Leaving Capitol Reef National Park, our road trip continued on Wednesday 26 March 2008 down Utah 24 towards Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park.
Most of the trip there was fairly uneventful with scenery that we had by this stage become accustomed to. However then we came to a section of road along Utah SR-261 with lots of warning signs about the upcoming dirt section. This was the Moki Dugway where in three miles you drop 1100 feet from an elevation of 6425 feet along a dirt road with no guardrails and tight switchbacks. Going down got your full attention! Even more impressive was the views from the top over the plateau below which had rock formations similar to those in Monument Valley. The change in scenery and terrain was incredible.
Past Mexican Hat, we headed to the border with Arizona. We missed the turn off to Monument Valley (it was poorly marked and confusing!) and had to turn back about 10 miles into Arizona to find the turn off just on the Utah side of the border.
The visitor centre was closed as they were building the The View Hotel & Spa inside Monument Valley. Once finished, the views will be spectacular from the hotel when it opens in September 2008, no doubt accompanied by prices to match. :-) This didn't stop us starting our visit to the Valley with a shopping experience. I started chatting to David Bowyer, a Yorkshire born film producer / director who moved to the Colorado Plateau after coming for a visit in 1977 and never going back! He has produced a range of DVDs of the geography and history of various parks etc in the area of which I ended up buying two which he kindly autographed for me. He was there as part of filming a doco on the construction of The View Hotel.
We then set off on the 17 mile dirt road loop around Monument Valley. The road was in exactly the right condition to ensure you kept your speed down but ok for any vehicle to drive over it ok. There are 11 numbered stops along the loop: The Mittens and Merrick Butte; Elephant Butte; Three Sisters; John Ford's Point; Camel Butte; The Hub; Totem Pole and Yei Bi Chei; Sand Springs; Artist's Point; North Window; and The Thumb. Many of the views / monuments had an air of familiarity given their use on many tv shows, commercials and movies. We were late enough in the day that the sun was highlighting the brilliant reddish colour in many of the buttes, mesas, canyons and free standing rock formations. We also had the pleasure of meeting Ron Atine at the Totem Pole lookout. Ron and his wife were selling a range of Navajo jewellery which we helped him lower his stock of! The kids also bought a postcard of Ron in his full Native American traditional dress which he autographed for them. He has also been around much of the world with his dancing and offers tours around the Navajo lands.
Leaving Monument Valley late in the evening, we headed down to Kayenta where we stayed at the Holiday Inn. Our 'suite' was a bit ordinary but ok. Their restaurant was very popular and we had to wait half an hour for a table. Not quite sure why as there was a whole area roped off and not being used. At least they didn't finish at the posted time of 9pm but were happy to keep serving until everyone was fed.
As Kayenta is within the Navajo Nation, it was a dry or no alcohol area. So we decided to try the Fre alcohol free wine. The label indicated that it was 28% grape juice which explained why the wine flavours were totally overpowered. It does raise the question of why the winery had been so careful in removing the alcohol as the residual elements of the wine were no longer evident! Looking at some of the online reviews, I have to question whether all their wine tastes the same or if some of the reviewers are unable to tell the difference between wine and grape juice ....
Photos here.
Malcolm
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