the internet is impossily slow. Please check back late tomorrow!

Day 21-22 ~ Cortez, Colorado

Yesterday we left at 6:15 a.m. and took four vans to Durango, Colorado, where we caught the historic narrow gauge train to the mountain town of Silverton, one of the highest towns in the United States, at 9,305 feet. The town of Durango was organized in 1881 by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad to service the local mining district. The Durango train station is located in the charming Old Town area.

We took the 3 1/2 hour train ride on a train powered by a charcoal fueled steam engine. The train just celebrated its 130th anniversary.

The scenery was a welcome change from all of the red rock we have seen for the past 3 weeks. I felt right at home as we traveled into the San Juan Mountains which reminded me of the Sierras in California. There were areas that looked a lot like Yosemite. The colors are changing and we saw the beautiful yellows and golds of the Aspen trees.

At times the steam from the train formed beautiful rainbows.

The trip followed the Animas River.

Today the vans picked us up after 8 a.m. and we headed to Mesa Verde National Park. The park entrance is only 1 mile from our RV park but we then had to travel 15 miles up a steep road to reach the visitors center. As we approached our driver mentioned that the Department of Transportation was there for commercial vehicle inspections and said they were also there yesterday. He assured us all was in order with his vehicle. Our group went to the visitor's center and before long we were made aware there would be a short delay while the vans were inspected. Three hours later, one of the drivers had been arrested for failure to pay a ticket for a fishing license violation and two of the vans were detained because they did not have the proper paperwork. We were stranded. As we were eating our box lunches, we stopped a bus driver who said he had an empty bus for two hours and agreed to take us back to the RV park. A large bus has been arranged for tomorrow and we will try our park tour again.