I forgot where I put one of my contact lenses; they were both on one eye.
That must have made for some interesting vision.
Dys is asleep, but I'll get him to post some photos tomorrow. There are some posted on Letty's WA2K Radio thread already.
September Trip, 2005
First, we drove to Shiprock, NM, just east of the Arizona border. It has a sacred meaning to the Navajo?-easy to understand when you come upon it standing there in the desert like a totem. Geologically, in my very basic language, it is a lava and rock filled fracture or rift?-the remains of a volcano. The weather was a little misty, making it look like a ship floating on a sea. Driving further on, there were smaller ships floating in the mist. It was indescribable, as is so much of the southwest. The low light made taking photos hopeless, so it will have to remain in our minds as an otherworldly gift of fleeting beauty.
Rock climbers used to go there all the time, leaving such a mess that the Navajos had to ban anyone from getting too close. In time, they agreed to let climbers in once a month.
On to Utah, the next day, amazed as Monument Valley came into view. It too is a sacred place to the Navajo. There is only one RV park there, thank heaven. It is owned by the original family who developed a post for selling Indian jewelry, pottery and rugs. They had a good relationship with the Navajo and were, as far as I know, the only Anglos allowed on tribal land, leaving it almost pristine. The park is off to the side, pretty far off the road, leaving most of the view intact. Pictures are lovely, but they never convey the true enormity of the place or the regal dignity of the monuments. Sunrise or sunset is always the best when viewing these places; the slanting sunlight shows details that otherwise disappear in full sunlight. Also, imperfect weather makes for more interesting shots, lending an eerie mysteriousness to the photo.
They also have a museum with photos of all the Westerns that were filmed there (lots of John Wayne movies). Even more interesting, it has ancient pottery and letters, Indian artifacts, clothing, moccasins, lots of photographs by Muench and a few by Adams, as well as some paintings that sometimes capture the sense of place better than the photos.
On to Capital Reef, where the ancient sea beds can still be seen, with crazy uplifts and sand formations that are the ?'fossils' of the landscape millions of years ago. Violent uplifts caused entire mountain ranges to thrust hundreds of feet up, usually at a crazy slant. The force it took to thrust up these lopsided mountains is incomprehensible.
We always took the back roads that Bob used to take when he would backpack in these spots. On the way up to Capital Reef, we took a hairpin road that doesn't really provide space for two cars to pass?-only pullovers to let oncoming traffic by. The road used to be closed at night because of the danger. It is mainly used by ranchers and there aren't' very many of them. The road is paved in places for no discernable reason, but it does make it an adventure. Thankfully, Bob is an excellent driver. There are very few people in the world that I would agree to ride with on that road. With Bob, it was scary, but in a delightful, shivery way. Before that road, we crossed Cataract Canyon, where Lake Powell begins. We both agree that Lake Powell is beautiful, but it caused acres of desert to be buried under water, which meant losing hundreds of Indian petroglyphs.
On to Deadhorse Point, a spot of magical views of Canyonlands to the south. The Colorado River flows through on its way to the Grand Canyon and beyond. The landscape is of deep canyons, sculpted by eons of erosion caused by water, rain and wind. The differently colored layers of each epoch make a design of various colors depending on the metals that were prominent. Bob told me that he saw two people get out of their car, look around and say, "There's nothing here, we might as well go." Good, I hope they never come back!
We stayed in Grand Junction, CO that night, then went along the lower Uncompahgre Plateau, following the Dolores River to a hidden spot that only local people know of (Bob discovered it years ago. It appears that only kids go there sometimes for keg parties. The lack of real damage (a few beer cans, cigarette butts and paper plates) is a sign that even the keggers don't go there often. The only "improvement", is a fire circle. The road is an unpaved county road used almost entirely for local ranchers. It continues on into Utah?-I don't know where it ends.
If it had rained, we would have been stuck, as the dips in the road had obviously been washed out many times. For me, this secret spot was the very best part of the trip. No humans but us (we include Fred and Sally as family), no road traffic, the quiet beauty of the sculpted mountains, the Dolores River running close by, reeds, desert plants, the wind soughing through the trees and serene quiet, real desert quiet.
