April 2023

We started April in Placitas, just North of Albuquerque. After a couple of days recuperating from the long drive up from Texas, we ventured out.  On Saturday, 1^st, we tried to drive up to the top of the Sandia mountains, visible from ‘our’ house.  The top of the road was still blocked by snow but we did get a little walk along a trail to a cave.  

                                                                        Sandia trail

On Sunday, we drove up to Santa Fe, first visiting a museum of Indian Arts and Culture, which was mostly about the ceramics heritage of the Pueblo people and its continuation to the present day.  We were also fortunate to sit in on a story session by a Dine (Navajo) man telling folk tales, accompanied by traditional instruments.  On our way to the centre of town, we drove along the end of the old Santa Fe trail, marked with a huge bronze sculpture of a mule wagon completing the trip.  From here to the New Mexico History Museum, which had an excellent time trail through from pre-history, via Spanish, French, Mexican and American invasions to the present day.  Very well worth a couple of hours to get a primer on the subject.

Wagon

Monday, we went into Albuquerque and visited the National Museum of Nuclear Science. Again, well worth a visit to not only follow the timeline of the development of nuclear weapons but also looking at peaceful use of nuclear energy.  On our way back, we stopped off at the Ria Grande State Park for a stroll along the river and seek out a likely ford, in case we needed to invade the West bank.

Ford over the Rio Grande.

A quiet day on Tuesday, as our hosts were returning in the afternoon, then, on Wednesday, West again.  Out of town on the Interstate for a few miles, then along historic Route 66 to Grants for a few cheesy tourist photos.  

Dora made it.

Some didn't get away.

Lunch stop was at El Malpais (Badland) for a walk up to a volcanic caldera and an ice cave formed when a lava tunnel collapsed.  From a high point of the day at 8000 Ft, there was a gentle descent along New Mexico 53 through spectacular scenery with stereotypical mesas and scrubland.

Mesa

Caldera

We overnighted in a converted chicken shed on a ranch then had a big day out on Thursday at the Petrified Forest National Park.  Spectacular scenery with a huge number of fossilised trees dating back 170 million years.

Petroglyphs.

Polished tree.

Tree fragments incorporated into a dwelling.

Petrified tree in the wild.

More touristy things on Friday.  Our route to the next sit took us close to Winslow, Arizona.  When Route 66 was the ‘Mother Road’ across the America, this was a major city, the largest in the north of the state.  It faded in importance when the interstate by-passed it but was immortalised in the Eagles song ‘take it easy’.  The locals have capitalised on this and spun a little tourist industry to save the city from the same sad decline that has met so many other little towns.  Pictures of us ‘standing on the corner’ were needed.

Standing on the corner

Winslow, Arizona.

From here, we had intended to loop south for a nice forest walk but then realised that the world’s best preserved meteor crater was only a few miles off the direct route, so looked in there too.

Crater.

On, through Flagstaff, to our next sit in the Chino Valley looking after an Australian shepherd dog.  A quiet day on Saturday then a nice walk on Sunday morning in the hills a few miles South.

Happy walkers

In the hills

First thing Monday morning, Dora went in for a service.  The most pressing thing was a leak from the cooling system. Ever since we returned, the level had been going down and, every time we drove 200 miles, I had to put in a quart of water.  Not only did this mean that the contents of the cooling system were almost pure water, there was the worry that there would be a catastrophic failure in the middle of nowhere.  The mechanic warned that, if the leak was internal, he would be unable to fix it without an engine rebuild.  Fortunately, he was rapidly able to find the leak, in a ‘Y’ piece going to the heater box and, though it wasn’t a simple fix, it did, at least get fixed.  He also did a complete inspection so, hopefully, Dora is good to go to Alaska and back.

Buggy

Wagon

We the car in dock, we had local walks, on housing roads, for a couple of days. While this wasn’t a rich area, the local suburb is mostly inhabited by retirees.  Each plot is 1-3 acres and each has an attractive house with at least a triple garage.  Most have garages capable of taking a 40 ft long, 15 ft high recreational vehicle so, in many cases, vehicle accommodation takes up more volume than that for humans.

Somewhere, between the RV store and the triple garage, is a house.

