Rockin' all over the world (well, the Wild West)

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Boy have we seen a lot of rocks lately - big ones, tall ones, deep ones, hard ones, soft ones, multi-coloured ones, ones with holes in them and even ones shaped like arches. Yes folks, we have visited some of America's most famous and amazing National Parks in the Southwest and covered many miles in the process, doing a huge loop through Utah, Arizona and New Mexico before returning to Arizona. But it has been a true adventure in the heart of the American wilderness and so acutely 'wild west' country that I really have the urge to get me some cowboy boots and M has been trying on various cowboy hats for size...though I really can't see him wearing it around Basildon (unless he wants a good kicking)!
We started our tour in Moab, eastern Utah, and this was our base for the next few days as we visited Arches and Canyonlands NP's. This is red rock country, and you can understand why, with huge red cliff faces looming over you, which turn a blazing red with the setting sun. Our first day at Arches consisted of a seven-mile hike (they're hikes in the US, not walks) along a so-called primitive trail, climbing atop boulders, scrabbling across ledges and being surrounded by towering rocks and monuments with utterly breathtaking views of mountains and wilderness in the distance (To put this in perspective the hike was mainly over slick-rock fins, where you have hundred foot falls on either side! M). Not to mention the natural stone arches formed by wind and rain (summit like that) over millions of years, with names such as landscape arch, private arch and skyline arch. Needless to say we were v tired by the end of it but rewarded with great colours as the sun set. The day after was Canyonlands, and again the scenery was stunning - I should mention that we were about 6,000ft above sea level and the landscape has been cut by the Green and Colorado rivers over time so as well as great vistas for miles around you have deep clefts, gorges and vertical drops below you as you walk along the cliff edges. How many superlatives can one use? I feel I've used a lot already and only just started! Oh well, I guess that's what the Southwest is - a land of superlatives. We returned to Arches the next day, but not before checking out some ancient Indian petroglyphs (pictures pecked into the rock) on the cliffs nearby, which were fascinating with designs of human figures and animals. This whole area has a long history of native American tribes and cultures, and we have encountered many Indian Reservations on our travels, including the Navajo and Hopi. Back at Arches we did more hiking and sightseeing, and still the following morning we returned to see the 'Piece de Resistence' and the unofficial (or maybe it's official) symbol of Utah and the park - Delicate arch, freestanding and perched on a cliff with a precarious drop not far away - who knows how much longer it will last as the forces of nature and time continue to carve away the rock?
We then continued west to the little town of Torrey, which was to be our base over Valentines weekend so we could visit Captiol Reef NP, a less well-known park with equally stunning rocks and gorges etc - you get the idea. The town was pretty quiet mind, with shops and motels still closed for the season, and we could've chosen to stay in a cosy rustic and romantic cabin for two but instead, due to practicality, stayed at the decidedly less romantic Days Inn, mainly because we preferred to have an indoor and private bathroom, breakfast and indoor hot tub (though didn't use it cos it was full of kids all of the time!) (The receptionist was a bit of a moody cow too. Something we've noticed as we've headed out west is that some of the people don't seem as friendly as elsewhere-M). Valentines Day was spent walking through the gorges of Captiol Reef, which was nice and fairly quiet, and it was probably the least commercial V Day we're ever likely to have cos no shops were open to buy each other anything (not even a card) so instead M handed me a one dollar bill with 'you're my number 1' written on it (how smart he is!) and I managed to pick up a vaguely heart-shaped rock from the park and scribble something equally as clever on it about 'being my rock' with black felt tip! Though in the evening we managed to get a table and a decent meal at the town's busiest (only?) venue where everyone knew each other and wore cowboy hats. One of the servers seemed most honoured that we were from the UK and out of town, and everyone else just looked at us strangely.
It's then onwards southwest towards Bryce Canyon NP, taking All-American scenic highway 12 through national forest, mountains and rocks, where the elevation is getting higher and the snow getting thicker! We arrive at Bryce and our visit coincides with a winter festival that's going on at a nearby hotel resort, lots of skiing competitions and suchlike going on. We did manage to attend a free water-colour painting workshop where the instructor told us briefly how to paint some rocks, and our attempts at doing so can be found in the photo! Bryce Canyon, like Arches, has unique rock stuctures that make it stand out a bit more. This time we encountered Hoodoos, red finger-like protrusions that stand upright, shaped by those old devils wind, water and time. When you see lots of them covered in snow it's a darn good sight, as you can see from the photo. We also took advantage of a free ranger-led hike using snowshoes (yes, the snow was that thick) and another new experience for us both as we trundled like John Wayne through the snow to a more remote part of the park. Overnight it snowed some more so that by the following morning the trails were covered fresh and thick. We ended up walking knee deep in some places, and I realised my cheap walking shoes are not waterproof! (She insisted on buying them in the shops instead of taking her proper ones-M) But it was real Lapland scenery with pine trees, muted silence and red rocks, and we even saw some deer to top it off. However, wet socks and shoes in the freezing cold is no fun so we weren't too sad to leave the snow and head to the southwest corner of Utah and Zion NP, where a lower elevation meant slightly warmer climes. I guess Zion is another canyon cut over time by the river, with huge red