Day 46 - Monumental!

Trip Start May 19, 2008
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48
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Trip End Nov 08, 2008


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Where I stayed
Navajo National Monument Campground
(Kayenta hotels)

Flag of United States  , Arizona,
Thursday, July 3, 2008

Eager to get out of Chinle and the Navajo Nation, we headed north and then east, passing through places with good old Indian names like "Many Farms" and "Round Rock", before arriving at "The Four Corners". This is where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah meet and is in fact the only point in the US common to four state corners. The Navajos have got in on the act and charge the more gullible, $3 per person to pull into a car park which is supposedly "the point". As you can see from the photos, we managed to pass through all four states without paying $6!

And so we found ourselves in Utah, heading back west and slightly south towards Monument Valley. Now if before today you had asked either of us what we thought about when we thought of Utah, we would have replied Salt Lake City, big white salt flats and Mormons. Both of us are quite astounded by the beauty of southern Utah. It's not at all like we expected it to be. The rock formations and colourings are really beautiful and it's very green in places too Entering New Mexico
Entering New Mexico
 . One particular point of interest is a place called "Mexican Hat", so called because of one of the rock formations that overlooks the town which looks like a Mexican wearing his sombrero.

The entrance into Monument Valley (not a National Park) is very impressive, the sheer size of the rock formations is quite staggering. By going into the valley from the north we entered at the highest point at 5209 ft and so, we believe, saw it from the best perspective. It was very impressive but we both said afterwards that we had the impression from films and books etc. that there were more monuments than there actually are. (Maybe the Americans have all taken them home, bit by bit!)

As we passed through Monument Valley we crossed back over the state line into Arizona. After stopping in Kayenta for an ice cream at McDonalds (even bigger "chips" and worse service than BK), we finally arrived at our camp for the night - the Navajo National Monument. It's up in the hills on the edge of a canyon and very green and beautiful. There's no entrance fee and one of the rangers in the visitor centre was the most enthusiastic and truly interested ranger we have met so far.

The main feature of the "park" is the "Betatakin Ruin", which is a settlement in a huge natural cavern, which was occupied by the American Indian ancestors approximately 750 years ago Leaving New Mexico
Leaving New Mexico
 . The remnants of the settlers' occupation are amazingly well preserved due to the location and climate.

The camp-site is also free, although they welcome donations, which we were happy to make, as the pitches and grounds were very well looked after and clean, as were the toilets. The other bonus is that there were only three other groups on the site so it was nice and peaceful.

Distance travelled: 246 miles

Total distance travelled: 2641 miles

Days on road: 26

States visited: 6 (4 in one day!)

National Parks visited: 4
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