One under construction.

Sensibly, given the climate, most people don’t bother with lawns and, instead, have their gardens laid out with different grades and colours of gravel.  While there are shrubs and trees, they also tend to have a centre piece of old agricultural equipment or wagons. 

Mower

Once Dora was back on the road, we went further afield for walks.  Unfortunately, this entailed driving 20 miles south into the hills but the dog appreciated it even if Elsie thought I was trying to kill her by making her climb steep slopes 6000 ft above sea level.

After an overnight stop, we drove up to the Grand Canyon area on the 15th.  Finding that we were too early to check in to our hotel, we crossed the road and, for a fee of $35, drove the 15 miles down Diamond Creek canyon to the banks of the Colorado. This took an hour each way and covered Dora in dust, but was worth it for the views.

Our first glimpse of the Colorado River.

Next day, a trip West to see the Hoover Dam.  A huge construction project in the 1930s which provided much needed employment during the depression and, by stopping the cycle of floods and droughts, enabled agriculture in the Salton  valley of Southern California.  It has paid for itself many times over by the hydro-electric power generated.  A few years of low rainfall meant the the lake was about 150 ft lower than normal and only 2 of 8 turbines in the West generating station, which we visited, were operating.

Hoover Dam.

Lake Mead.  The towers in the foreground are water inlets for the hydro-electric plant.

Inside the generating station.

Back to Grand Canyon Village the next day and our first sight of The Big One.  It didn't disappoint.   It is just impossible to take in the scale.  A mile deep, 10 wide and several hundred long.  We just wen for a little walk along the rim the first afternoon.  The following day, we were supposed to take a helicopter ride but we had been following the weather forecasts and were not surprised when it was called off because of strong winds.  A longer walk along the rim, ending up at a viewpoint to watch the sunset.  Unfortunately, the weather system which supplied the winds also brought high clouds, so it wasn't a classic.

Views of Grand Canyon.

We did get out helicopter flight the next morning and very good it was.  A skim over the trees for a few miles then out over the Canyon, up to the confluence of the main and east branches of the Colorado river.  Interesting to see the clear green of the main branch, tamed by upstream dams, contrasted with the muddy brown of the Eastern one.  Up to the north rim and again a skim over the landscape.  This was covered in snow.  We actually flew over a road that we had been intending to drive down later that day, to the Northern Rim and could clearly see why it was closed.  The abnormally high snowfall meant the it was not forecast to open until early June.

The road to the North rim.

Canyon from the air.

Back down Dragon Canyon and back to base.

Back on the ground.

We checked out of our hotel and drove along the southern edge, stopping at many viewpoints, including the painted desert look-out, complete with authentic looking tower built of steel and concrete with decorative cladding.

Lookout tower.

From here, we drove East descending to within a thousand feet of river level, to glimpse it in the smaller Marble canyon.  Eventually, we were able to cross it where the first bridge was built in 1928, closing a 600 mile gap between crossings.  A larger bridge was built 20 years later but, sympathetically, it was made in the same style.  A long climb back up to the North Rim and past the ’road closed’ signs. 

The two bridges over Marble Canyon.

We stayed 3 nights at a motel in Fredonia, crossing the border to Utah many times in the next few days for sight-seeing and eating out.  The second night, at a Chinese restaurant, we finally succumbed to the American habit of taking away half of our huge portions to eat the following night. 

Our first trip out was to Zion National park, where we were able to walk along the base of the canyon.  Unfortunately not as far up as we would have liked as the spate from the snow melt meant that the most picturesque part was under several feet of raging river.

The narrows trail.  We didn't fancy walking it.

View from the bottom of a canyon.

Wind sculpted cliffs above the canyon.

The next day, up to Bryce Canyon, another National Park.  This is home to an amphitheatre filled with a huge array of massive hoodoos.  Some paths were closed but we managed a pleasant walk along the rim then caught the shuttle bus back to where we had parked the car.

A natural arch.

Hoodoos.

Believed by the Dine (Navaho) to be petrified remains of ancestors.