towers of rock surrounding the fertile river valley. We did various hikes to see the narrow gorge, waterfalls and pools of ice and water. However, the highlight has to be attempting to do a fairly difficult hike climbing 1400ft in about a mile up a steep mountain to the very top, called Angels Landing. It started off okay and the path was dry though very steep, but as we got higher there was more snow and ice on the ground, which made walking up the steep slopes and switchbacks (called Walters Wigglers) tricky! So we were clinging onto rocks and trying to find patches of snow to walk on rather than ice. We managed to get beyond the Wigglers but didn't go right to the top point as that was asking for trouble, we and other folk were happy with the viewpoint we had reached, and didn't need to risk our lives climbing ever steeper. Of course, going down the Wigglers was another story, and people were sliding down on their bums to avoid slipping over the edges! I slipped once (just once? M) and M was crawling on hand and foot, but we made it okay and were glad to get back onto the dry paths and the warm sunshine. You'd think after that we'd have had enough, but there was another 'hidden canyon' still waiting to be explored so after lunch we duly went off again climbing through snow over mountain ledges and hidden vertical drops - I shouldn't be telling mum this! (In parts there was no ledge as such, just compacted snow and ice - M) Hey ho, we had a good time at Zion, and with all this hiking any weight I've put on is surely coming off! It was now time to head back east, even though we were now only about 200 miles from Vegas, which was our ultimate destination. We drove through wild west towns, desert, multi-coloured rocks, Indian reservations and dinosaur-rich strata to the town of Page and home to the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell, which is on the eastern end of the Colorado river, and second only to Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, which is the western end of the river. We then drove on to one of the places I had been looking forward to seeing the most - Monument Valley in Arizona - iconic wild west landscape, and you will have undoubtedly seen it yourselves, even if you don't realise it, as it's been featured in numerous movies, esp westerns. Sure enough as we drove along the long and straight road the tall rocks and monuments appear like a mirage in the distance, and you want to pullover and take pictures with each mile you get closer. I remember seeing this landscape when I was younger in a book at home on natural wonders of the world, and always wanting to go there myself one day, and so it was with quiet delight that I saw these ancient megaliths standing upright in the desert, shaped and eroded away by the same elements that created Bryce, Zion and just about every other landscape in the southwest. The monuments themselves are on Navajo land, so we had to pay for the priviledge of driving on a very bumpy dirt road to get a closer look, but to be honest the road was so bad we didn't even make it halfway before turning back (it is a hire car after all!) and I think the monuments look much better from afar - the bigger picture as opposed to the details. We waited for the sun to set in the hope of seeing them blazing in colour but it was a bit cloudy, however, they were stunning all the same (We did get to visit John Wayne's room where he stayed to film many westerns - M). We stayed in Bluff that night, and tried to haggle a good deal but was warned we didn't have much time to pick and choose a place to stay as the only place to eat in town closed at 8pm and by now it was nearly 7. The next morning we headed to the Four Corners monument, the only place in America where four States meet (Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado), but as we were driving along the road next to a river I spied a bird of prey and it was none other than a Bald Eagle, and not only did it soar in front of our eyes it perched on the rocks above us! Wow, this is THE bird to see, so we parked the car, ate lunch and viewed the bird to our hearts content with my binoculars - this is also the time I needed a decent camera but alas will have to make do with the blurred pics on my point and shoot. Anyway, we reached the Four Corners monument, again on Indian land, and did the usual touristy thing of lying down spread-eagled with a limb in each State. The monument itself is pretty drab and boring and could do with a spruce up, and most of the surrounding stalls selling Indian wares and food were closed so it was pretty much take a pic then go. We then headed back into New Mexico towards the town of Farmington, which is only about 30 miles from Durango in Colorado, where we were a couple of weeks previous! The reason we came here was because we had arranged to stay with a couple of local ladies for two nights, sleeping on their couch or wherever they could put us up. We didn't know them and they didn't know us, and we had contacted them via email. So how come we could stay with them you ask? Well, thanks to Mark in Austin, we discovered a fantastic website and community at couchsurfing.com, whereby people all over the world offer travellers passing through their town a place to sleep, usually on their couch or spare bed etc. Not only does it save money on hotels but you get to meet local people and socialise more. For the system to work well it obviously depends on a large amount of trust and goodwill, and the kind of people acting as 'hosts' are open minded, kind and eager to meet others. It is absolutely fantastic for people like us and if we'd known about it sooner our remaining budget may be somewhat bigger than it currently is! (When F first suggested we stay with a lesbian couple who had a hot tub some adolescent fantasy flashed across my mind! Though I think the couple we are now staying with have just crept off to have a session whilst we're writing this, so now I feel more like a parent of teenagers! - M) It seems to be little known about though and mostly spread through word of mouth, so next time you're travelling, check it out and grab a free place to stay! Anyway, we stayed with two lovely and friendly ladies called Monica and Cecilia, and not only did they give us a bed for two nights they also cooked us dinner both nights (including green chilli