Day 71-74: Part 2: Northern Arizona

I dry-camped at Navaho National Monument for four days. For the most part, I was off the grid. Far enough off that the computer battery ran completely down and I resorted to driving thirty miles to Kayenta, AZ to have a late lunch in a little Chinese restaurant. I sat at a table next to an outlet and plugged in the computer. It took over an hour for me to eat my chicken bowl while the computer charged about half way. Connectivity was also pretty sparse, though I managed to get a couple text messages to the daughter about the number of dogs that just wandered around, including flopping down in the middle of the parking lot to go to sleep right in front of cars. Most meals, though, I cooked on the tailgate. The weather, though cool at night and in the morning, was quite pleasant for outdoor cooking.

It was great to go out to the Four Corners. One of the things that I didn't realize is that this is a Navaho monument as well. The USGS set the marker, but three-quarters of it is on Navaho lands, so it is to the Navaho that you pay for admission. (Navaho lands do not extend into Colorado.) I liked standing on the marker with my big feet in all four states at once, mostly because it reminds me of all the other arbitrary lines that divide people, governments, and ideologies. Pretty stupid, isn't it?

As I mentioned to the daughter, part of what I like about this area are these rocks that just jut up out of otherwise pretty flat ground. They are scattered all over. And of course, they all have names. This one, surprisingly, is Church Rock.

I headed north of Kayenta and had to cross into Utah in order to swing back into Arizona to go to Monument Valley. It was technically the third time I'd crossed the border into Utah on this swing, so I put the Utah sticker on the trailer.

I have this image in my mind of a bunch of Washington bureaucrats sitting around with the President back about a hundred years ago. "We've got pretty much all the land divided up among the states, but we've got this pile of rocks out in the desert we don't know what to do with." "Oil? Coal? Uranium?" The bureaucrat shakes his head at each question. "Just a pile of rocks in the middle of no place." "Ah. Give them to the Navaho."

And so, with a little help from Hollywood, the Navaho took the worthless pile of rocks and turned them into the most recognizable symbol of the American Southwest, the most frequently photographed and visited attraction in the U.S. And the bureaucrats don't get a penny. Way to go, Navaho!

The people who visit Monument Valley come from all over the world. I met folks from the Netherlands and this biker who with her companion were biking from Juneau to Buenos Aires. And I think I lightened my load. These guys were carrying everything on their two bicycles, including repairs and water!

My last stop in Arizona was Canyon de Chelly. I might have missed this if Mark hadn't told me I had to make a swing through. Down there in the canyon is the Antelope Dwelling--so called because of the drawings of Antelope above the village to the left. Hard to see. This canyon is still a lush summer grazing area and is inhabited year-round by descendants of the people who lived here hundreds of years ago. Amazing!

I met a couple from Texas and in addition to flicking my photo, they asked about my general direction and told me to make sure when I left El Paso that I stop at Guadalupe National Park. I hadn't heard of that one, so I promised to look it up. It looks like it might be on my way eventually.

This last shot is looking off toward Ganado as I turned east to head out of Arizona. What a beautiful State.