From Fredonia, we had a long day’s journey to Moab in Utah.  On the way, we crossed the Colorado again at another dam, built in the 1960s to further tame it and make another huge lake.  Again the water levels were low but there is hope that this year’s record snowfalls will replenish it and lake Mead.

Glen Canyon Dam, forming Lake Powell.

The big stop today was at Monument Valley famous from many posters and movies, including Forrest Gump. We paid the fee to go to the visitor centre to get the best view and take a 4 mile walk around one of the features, West Mitten Butte. 

Elsie toiling under the desert sun.

A pair of mittens

View from visitor centre.

Looking back from Forest Gump hill.

From here, on to a cabin just North of Moab, which had been kindly lent to us for a few days, prior to our next sit.  It had spectacular views out over the Castle Valley and was handily situated to make forays into two other National Parks.  

Dora, after a long day's driving.

On Sunday, we stayed away from the hurley burley and just had a local walk.

   

Local trail.

Monday, back to National Parks.  This time to Canyonlands which sounds more like a theme park.  Would there be roller coasters?  It was pleasant, with some great views, but maybe we have been spoiled over the last couple of weeks, so there wasn’t the ‘wow’.  The park is split into 3 by the Colorado and Green rivers.  We just visited the nearest bit ‘Island in the Sky’ (theme park again).  This is a plateau, about 2300 ft above river level,  looking over the rest of the park.  It is ringed by a hard layer about half way down, the white rim, which it is possible to drive or cycle round.  Even with high-spec 4WD, it is suggested that you allow 2 days for the 100 mile circuit.  

Mesa arch.

The White Rim.

Also of note is Upheaval Dome which, strangely, is a large crater.  There is still dispute as to whether it was formed by the collapse of a salt dome or by asteroid impact.

Upheaval dome.

We noted that there was a back exit down a trail about 20 miles long which passed the point on the Colorado river which was used for the final scene in Thelma and Louise.  That would make the return home interesting, we thought.  I checked at the visitor centre that the road was open and suitable for our vehicle.  Before descent, I looked over the rim.  Hmm, a bit steeper than expected but no problem.  We have been on a few scary roads in the Atlantic Islands but this was in a different class.  Steep, narrow, covered in loose gravel, with vertical drops of hundreds of feet and many hairpin bends.  We only had to reverse once, fortunately on a slightly less scary section but there was 30 minutes of terror, especially for Elsie who, of course, had no control over our descent. 

The road down

Thelma and Loise Point.

Another 30 minutes to ‘Thelma and Louise point’ and another hour over rough roads to exit along the Potash road.  We made sure to get plenty of pictures, as we are not going to pass that way again. The potash road is so called because of hydraulic mining.  Water from the Colorado river is pumped deep underground into potash deposits, brought back to the surface and evaporated in huge ponds to produce about 1000 tons of fertilizer each day.  

Potash evaporation ponds.

On Tuesday, we had a less fraught day at the Arches National Park.  By a fluke of geology, involving the collapse of a huge salt dome, there a literally hundreds of natural arches formed in the red sandstone, some singly others in pairs or groups. Most required a hike of ½ or 1 mile or so, meaning that we continued to keep our fitness up.

 

Tapestry arch

Double arch

Other formations caused by erosion include a seemingly impossible balancing rock.

Balancing rock

Wednesday, we moved on to the sit in Dolores, just North of Cortez, Colorado.  Here we looked after a small mixed breed dog. Thursday was settling in, shopping and little local walk.  On Friday, we put our tourist hats back on and drove the hour down to Four Corners, where four States: Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah all meet.  It is on Navajo land so there was the usual $8 per person entry fee and the equally usual vendors of jewellery, pottery, etc.  We took the expected picture, standing straddling 4 States, went for a little walk to get our money’s worth, and left.  

Four Corners

On Saturday, we drove into Dolores and had a walk along the river.  We had intended a longer one along the banks of a reservoir but the trail was closed to give migrating animals a bit of privacy.  Fortunately, that restriction is lifted at the beginning of May so we only have a couple of days to wait.   

Sunday, we drove a little further, to Sand Canyon and had a nice walk, though it was a bit hotter than we expected and all needed a drink by the time we returned to the car.

Sand Canyon

Monthly miles: 3172