stew which I managed to eat with the help of two glasses of milk!) and made us feel very welcome. It was kinda weird knocking on the door to stay with people who were complete strangers but over food and wine you have a good time getting to know each other and exchanging stories about travelling and cultural differences. The main reason for coming to Farmington in the first place was to visit Mesa Verde NP, which contains ancient native American cliff dwellings dating back to 11-1200 AD. There really are buildings and houses situated in the alcoves high up in the cliffs, and it was fascinating to learn why they chose to build there and what made them desert their homes suddenly around 1400 AD (answer: unknown). Our travels continued south and then west again across the (hot) Arizona desert. At this time poor M wasn't feeling too well, some cold or bug he'd picked up a few days earlier (I should point out that I was jinxed by F, she was only saying the day before how neither of us had been ill - M), so whilst he slept for most of the journey I drove and drove some 300-400 miles, reaching Flagstaff and then heading due south to the town of Sedona. It is apparently one of Arizona's most beautiful towns, surrounded by towering red rocks and forest, and as a consequence, tourists as well. We also arrived at the start of some film festival (opened by Jane Seymour no less - M) so a good-value room was hard to come by, and what with M's illness, we decided to keep going south to the next town, and hopefully cheaper accommodation. We eventually found ourselves a Comfort Inn in Camp Verde (but not before driving on empty and having mild panic of being stranded in the middle of nowhere!), and were glad to just flop down and relax after a day of driving and being ill in the hot hot heat. Unfortunately, the next morning M was still feeling dodgy so decided to stay at the hotel and insisted I go out to explore and have fun without him (I didn't want to, honest). The one thing I decided I had to see was cacti, not just any old cacti but the towering giants of the desert, the proper 'wild west' cacti that you see on tequila bottles or Desperate Dan cartoons - giant saguaro. And boy I wasn't disappointed; as I drove further south towards Phoenix and the heat, the landscape changed - one minute there was nothing and the next the saguaros were everywhere! I was so overjoyed I can't explain it, but it was unexpectedly emotional encountering these iconic plants of the desert, so I stopped and took lots of pics to show M (she shows more emotion to cacti and Rosie than anything else alive - M). I also took a walk on a nearby high desert trail, and encounterd lots of other cacti as well as birds, including another highlight - a hummingbird! Wow, these little birds are like flying jewels with such amazing iridescent colours it's breathtaking, and I had good views of them hovering in the air. The walk should've probably only lasted about an hour but it took me nearly three as I kept stopping and starting looking at the birds. I tried not to make it sound like I had too much of a good day when I got back to M, but he was okay and feeling better so a day of r and r done him some good too. The morning after we drove back through Sedona, stopping to take a closer look, and then onto Flagstaff for our next couch surfing experience with David. He was so kind and friendly on the phone he told us to arrive at the house anytime and make ourselves at home, even though he wouldn't be there (would this happen in the UK?)! However, when we arrived his girlfriend Julie was there to welcome us and both of them were just so nice - we were treated more like old friends rather than strangers, and we had dinner together and a nice evening chatting. Flagstaff was our base for the daddy of all NP's - the Grand Canyon. Funnily enough when we arrived at the Canyon we weren't as awe-inspired as we thought we should be. Perhaps we were all 'parked-out' and seen enough rocks and great scenery already. Or perhaps it was so much busier here than everywhere else that it detracted from the wilderness experience. However, it's not to say the canyon isn't stunning cos it is, and as the sun went down the colours made it more spectacular.
M continues - I think the issue with the Canyon is that you don't get time alone to really take in the vastness, the scale of what you're looking at. There's always someone in a jeep pulling up to snap a photo for the album or some greasy kid trying to give their mums heart attacks by peering over the edge. Also the Canyon is not just one gorge like some, but made up of hundreds. It stretches almost 300 miles from near Page, where we saw it start, to near Vegas, where hopefully we'll see it end. The layering of the rocks is sublime, each has their own colour and are clearly separated. The youngest are at the top and are some 250 million years old, whilst those at the bottom are around 1.8 billion years old! Let me just say that again, 1.8 billion years!! And then down at the bottom, several thousand feet down, you see this piece of tourqouise string, weaving it's way through the rock, the Colorado River. This river has carved out this painting over the (relatively) short period of 6 million years. Coming from the East Entrance you experience even more spectacular views. Also via this route you get to visit a volcano crater and lava flow, where you get to walk on rocks that are less than a thousand years old. So in one day you can view, touch, walk on and explore billions of years of Earth's history. Needless to say the photos don't do justice to the scenery and the scale of what Nature has to offer here on the Colorado Plateau. You have to visit it for yourself and just stand in awe.
A note on Fiona and parks. When it is cold, windy, with perilous trails as in Arches, we go on. When the snow is knee deep, nose running as in Bryce, we go on. When rocks the size of your head fall on the trail in front of you as they did in Bryce, we go on. But when it gets a little muddy, our adventurous one turns back, no matter if I want to go on. She said she didn't really mean it, but that look she shot me on a trail in Zion was a real, 'you better get back here and help me out of this mess'.
So as we make our way to Las Vegas, our next stop just one question remains - was that really Cliff Richard we heard on the radio?

