More hiking photos from the Valley of the Gods

First, another photo of our second campsite here:

Hiking:

In the Valley of the Gods

A place made to order for us.  Remote, quiet, and plenty of hiking opportunities.

The road is 17 miles through this valley.  People drive through here from mid morning to mid afternoon.  Some stop for a few minutes and take a photo, and occasionally someone stops for a few minutes to walk out into the desert.  But so far, we have seen no one else camping, although we cannot view all of the 17 miles.

We didn't know how long we would stay, but after six nights, I think it is safe to say we will probably spend two weeks here, until we run out of water.  The hiking is incredible.  We hike toward high cliffs, along the base of those cliffs, out into the desert, and along beautiful washes.

We stayed in our first campsite for four nights, and then moved down the road 2/3 of a mile to another that is a bit more off of the road.  We will stay here until the spirit moves us.

First campsite:

Second campsite:

 

Some photos of the valley and of us hiking in it:

Map of our hikes so far:

The Moki Dugway

The really is a place called the Moki Dugway.

It is in southern Utah.  It is a 3 mile gravel road that winds 1200 feet down a cliff.  Into the entrance to the Valley of the Gods.  

A "Dugway" is a road dug out of the land that goes though a high land form.  A "Moki" is.....your guess is as good as mine.  It was built in the 1950s by a mineral company so ore could be transported to a mill near Mexican Hat, Utah.

Here are some photos.  Hold on!

Here is a photo of the cliff that it goes down.  You can't see the road, but it is there.

Here are a couple of shots from pull outs along the way.

Visiting the homes of the indigenous people

Mesa Verde National Park is the best known example of cliff dwellings, although we have visited two others that are National Monuments (in the Gila and around Roosevelt Lake).   The ruins in those places are stunning, and fairly well preserved.

But we got to do something quite different today.  We camped in Comb Wash in the Cedar Mesa Grand Gulch area.  Got a fairly nice site.

We hiked up the dirt road for about two miles and then entered a canyon where there were a number of ruins that dotted the area.  

It was exciting to see something like this without anyone else around.  

The area has experienced a large amount of rain, and so the hiking was a little more difficult than usual.  

In fact, off to our west we could see more storm clouds gathering, so we hustled back to our home.  We only touched the surface of what there is to see in this canyon, so decided to come back in a year when we could explore further.

Trash pickup in the boondocks

In terms of water, propane, and food we can remain in remote areas for almost three weeks before having to return to "civilization."

Our limiting factor is not these necessities but, instead, is our trash and garbage.  After 7-10 days, the challenge of keeping the odors down becomes too difficult.

So today we tried an experiment.  We left this by the side of our camper when we left for today's hike:

When we returned four hours later this is what we found:

What is amazing is that there were probably only about 20 vehicles that went down this road in the time we were hiking.  (That is about 5 per hour during the middle of the day--with fewer in the morning and none at all during the evening and night).

Someone helped us out.  The trash Good Samaritan.  

Thank you, whoever you are! 

Where is everybody?

Right across the road from us, about half a mile. Not obvious from the road. We had no idea what to expect. What we found was a deep canyon that ran for miles, beautiful. Nobody seems to hike the rim, as we did.  No footprints at all, except ours.

Why not? Where is everybody?

It's for real.

This is where we are camping and hiking.  Far enough off the “main” road to not hear road noise or see lights.  Nobody else around.  

Vicky found the spot because of her thorough planning.  

Our first destination point on our trip this year is Monument Valley, although we will be camping and hiking close by in Valley of the Gods.  Monument Valley is on the Navaho Indian Reservation, and there is no camping there, but there is a lot of camping and hiking in Valley of the Gods.

However, we are taking our own sweet time getting there, as in if-we-make-it-fine,-and-if-we-don’t,-it-will-be-there-next-year sweet time.  So all along the way, after reaching the southern part of Utah, we have been on the lookout for any places we might want to stop and spend a few days.

The route Vicky chose was not the one identified on our Maps program, but instead took us through Glenn Canyon Recreation Area.  Wow!  What a beautiful place, and not nearly as packed with people as the National Parks are.  Even this time of year Capitol Reef National Park had full parking lots as we drove through it.  But here, even on the “main” road south of Glenn Canyon Recreation Area, vehicles are seen only occasionally.  

Vicky had collected dozens and dozens of maps of BLM areas (Bureau of Land Management—the flatter and more desert areas of our country that are under federal control).  After we got through Glenn Canyon, the very first BLM map showed a road that we thought we’d try, and here we are!  

Just made to order for us.  Quiet, completely alone, and miles of hills nearby to explore and hike.  

A lot of preparation went into being able to stop here and know that we can stay for three weeks if we would want to until we would need to take on more provisions.  There are dozens of details.  

For example, leveling the camper.  The camper has to be reasonably level for the refrigerator to work.  Our last two years we brought a standard package of levelers, but this year I threw in five more.  We used them all to level the camper and the stairs.  A little thing, but when you can’t run to the store for something, anticipating all those little things adds up to a big thing.

Rain had been predicted for the next several days, but our first morning showed no glimpse of it.  We decided to hiking farther up Blue Notch Road (the one we are on).   About ¼ mil up the road we saw an old friend connected to it—the almost hidden remnants of an old mining road.  So, of course, we changed our plan for the day, and tried to follow the old mining road.

It was an old one, very old.  Here is an example of the quality of the old mining road.

See Vicky?

At several points we lost the road completely, and found ourselves in a small and interesting wash.  

There we saw other telltale evidence of old mining operations.

And this, although we didn’t have a clue as to its purpose.  

And once we got higher up into the hills we could see that much of these hills are crisscrossed with old mining roads.

The views were spectacular.  

We found one mine.

We saw no other footprints of other hikers.  Still a puzzle to us as to why more people don’t enjoy what we do.  But, maybe we are just weird.  We’re open to that interpretation.  

See Vicky?

See me?

But where else can you get exercise, sun, mystery, quiet, nature, and history in one activity?  

Off in the distance we could see what appeared to be the original road we had taken off on today, so worked our way over to it, and walked to the top.  The “blue notch.”  

Here is the view on the other side.  

Down below we could see our camper.  

On our way back to the camper we spotted this great rock formation.  Since grandson Adam, the field goal kicker, was not here, I kicked one in his honor.  Maybe he and the other grandchildren one day will be able to make these trips with us, and he can kick it himself.  That would be nice.

That night we were treated to something special.  A mid-western thunderstorm with hard rains and loud clasps of lightning.  As I am writing this, it is morning, and the rains are coming and going.  We will hole up in the camper to see what the day decides to do before we decide what to do with it.  

If it’s a sit in the camper day, that will be fun too.  We’ll read, watch a movie.  Those hills will be there tomorrow, and we’ll get there soon.