In the evening, just as the sun was going down, we could hear coyotes start to sing in their ululating, exuberant chorus, including a couple of little ones?-their high voices always make me smile. Whenever I stayed at my uncle's ranch, I would go out and howl with the coyotes, which is what I did that night. Our little dog, Sally, sat up suddenly, looked at me in horror and ran to sit as close to Bob as possible. I called her and she wouldn't come. I had frightened her terribly. I have been howling with coyotes for so many years that I didn't give it a thought. It took her about half an hour to feel safe enough to come sit with me again. Bob told me that in the morning (he always wakes up before me), Sally didn't leave his side, looking suspiciously at every little noise or rustle of brush. Because it was so isolated, we let her run loose, knowing that she would seldom go far enough to be out of sight and she would always come running whenever we called her. It wasn't until all three of us were outside that she felt safe enough to return to her favorite explorations, running in front of us to sniff out bunnies.
A rich developer must have bought up much of that area because we saw very expensive buildings, obviously the start of an upscale development. One of the buildings had a name with "spa" in it, making us sick. We fear that it will become another Canyon Ranch or Forbes Ranch?-another "gated community." I think they must worry that one of us dirty campers might infect them. Oh well, the gate will keep them in, hopefully providing the rest of us protection from having to look at them and their McMansions. It's too bad that a few rich people can destroy acres of natural desert, taking out the dirty, rough parts and remaking it into something luxuriously comfortable. Do I sound angry? Damn right.
The next day we continued following the Dolores River, driving to the end of the Uncompahgre, staying at an RV Park/casino run by the Ute Mountain Utes. From there, we continued south to Gallup and turned left toward Albuquerque and home. Even gypsies love to come home?-our own bed is a wonderful luxury after spending several days on the road.
Hey osso! I'm on my way to bed. Even in an RV, age takes a toll, never mind backpacking.
It was wonderful, going from one beautiful place to another and having the memories for the rest of our lives.
Email me and let me know what's happening in your life.
Gus, I was too drunk to notice.
Diane, wonderful descriptive prose. Thanks.
BBB
One of the joys of getting to know Dys and Diane is watching these two love birds enjoying their home and garden. But most of all, watching them drive around the south west, the country they love, soaking up the beauty of the land and the memories of these trips.
I'm so happy they are having these advertures together. After Dys' stroke, who would have thought they could be having so much fun?
BBB
Lovely descriptions, thanks!
In addition to Bob's delight in fun, he showed a capacity for serious thought and talk when he came to visit us. At least he seemed serious to me--with moments that weren't so serious. At one point I told him that it had been a pleasure to meet with him. He answered: "You'll get over it."
Dys & Diane
Accidently ran across your posts on Chaco Canyon. Brought a tear to my eye remembering Merry Andrews and my trip there a few years back. it is an incredible place to visit.
Unfortunately we do not know how to post pics on a computer or we would have shared ours. Merry has a picture of a ghost at6 Chaco Canyan.
Enjoyed your pics.
Those gosh darn ghosts. They're the reason the Navajos aren't crazy about old pueblos.
You ever read Reg Saner? He writes beautifully about Chaco Canyon.
Thanks Cliff Hanger, I'll point Merry Andrew in Reg Saner's direction. MA was enthralled with the area.
Seaglass, why not try getting help posting your photos from someone here on a2k? I remember some of the descriptions of your trip and loved all of them. Seeing photos of Chaco Canyon would be a real treat.
Cliff Hanger, I'm going to look at Amazon and Ebay for his books. Thanks for the suggestion.
D&D,
Sounds like a plan - Maybe Merry can mail them to you and you can post the pics. That would be wonderful.
Sglass
PS: what happen when I get 500 posts (she who will not get the poster of the year award) Do I get a new title?????
I just ordered The Remembered Earth video; the High Desert area of New Mexico. It's for my son and his wife as a gift for their move to a new home in Albuquerque. It's film of the northern area of the Land of Enchantment.
http://www.pbs.org/rememberedearth/
BBB
