The Great Western Expedition of 2011, pt4...We Go Navajo

Ranger Joe

Feed the Rangers, not the wildlife!
Joined
Jan 27, 2012
Messages
46
In today's adventure, we dodge the weather and eventually find ourselves in the Navajo Nation.

We spent the night in Torrey, Utah, just outside of Capitol Reef National Park. The following morning, we headed south on scenic Utah Rt. 12 towards Boulder and Escalante.

_D2C2896.jpg

Our first obstacle of the day was one that we simply could not drive over.

_D2C2911.jpg

We soon tired of following a rented RV at 30mph, so when we reached Boulder, we took off on the former route to the town of Escalante. It had also started to rain, but the graded dirt road posed no problems. The bridge was built by the CCC back in the '30s.

_D2C2908utah.jpg

Overlooking Box-Death Canyon from Hell's Backbone.

_D2C2914.jpg

Utah 12 winds through the sandstone slickrock near Escalante. We had planned to head down to Page, Arizona, by way of the Smoky Mountain Road through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, but the BLM rangers at the visitor center in Escalante said that the unpaved roads through the monument would be very slick and maybe impassible. Also, our plan was to visit Antelope Canyon, a slot canyon on Navajo land near Page, but slot canyons are no place to be if there's rain forecast. We plotted a course east, aiming for either Bluff or Blanding for the night.

_D2C2927.jpg

We headed back towards Boulder, then went east on the Burr Trail towards Capitol Reef National Park.

_D2C2947.jpg

The Burr Trail has some nice switchbacks once you enter the national park. Wide and graded and dirt. The county had wanted to pave this some years back, but the NPS said no, and stopped the paving crew at the park boundary.

_D2C2965.jpg



_D2C2969.jpg

The road south towards Halls Crossing on Lake Powell, running parallel to the Waterpocket Fold. We had hoped to catch the last ferry of the day across the reservoir, but there was no way we were gonna make it. Given the option of driving down to the crossing, then back north on a paved road, we opted for a dirt connecting road that headed due east. Hey, it showed up on the GPS, so that makes it cool, right?

_D2C2972eggnog.jpg


_D2C2977.jpg

It was a great road, mostly graded dirt with a couple of minor stream crossings like this one. Somewhere behind us was the former settlement of Eggnog Springs...we saw no evidence of it.

_D2C3003henrys.jpg


_D2C2995.jpg

Of course, the road eventually turned into a double-track path. We pushed on.

_D2C2998.jpg

Eventually, the road got wider and joined up with a paved road. Darn.

_D2C3037.jpg

We eventually found ourselves back on SR 95, headed back towards Hite Marina.

_D2C3044bridge.jpg


_D2C3063.jpg

The nice thing was that we had the road to ourselves. We felt we made a good decision to avoid the potentially impassible roads of the national monument and head east.

_D2C3107.jpg

We spent the night in Bluff, then headed south into Arizona and the Navajo Nation. Our target was the Hubbell Trading Post, south of Chinle. My wife is a spinner/weaver, and Hubbell is a great place to see Navajo rugs.

_D2C3112.jpg

Of course, authentic Navajo rugs arent cheap...a small 11x14 placemat sized piece runs about $300...a full blown rug was over $4000...and this place literally had PILES of them. Linda was in heaven. She bought herself a Navajo spindle and was almost chastised by the clerk who thought she was just buying it as a souvenir. "This spindle has song. Very few of these leave the Four Corners," she said. Linda assured her that the spindle was in good hands.

_D2C3114.jpg

More piles of rugs. They had a loom for sale but I had to convince Linda that it would have to go on the roof rack all the way back to Ohio.

_D2C3124.jpg

At least she got a chance to play with a real Navajo loom. Somehow, I think I have a woodworking project ahead of me.

_D2C3144.jpg

We made a brief stop at Canyon de Chelly National Monument. The large rock formation is Spider Rock, home of the Spider Woman, who taught the Navajo how to weave. That's their story, and they're sticking to it.

_D2C3157.jpg

We had planned to camp at Monument Valley, but again, the weather changed our plans.

_D2C3162.jpg


_D2C3173.jpg

There would be a full moon rising and we had hoped to get photos of it with the rock formations of the valley, but if the moon is obscured by clouds and its raining, well, wheres the fun in that?

_D2C3195.jpg

At least we saw a little rainbow action.

_D2C3201.jpg

Again, in accordance with the "Post your Jeep Pictures Here" title of this subforum, its a token photo of our Liberty at Gouldings Lodge.

_D2C3221.jpg

Gouldings Lodge is a great place to stay...all the rooms face the rock formations, and it's well worth the time to get up before sunrise and watch the sun come up over the formations of Monument Valley.

