This morning was another Ecclesiastes 4:11 morning. It took two of us to keep warm. Nineteen degrees and snow on the ground. Kind-of makes you not want to get out of bed. But the sun eventually rose and began to melt the ice off the windshield. We took our time having breakfast and doing a little clean-up to give the sun a chance to do its work.
The roads were quite icy also, but it was just a short distance to the visitor center, where a couple of the trails originated. We sat and watched the video, giving some more time for the snow to melt away.
The Canyon View trail was short and only had a couple inches of snow on it. We were rewarded with some amazing views of Betatakin Canyon. The snow gave the views some extra interest. We caught just a glimpse of this on the way in and it was good to see it in full daylight, at zero miles per hour.
The next trail went to the Betatakin Overlook, where a series of dwellings can be seen on the other side of the canyon. Binoculars or a big camera lens were helpful here because of the distance. The trail was icy, slippery, and the melting snow just greased things up a little bit. We did manage to stay upright all the way to the viewing platform and viewed the ruins for a while. This natural alcove housed as many as 125 people at some point in the 1200’s. Kind of a grand bandshell for their community. They probably didn’t think of it that way.
Once we had picked our way back over the icy trail, it was time to move on. The roads had cleared considerably and we drove north on 160, stopping in Kayenta for groceries and fuel. These small towns are always interesting. At the gas station, I was approached by an older Native American who asked me where I was going. We’ve seen several panhandlers at gas stations, so I have to admit my first answer was just a bit short. It turns out he was just trying to be friendly so we talked for a bit as I completed my fill-up. When I came back out, he was talking to the guy filling his pickup truck at the next pump. He waved and wished us a good trip as we went by. I waved also and mouthed thank you through the window.
We turned north on US-163 towards Mexican Hat, Utah. I have driven this route before and have always enjoyed the scenery. The distances and the red sandstone formations are always captivating.
We stopped to eat lunch at the Forest Gump section of the road, a place where tourists will stop and stand in the middle of the road while having their picture taken with the iconic Monument Valley formations in the background. I took the same picture several years ago when we came through; it is the banner picture of the blog page, and I had to do it again. Probably would have been better late in the afternoon, but you take what you can get.
We rolled through Mexican Hat, an interesting little town with some interesting memories perched in a canyon on the San Juan River. On a trip a few years ago we stayed overnight in a motel which appears to be built right into the canyon wall. One misstep could almost plunge you into the river. There was no place else to stay. While we were taking some stuff in from the car, a cockroach went skittering across the floor. I trapped it under a bowl which I left for the cleaning staff to discover after we had left. I also developed a rash which lasted for days, probably from bedbugs.
Now we take our lodging with us and stay in the desert. No more cockroaches.
We rolled into Bluff, Utah, and stopped at the Bears Ears Education Center in town. Deb got the usual load of paper brochures and maps and a bunch of information from the woman who worked there. We had also read in our guidebooks that there is fresh water available in Bluff and that it is very good water. When asked about this, the woman said that we could use the hose behind the building. Water is getting very hard to find as many places have shut off their supply for the winter. So we filled up here.
One of the recommended places to visit here is the Sand Island Petroglyph Panel, located right next to the campground and boat launch on the San Juan River. We spent a few hours here, just exploring this cool little section of the Cedar Mesa area. The cottonwood trees were still displaying some of their fall colors so we got to experience fall all over again.
One of the nice things about not having an agenda is that you can spend as much time as you like in a place. This was a gem, and we were also enjoying the sunshine and 50-degree weather, having come from such a cold morning. So we spent a good portion of the afternoon here.
One of the defining features of this area is Comb Ridge, which splits the area from north to south for quite a distance. It was a formidable obstacle for early settlers, who had to travel long distances to go around the south side at the San Juan River or around the north side, near Arch Canyon. Highway 163 eventually solved this problem, being blasted through the ridge. They literally had to move a mountain to put the road in. A few years ago, when we came through here, we remarked that it would be fun to disperse camp in the shadow of this ridge. So today we are doing just that. We came back through the ridge on 163, got off on what we thought was Comb Wash Road, and parked the RV just off the road next to the wash. I took some drone footage of the ridge and the road. The late afternoon shadows obscure the cutout for the road somewhat, but it is quite impressive.
When surveying the area with the drone, I discovered that we were not actually on Comb Wash Road, so we drove the short distance to the correct road, and drove the dirt road in for a few miles until we found a nice flat site with a great view of the ridge. The last site we stopped in would have been great, this one was even better. Since it is the off-season, we are the only ones here for miles. We ate dinner with the view of the ridge in the window, watching the sun set.
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