Navajo Nation

After my chores at the previous campsite, it was late in the day and Page, AZ arrived at just the right time. After restocking with groceries, ice and gas it was time to find another campsite. The timezones around here get screwed up pretty well, with Utah, Arizona and the Navajo Nation all different and right next to each other. After a quick visit to the Lake Powell visitors center I was told there was no camping except in designated sites, which meant an area called Lone Rock, a few miles down the road. My attention was drawn to a dirt road off to the left before I got there. 2 miles later I was perched on a mesa overlooking the entire area, Lake Powell, The Navajo Nation and GSENM, apparently there was other camping. That night it was cold enough to keep some ice I left out frozen all night long. I was in bed by dark - which as time zones go was somewhere between 6pm and 9pm, I'll never know.

Up before dawn this lovely Thursday morning, I got some great shots of sunrise over the surrounding valley. White fellas are not actually allowed to stay in Navajo Nation without permission so I want to get an early start to see all the sights in this area and out the other side before about 5pm. On my way by 7am it's off to the Navajo National Monument - Betatakin cliff dwellings and then Monument Valley.

The Navajo Monument was amazing. Two separate cliff areas, occupied from 1270 to around 1300. Because the cliff is so protective they're still in excellent shape - see photos. These Ancestral Puebloens (as I'm told is the politically correct term) lived for centuries in this area, mostly on the mesa tops. I'll see more at Mesa Verde in Colorado. From there, the drive through Monument Valley is surprising. There are Native American homes all around the monoliths, some right next to these giants. Unfortunately most of them these days are trailers, likely without running water. The plight of these peoples has not been a positive one since the arrival of white man.

Last place in the Valley was Moki Dugway. Imagine all those movies where they're driving incredibly close to a 1000' drop along a dirt road. It was just like that but even more incredible. The road twists and turns for about 10 miles straight up the side of a cliff face, turning out at the top of the giant plateau. I found a place to camp right on top, at the edge of the cliff, facing out over Monument Valley, just like all those car commercials.

It's about 7500', incredibly windy and so cold my pen doesn't want to write the notes for this blog. I'm in bed by 6.30pm and warmly rugged up inside my sleeping bag. My new LED headlamp works so well I'll read for a while. Tomorrow I head toward Natural Bridges and Canyonlands National Park.