The Journey to the Last Sunset

 

This is probably one of the most iconic views in the American Southwest - traveling from Mexican Hat towards Monument Valley on Highway 163. This is the way we had seen it many times before and it never loses its grandeur and majesty.

But something had changed since we had been here last quite a few years ago (pre-pandemic). Just a few hundred yards back, this view now is called Forrest Gump Point (where Forrest Gump in the movie suddenly stops running and decides to return home) and there are many turnouts with warning signs to watch out for pedestrians. In order to get this specific kind of photo you need to stand in the middle of the road. No problem at the time we were traveling, but I have no idea what is going on when way more tourists are stopping here and literally hogging the road to get their photo. It must be a nightmare. However, I do understand the lure to capture this view, just not with a bunch of people or cars. You might wonder why I felt the need to take another photo of this view since I already have dozens of it - yeah, I wonder, too. Maybe because it was the first time that I saw this in early morning light.

This is the view to Monument Valley:

Along the highway you can see many of these sheds. Navajos sell their jewelry etc. here during the tourist season, but now in winter the sheds were abandoned. 

While my cough had improved on our trip, the Geek's became worse and we decided against driving the loop in Monument Valley Tribal Park. We had driven it before in all kinds of weather - fog, snow and also under bright, blue sky. We knew it would take several hours, but since we still had three days of driving ahead of us, we wanted to get on the road. Into the West...

However, we didn't drive straight home. We did a little detour to the Navajo National Monument which is off the beaten path. While we hiked the trail along the edge of the canyon we realized that we had been here before. Look at this amazing canyon and pay attention to the big arch on the left.

Beneath this arch are the remains of cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people. It's not as impressive as the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park in Southwest Colorado, but it was still worth the hike. You wonder how 800 years ago they were able to build these tiny pueblos in the face of a sandstone wall. Building it under the overhang of the arch protected them not only from the weather, but also from perpetrators. No photos of the dwellings since I didn't carry my big camera on this short but steep hike.

We also found more cryptobiotic soil crust (I wrote about this special soil crust here) - always fascinating and amazing.

This plant caught my eye. I had no idea what it was and asked one of the rangers in the visitor center. She was able to tell me that it is the seedhead of Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis), a native perennial grass. Isn't it beautiful?

Behind the - excellent - visitor center was a hogan, a traditional, earth-covered dwelling of the Navajo people. While most Navajos don't live in hogans anymore, their tradition dictates that important curing ceremonies can't be held anywhere else but in a hogan.

There is also a sweathouse. It looks like a tiny hogan without a smoke hole and is a highly effective bath. Here is how it works (from a NPS sign): "Stones are heated in a fire, then rolled in, or carried in on a wooden fork. The bathers undress outside, and then crawl inside. A blanket is hung over the door opening. Now all it takes is patience while the radiant heat does its work. This is the time for relaxing tired muscles - conversing - and perhaps singing sweathouse songs. Afterward, the bathers emerge from the sweathouse to rinse off with water, if any is available, or to rub dry with the soft, absorbent sand of Novajo country."

It reminds me of a good sauna (minus the sand).

This was a delightful detour. 

Then it was back on the road. We stopped for a very late lunch (we call that "lunner" in our family) at the Cameron Trading Post, a place we have known and enjoyed from the past and often stayed there for a night or two. It was incredibly crowded (it's not far to the Grand Canyon from here), but we were able to enjoy our lunch. I had a Navajo stew and wonderful tasty Navajo Frybread.

It was rather late when we arrived at the Grand Canyon. We didn't want to stay here for long, just drive along the rim road and stop every now and then. We were very lucky to enjoy the setting sun, when it was painting this unique rough landscape in brilliant, glowing colors. It was the last sunset of 2024, experienced in a wonderful location. The perfect ending of a year.

It took another two days to go home after we had stayed the night in Williams. We could have driven straight on interstates 40, 15 and 5 to be home 14 hours later. We had done that once and weren't eager to repeat that marathon. Instead, we left I-40 in Seligman and followed historic Route 66 to Needles which was a lot more relaxing and fun. The following drive through the Mojave Desert is something I always enjoy, even though I can imagine that some people might find it boring. I'm a big fan of deserts.

We stayed the night in Bakersfield, a city I have always found pretty awful. The Geek was feeling worse, so I drove the entire last leg of our journey. We made it home in 5 ½ hours because traffic was light, even around San Francisco (yes, I did stick to the speed limit).

Now - I want to join Nicole's Friday Face Off, but I can't do that without a face. So here I am right after the haircut that I got a couple days ago. I'm very lucky to have my hair stylist just a few houses down the street, one of my wonderful neighbors. She really knows how to work with my curls.