ARIZONA 2015: Monument Valley & Petrified Forest (26-27 April)

April 26th.  We awoke to find overnight snow had settled on the mountains almost down to our elevation.  It was still sleeting when we packed the car and headed north. 




outside out motel in Flagstaff

leaving Flagstaff

We soon left Flagstaff and its mountain climate, drove past Wupatki and Cameron where we had turned towards the Grand Canyon four days earlier.  We skirted the Painted Desert and turned off towards Tuba City.  Our map showed we would be passing close to Dinosaur tracks although our guide book suggested they were not all that riveting.  They were signposted from the road and we were shown around by a local 'no fee only gratuity' guide who pointed out many things we would have overlooked and a few we remained unconvinced by.  When we finished we were informed what gratuity was expected ending in presumably him and certainly us being disappointed.  The guide book was correct in hem not being riveting but I'd not seen tracks before and did not regret going.

skirting the Painted Desert

the site of the dinosaur footprints, the two near spherical 'prints' were not from a mamoth

the earlier rain made their shapes easier to see

the tracks, of which this was the best we saw, were made by a 10 foot Dilophosaurus about 65 million years ago

We drove on to Kayenta, turning north and passing some interestingly shaped rock outcrops before briefly crossing into Utah and heading down the road to Monument Valley.  The valley is on tribal lands and entrance was not covered by our Interagency Pass but the $20 per car rate seemed very reasonable for what was one of the most spectacular places I've ever been.  We followed the 17 mile self-guided graded road stopping regularly and taking far too many pictures as the weather slowly improved and the clouds broke up giving superb vistas.  Birds twere pretty non-existent with a Peregrine and a Rock Wren the highlights.

approaching Monument Valley

Monument Valley

Left and Right Mitten and Merrick Butte

Monument Valley panorama from the visitor centre

Elephant Butte

view from John Ford Point

buying Native American jewellery

Totem Pole

the improving weather made the whole area look its best

the window

the side of one of the mesas, solid rock ...

view from John Wayne Point

Left and Right Mittens

Right Mitten

Left Mitten

leaving Monument Valley

We reluctantly left Monument Valley, crossed back into Utah and continued towards Bluff.  A Prarie Falcon flying across the road  passing Mexican Hat on the way.  It was named for a rock formation but from the road it did not appear to be particularly photogenic so we kept going.  Near a boat ramp on the San Juan River just before Bluff were some petroglyphs which were much easier to find than those at Flagstaff's Picture Canyon.  They were more of them and some looked very much like aliens to us.  There were also three migrant White-crowned Sparrows in the nearby scrub and two White-throated Swifts flying around.  We stayed at the excellent La Posada Pintada in Bluff, ate in the Twin Rocks Cafe (Black-chinned Hummingbird on their feeders) and had a pleasant walk around the town.

petroglyphs near Bluff

confirming the historic presence of aliens 

view from La Posada Pintada, an excellent place to stay

Twin Rocks Trading Post, Bluff.  Twin Rocks Cafe was next door.

We would have liked to spend longer in Bluff and visit some of the National Parks in southern Utah (Canyonlands, Arches etc) but they would have to wait for another trip and we had what we expected would be our longest day ahead of us - over 300 miles  to Show Low in central Arizona and Canyon de Chelly, Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park to visit on the way.  

April 27th.  I was up at dawn and revisited the San Juan boat ramp for an hour hoping to see some birds but was disappointed with just two White-crowned Sparrows, Spotted Towee and two Bushtits.  We had an excellent breakfast at La Posada Pintada and departed.  Being in Utah we automatically gained an hour when we crossed back into Arizona and made much better time driving the 100 miles to Canyon de Chelly than expected - I had originally thought we might have an early lunch there.

preparing to leave La Posada Pintada 

Canyon de Chelly

White House overlook

the White House, the only place it was possible to go down into the canyon without a guide although we did not have the time to do so

Spider Rock

Spider Rock panorama

Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher

What looked like a Mountain Bluebird flew across the road as we were leaving Canyon de Chelly, it was certainly very bright blue.  We continued driving south, another 100 miles, to the Petrified Forest National Park entering from the north at the Painted Desert Visitor Centre and having a late lunch at nearby Chinde Point.

Painted Desert panorama

Continuing south it is about 30 miles to the southern entrance of the park at Rainbow Forest Museum.  Even though we had made excellent progress and were ahead of schedule we did not have time to stop at all the places of interest on the way although we did try most ...

this 1932 Studebaker and the sign above were all that remained of this part of Route 66.  It ran perpendicularly to the nearest telegraph pole before being replaced by the I-40 which we crossed less than a mile further on.

Black-throated Sparrow at Newspaper Rock

petroglyphs on Newspaper Rock - some are thought to be 2000 years old

more aliens?

this image appeared quite scary too

one of the Tepees, colourful rock formations we drove past

Blue Mesa

a short circular drive off the main route through the park

Agate Bridge.  A big petrified log across a ditch but hardly worth the stop especially as it is now supported by a concrete beam.  This was the only angle to hide it

Jasper Forest, all the dark spots are petrified logs.  It is believed that the trees didn't grow here but the logs were carried by an ancient river and created a vast log jam.  The logs were buried by layers of silt and silica seeped in replacing original wood cells which crystallized into quartz.  Impressive to get an idea of the scale, but most things in Arizona are very big!

Crystal Forest

  

At Crystal Forest was a mile (or so) loop trail which was perhaps the best part of the park we visited 

the tallest petrified tree we saw, but also one of the least colourful

looking back to Blue Mesa from Crystal Forest

Our last stop was Giant Logs, another short loop trail as we had run out of time to walk the longer (three mile) Log Logs and Agate House trail although the latter was not greatly thought of by our guide book.

one can imagine the growth rings

a very tame Rock Wren was in the car park even feeding in the radiator grill of our car.  Birds had otherwise been very scarce in the park

it kept me entertained while the family looked around the Rainbow Forest Museum

We left the Petrified Forest National Park with another 60 miles to drive to Show Low where we arrived early evening, staying in a motel set in pine woods just off Deuce of Clubs on the far side of town.  The town being named after a game of cards between co-owners of a large ranch who in 1876 played 'show low and take the ranch', the road named after the winning hand.