Alans Awesome Adventure 2002

The Wild West Revisited - Page 2 - Petrified Forest, Canyon de Chelly, Natural Bridges

Monday 2nd, and Tuesday 3rd December 2002

After Driving out of Oak Creek Canyon from Sedona we were on the Flagstaff plateau. The chnage in elevation had a major effect on climate - from Sedona which was cool but comfortable, a 1000 fgeet or so higher at Flagstaff it was literally freezing, with patches of ice and snow alongside the road. After turning East onto Interstate 40 we ran into thick freezing fog which continued for most of the 50 miles or so to Winslow. This was a major change to when I last visited this area, back in June 1998, where the summer desert temperatures were scorching the landscape. After Winslow, we slowly lost elevation and although the fog cleared it left a completely grey featureless, overcast sky. After leaving the I40 at Holbrook for gas and munchies we headed 20 miles south to the entrance to Petrified Forest National Park.

Many eons ago, after the ground lifted from an ancient seabed, this land was thickly forested. The rivers and water courses contained many dissolved minerals and silicates, and as the trees died and collapsed into the ground they absorbed large quantities of minerals from the water. They then became swamped by settlement and sediment, and slowly, over millions of years, the absorbed minerals turned the trees into stone under the high pressures. Normally one would expect a few fossils from this type of process, but here whole trees were turned into stone and many years later, as the ground eroded, the petrified trees came back to the surface. It really is an amazing sight to see logs and stumps, so full of colour and detail, even growth rings but made of solid rock. Some trees lie where they fell, and as they turned into rock they shattered into dozens of pieces, whilst others are spread through the area. The completely cold and flat light of a chilly December day did not help with the photographs, but take a look at some of these pictures, and keep telling yourself these are solid rock!

The detail and colours of the trees which have been preserved for eons is beyond description. Although many are securely out of arms reach from the paved trails through the park, the ones which can be touched or viewed closely leave you in awe of the process that occured here, and how long it must have taken. Looking at the silver trunks here, you feel as though you should be able to peel off chunks of bark in yor hand. However, it is not very easy to peel a stone! Not only are the tree stumps beautiful colours, but much of the surrounding landscape is too. There are blue and green streaks running through many of the background rocks, and in the loose shale reds and yellows can be seen.

But alas, the completely grey sky, and the total lack of even a glimpse of sunshine means that such colours are difficult to capture to film. I would love to visist this park again, during the summer, with a cloudless blue sky, and brilliant sunshine.
Security in the park is a big issue and even though cars appear to be weighed as they go in and out through the entry kiosks, and signs say that cars are liable to be searched when leaving, an estimated 12 tonnes of material is believed to be taken from the park annually. It is really sad that someone would want to take something as beautiful as this from these surroundings and put it on display in their own house.

It was late afternoon when we left Petrified Forest, and after a hsort few miles East along I10 we headed North, on highway 191. Initially we had planned to reach Kayenta, the gateway to Monument Valley, but that was a good 200 miles ahead of us. However, as it happened events were to take their own course. As darkness started to fall and the temperature fell, thick fog once more descended upon the world. After an excruciating slow drive through the fog for the last 20 or 30 miles we arrived at the town of Chinle sometime after 5pm, and that, we decided was as far as we were going for the day.
However, no matter how cold and foggy it was that night, we got a bit of a surprise the next morning!

Yes, folks, It snows in the desert!

As we scraped the snow off the Dodge in the morning and more snow and sleet continued to fall from the sky we were left with a small conundrum: should we head immediately towards Kayenta, having no idea what condition the roads in that direction would be like and how long it would take to get there, or should we take a small detour out of Chinle to Canyon de Chelly? As the Canyon was only about 5 miles away and we weren't originally planning to be here there seemed no harm is just stopping by to take a look, and so off to Canyon de Chelly we headed. De Chelly, by the way, is pronounced "de shay".

