Saturday, June 18, 2022
Valley of the Gods, Monument Valley, Lake Powell
I woke up early this morning and walked a couple of miles around town while Tom slept. The weather was perfect, 72 degrees and sunny, with just a slight breeze. Nice!
Pawn shop and motel? We've stayed at worse
State bird of Utah
Valley of the Gods offers similar scenery to that of the nearby, more famous Monument Valley. But since Valley of the Gods is on BLM rather than Navajo Nation land, it can be explored without all the tribal restrictions, such as the ongoing requirement of a face mask even outdoors. Also, Valley of the Gods can be visited for free.
Tom and Jana in the Valley of the Gods
Franklin Butte
Massive monoliths
Castle Butte (right)
The eastern end of Valley of the Gods Road intersects with US 163 just a few minutes west of Bluff. The road is 17 miles of rough dirt and gravel winding through the backcountry among numerous large buttes and pinnacles. A high-clearance vehicle is nice to have but not strictly necessary, at least when road conditions are dry.
Valley of the Gods
Not-so-rough road
Battleship Rock
Rudolph and Santa Claus (right)
The western end of Valley of the Gods Road intersects with Highway 261 just south of Moki Dugway - another awesome drive. The Dugway consists of a series of very steep, tight, unpaved switchbacks carved into a cliff on the side of Cedar Mesa. Must do!
Moki Dugway
Steep and unpaved
Above the Valley of the Gods
At the top of the Dugway, we turned off the main road toward East Muley Point, Muley Point, and Accidental Muley Point. (This last one named by me when we lost our route.) The Muley Point lookouts are within the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The views of the San Juan River Canyon, Valley of the Gods, and Monument Valley from here are AMAZING!
San Juan River Canyon and Monument Valley
from East Muley Point
From East Muley Point
Jana at Muley Point
San Juan River Canyon from Muley Point
A rain squall was on its way, so we headed off the ridge and back down Moki Dugway, making one quick stop along the way. We made it most of the way down before the rain started. At least we weren't pulling a big, long trailer or riding a motorcycle, like some other folks we saw. Yikes.
Rain coming!
Last quick pic from Moki Dugway
The storm stopped half an hour after it started, leaving behind a dramatic sky for the next couple of hours. We paused at Mexican Hat Rock to eat our lunch while the rain abated. Shouldn't it be called Sombrero?
Mexican Hat
Monument Valley Tribal Park is owned by the Navajo Nation, and to enter requires both a fee and a face mask (even outdoors), but great views of the monuments can be had from multiple overlooks along US 163 without entering the park. A scene from “Forrest Gump” was filmed here, and we saw more than one group of goofballs standing in the highway trying to re-create it. For the record, we took our pics from the shoulder.
Monument Valley
More monoliths
Looking back on Monument Valley from the west
Just past Monument Valley, we left Utah and entered Arizona. We'll return to Utah in a couple of days. US 98 in Arizona was scenic as well, albeit in a much drier way.
Outside Page, we pulled into the Antelope Point entrance of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Glen Canyon NRA is HUGE, over 1.25 million acres, and we'll be in and out of it for days. Antelope Point provides access to Lake Powell, but due to the lake's low water level, the boat ramp is closed to motorized vessels. In fact, the ramp ends in midair dozens of feet above the surface! The few kayaks we saw had been carried down to the water via a footpath.
Lake Powell at Antelope Point
The town of Page was established in 1957 to house workers during construction of the Glen Canyon Dam. Today, it's a city of just over 7,000, largely dependent on tourism. Even with the low lake level, it's still a scenic area, with access nearby to the Colorado River and other outdoor attractions, and the town doesn't seem to be suffering.
For dinner, we ate at the Dam Bar & Grill, where we had a dam good meal of salads with grilled chicken and some pretty good dam beers. It was still near 90 degrees as we dined on the patio, but it felt quite pleasant in the shade.
Lodging: Knights Inn, Page, Arizona. If you're familiar with Knights Inns, this was better than you think! We chose it for the cheap rate but were pleasantly surprised with the clean, comfortable, large room. They even offered a small breakfast. We're staying here for two nights.
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