_D2C3239.jpg

We headed for Cortez, Colorado, outrunning the storms we found near Monument Valley. The lightning was spectacular...we pulled off along the road, set up the tripod and started shooting.

_D2C3264.jpg


_D2C3275.jpg


Next up, we head towards the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado...on to Ouray.

View Part 5, Hooray for Ouray
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
Ranger Joe The Great Western Expedition, pt9...Epilogue Off Road 3
Ranger Joe The Great Western Expedition of 2011, pt8...snow days Off Road 1
Ranger Joe The Great Western Expedition of 2011, pt7...Poughkeepsie Gulch Off Road 1
Ranger Joe The Great Western Expedition of 2011, pt6...Black Bear Pass Off Road 2
Ranger Joe The Great Western Expedition of 2011, pt5...Hooray for Ouray Off Road 1
Ranger Joe The Great Western Expedition of 2011, pt3...The Maze Off Road 7
Ranger Joe The Great Western Expedition of 2011, pt2...Elephant Hill Off Road 4
Ranger Joe The Great Western Expedition of 2011, Pt.1...Fun with Fins Off Road 1
Bob Great Western Trail - Canada Resource Discussions 0
Cody Great Western Trail through Utah Backpacking 41
kwc Great Camp Santanoni Hiking & Camping 1
Bob Technology is great ........... General Discussion 0
Mountain Wanderer Hiking the Idaho Centennial Trail in the Great Burn Backpacking 0
J Great to be here! Heading to White Pocket next month... Noobs: Introduce yourself! 8
chandlerwest Great Basin National Park - Wheeler Peak Hiking & Camping 13
Shrubs Thanks for the great reports! Noobs: Introduce yourself! 12
misSOULa The Great Burn Wilderness: Heart Lake Backpacking 3
Perry Great Packraft Deal Gear 2
scatman Little Cataloochee Trail, Great Smokey Mountains National Park - June 3, 2018 Hiking & Camping 13
scatman Lynn Camp Prong Lollipop Loop, Great Smokey Mountains National Park - May 29, 2018 Hiking & Camping 2
Dreamer Summer 2012: trip 1: a short visit to a small corner of The Great Wasted Forest of Northern Colorado Backpacking 11
Perry Great Deal on Gregory Baltoro Gear 0
Perry Great Deal on Sunto MC2 Compass Gear 0
Wanderlust073 Dayhiking Great Sand Dunes NP Hiking & Camping 4
slc_dan Great Smokey Mountains NP Trip Planning 12
T Pumping the Great Basin on a Handcar General Discussion 14
wsp_scott Clingman's Dome (Great Smoky Mountains NP) Backpacking 0
Nick Desha & Great Bend On The Water 7
TrektheWorld Need to find one great Uintas hike Trip Planning 1
WasatchWill Memorial Day: Another great trip to Torrey Hiking & Camping 11
scatman The Anthony Creek, Russell Field Trails Loop - Great Smoky Mountain National Park, June 10, 2016 Hiking & Camping 13
scatman Gold Mine Loop Trail / Noland Trail - Great Smoky Mountain National Park, June 7, 2016 Hiking & Camping 3
hatchcanyon The Great Traverse Off Road 9
danger02ward Very much enjoy and appreciate all of your great pictures, trip reports, and gear reviews! Noobs: Introduce yourself! 4
dfcooper Great Divide Trail Trip Planning 1
Red Rock Rangers Great Basin National Park Hiking & Camping 10
Vegan.Hiker Great Range Traverse Part 1 Backpacking 19
Dustin Gent great first trek in Utah? Trip Planning 16
Vegan.Hiker Great article about a fellow adventure seeker General Discussion 4
ogg Backpacking Ruby Mtns or Great Basin NP Trip Planning 9
Bob Winchester found in Great Basin NP General Discussion 0
steve Backpacking Great Basin NP Backpacking 18
LarryBoy Utah is great, isn't it? Noobs: Introduce yourself! 6
Lisa Came for some trip beta, stayed for the great community... Noobs: Introduce yourself! 1
mattvogt7 A Great Weekend in July On The Water 10
Jeremy C The Great Bear Photographer General Discussion 5
steve Backpacking Great Basin National Park - June 2014 Backpacking 11
BJett Lower Big Creek - Great Smoky Mountains National Park On The Water 2
Dave Great Basin NP, Aug. 31- Sept. 2 2013 Backpacking 8
Christian Great Basin NP and Crystal Ball Cave, UT Hiking & Camping 16

Similar threads

Back
Top