As we drove up to the Canyon we encountered more fog and had serious thoughts about turning round. What's the point in standing atop a 1000 foot drop if you can't see anything we thought. Curiosity, however got the better of us, and as we drove along the North Rim road, bits of sunshine started to sneak through the clouds and fog. Once we reached the viewpoits overlooking the canyon we were in for truly wonderful sight.

I don't think anything could have prepared us for the sound of morning silence, and the sight of mist rolling off the cliff face and floating into the canyon bottom 1000 feet below where we stood. You had to stand there for several minutes without moving to take is this amazing view as some parts came into visibility and others were obscured. Without doubt it had truly been worthwhile to make the journey there.

As the first visitors of the day we had the pleasure of putting our footsteps in the snow which was lying along the paths, but as the sun started to shine, the snow didn't last long. The valley floor is used to this day for agriculture due to the very fertile soil, and it has been farmed for thousands of years. On the cliff wall opposite us were the ruins of an Anaszi settlement, dating back 1000 years, and similar to those we had seen a few days before at Montezuma castle. This Canyon was also the scene of a bloody battle between spanish settlers and Navajo Natives - many navajo took refuge in the nooks and crannies when they came under fire from the conquestors. One of the modern viewpoints is reported to be the spot at which a native woman tackled two soldiers and took the three of them together off the cliff face to their deaths far below.

Further down the canyon rim, back towards Chinle, you find an overlook known as Antelope Point. By this time, the mist had all lifted, and all the twists and turns and swirls in the rock formations at this point were clearly visible. It really does reduce humans into insignificance when you look and imagine the forces and powers that have been at work on the earths surface for billions of years to create rocks like this.
The sheer scale of the canyon is daunting, so I took a picture of my travel companion, Bond, standing on top of one cliff. I did warn you he popped up in quite a few pictures!

And so, with the time only just approaching 10:30 in the morning, we left Canyon de Chelly, headed north from Chinle on highway 161, destination Kayenta and a flying visit through Monument Valley.

I had previously passed through Monument Valley a couple of years earlier, and had always been determined to return and spend more time there. This was Bonds first visit to the area, so we planned to spend the following day, Wednesday there, whereas today we were just passing through en-route to places further north, Mexican Hat, Goosenecks state park and possibly Natural Bridges national park. Despite the fog, cloud and cold in Chinle that morning, by the time we reached MV in the early afternoon the sky was a hazy blue, and the sun was shining through. It definitely was not particularly warm though!

From the highway, on a cold December day, it looked as spectacular and beautiful as it had done on my first visit 4 years earlier. The road from Kayenta to the Utah border had been resurfaced, but that was the only thing that seemed to have changed in this almost timeless place. North of the main part of the Valley, 13 miles in Utah across the border, I finally found the Kodak moment (actually, it was a Fuji moment) which had eluded me on my first trip. That View! Not just any view, but the view which to me sums up this part of the world, and has made it into goodness knows how many travel guides, brochures, record sleeves and who knows what else. The view is not at all apparent as you leave the valley, and even along the straight part of thr road you can see nothing behind you as you are in a dip. It is only as you climb out of the dip over the brow of a hill that the view appears in your rear view mirror for a few hundred metres of road, and then its gone. It's not difficult to get your own picture though, as there is a lay-by at the side of the road, ideally located for taking pictures!

From this point the Mesas and Buttes are 5 - 10 or so miles away, and a good telephoto lens is required if you don't want the view to be a just a blur on the horizon. The following day we measured the length of the straight part of the road at over 3 1/2 miles, just to give some idea of perspective. At this time in the afternoon, the sun was behind the valley, so the light was not good. An instant decision was therefore made to return at DAWN the following morning, for some sunrise pictures and long shadows!

Another 20 miles north is the settlement of Mexican hat, a town with a population of probably no more than 500-1000 or so. The road takes a sharp, and I mean SHARP bend over the San Juan river here. If you miss the bend, you will drive into a red rock cliff wall, so be warned. Mexican Hat takes it name from the rather ornate sandstone spire located there, and is really no more than a gas station, two private motels and a couple of stores.

After Mexican Hat, turn left to get to Goosenecks State Park. This is fascinating point at which the San Juan river has carved 9 hairpin "gooseneck" curves into the red sandstone in just a mile or so. There are five miles of river within one linear mile on ground, and at one p[oint, the river takes a three mile loop to pass a 100 yard layer of rock. Quite what the geology of the rock was that enabled the river do this is beyond my comprehension. However, it is an amzing site. As the light was not good on the Tuesday afternoon, some of these picture were taken the following day when we returned to the park at an earlier hour, but the light was not much better! Oh well, maybe next time.

When you turn left towards Gooseneck after leaving Mexican Hat, you are greeted with some rather large signs announcing the road is not suitabe for large or towed vehicles, it contains hairpin bends, and steep gradients. This is all mighty strange, as the area is pretty well flat, apart from some cliffs in the distance. When you leave Goosenecks and head towards Natural Bridges park, you are met by the same signs. It takes you a while to realise, but the road is heading towards an almost shear cliff face, with no sign of turning left or right. Within a mile or so of the 400 foot high cliff, the signs become more frequent, and suddenly it starts to dawn. The road is about to climb up a cliff face! I think it was when I saw the pickup truck which had been about a mile in front of us for a long time appear half way up the cliff face that I realised what was going to happen. And sure enought, the two lane paved road turns into a single lane dirt road, takes a sharp bend and up you go. The gradient is not steep, but every few hundred metres you go round a hairpin bend, and get a good view over where you have just been. The road is literally carved and blasted out of the rock face, though I suspect it uses some of the natural features as much as possible. I think it is the cliff face on one side of the road, and the shear drop on the other side that make this so dramatic. Add to that the dirt and loose nature of the surface, and the rocks which are perilously balanced above youre discovered when we got to the hotel later that evening, the locals refer to this appropriately as "The Scary Road".

Apparoaching the Scary Road from a few miles away. Two views from part way up the Scary Road. In hindsight I wish we had stopped to take more pictures on the way, but it didn't seem that relevent at the time. I do have some of the journey on video, which I will edit and add here as a stream in the future.

Forty miles or so further on from The Scary Road is Natural Bridges National Monument. Two river canyons, White and Armstrong meet here, and three massive arched bridges have been carved by millennia of flowing water and natural erosion. A bridge is defined as an arch created by flowing water, under which water still flows, whereas a conventional rock arch such as those at Arches National Park we were to visit in a few days times is created by any other form of erosion.

Once again, the flat light got the better of us, and as we reached the park with only 20 or 30 minutes before sunset, we attempted a whistle-stop photography tour round the park. Normally the drive takes about an hour, though we seemed to make it in record time. Even with our eyes it was difficult to make out the bridges fully and features the brochure was pointing out to us were just a hazy sshadow. Capturing to film in the failing light was almost impossible. However, these are a couple of views which do show something of the park, including the many curves and carvings of the rivers, and no doubt if we had a whole day to explore and see everything we could shoot some quite fantastic pictures there.

And so, with the sun well and truly set by the time we left the park, it was time to turn round, and head back through the pine forests, back down the scary road (in the dark!), and to Gouldings Lodge in Monument Valley which was to be our resting place for the night. Between Mexican Hat and MV there is a stretch of road where there are no lights, no houses, or other signs of human intervention. Driving along, on a crisp clear cold Decmeber night at this altitude (about 6000 ft above sea level) the stars were extra-ordinarily visible even out of the car windows. We pulled over and switched the car lights off for a few minutes, and saw a night sky the likes of which I have never seen before. It was truly breathtaking. I had never realised just how many stars were up there in the sky. It was almost a continuous cover of light from horizon to horizon. With no heat haze, such little pollution, and the thin air there was very little twinkle of flicker in the starlight. Had it not been for the fact it was several degrees below freezing and we were stopped on the road we might have stayed there for a while and taken some long exposure pictures.

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