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Photos

Landscape arch
The longest and thinnest in the park

Delicate arch
Symbol of Utah and Arches NP

Glowing
How the rocks turn a brilliant golden red when the sun sets

Canyonlands
Stunning Views No 1.

Paintings
The brilliant results of our one-hour water colour workshop, you'll see what they're supposed to be in the next photo!

Thors Hammer
And us, at Bryce NP

Snowshoe hike
Your chance to walk like John Wayne in the snow

Hoodoo you think you are?
Hanging with the Hoodoos at Bryce

Watch your step!
M crunching through the snow carefully on a hike in Zion

Me and Zion
Another stunning view No 2

Rock of ages
Iconic Monument Valley

Open road
This is how it is in the US, long empty roads with stunning scenery, perfect for bad drivers!

Mesa Verde
A city in the cliffs

Cacti cacti everywhere
The stunning and iconic Saguaro of the Arizonian desert, how I'm in love with these things!

Country boy
He's got a four wheel drive so buckle up and he'll take you for a ride!

Standing atop the Valley of the Giants
The Granddaddy of them all, the Grand Canyon.

The view from the East
Grand Canyon

How Old?
The youngest layer is 250 million years old, the oldest around 1.8 billion!

F on a Lava Flow
This is only 1,000 years old, eeh, kiddy.

Comments

[AndyM]

Hi
Still going great guns!Love the video...question,why the appalling Swedish accent,Mike? lol.....only joking,I know it was South African....keep well guys! Andy

[angie guida]

i love all your travlogue! i am so glad u r going to all these parks and sites. we have been to most of the places where u have traveled and u r getting such a wonderful view of our "west". you've been to more place than most americans have. it is different every season of the year. you miss the incredible, awesome colors of the aspens in the fall, but to see these parks with snow is really neat. and much less crowds. i have heard of sharing peoples' couches and i'm glad it worked out...another way to experience america. curious to see what u think of vegas. 2 days and i've had enough and don't need to go back. hoover dam is worth visiting and there is a park about 30 min out of town that is ok. really have enjoyed your travels thru you commentary...can't wait to see what you think of the pacific coast. enjoy....angie guida (susan's mom)

[Daphne Plant]

John Wayne rides again - get off your horse and drink your milk!
Hi M and F what fantastic scenery you've both seen this time - breathtaking stuff. Glad to know that you have recovered from your illness M and are now feeling well again. The sight of that bald eagle must have made you jump for joy F - I know it would have done if it had been me. You've also seen the famous rocks that appear in so many westerns - did you keep looking to see if you were being chased by Indians as you crossed the plains? Well must sign off now but just want to wish you a very happy birthday for Sunday M - have a great time (don't forget to open your card). Lots of love to you both Mum/Daphne xxx

[Steve and Sophie]

Oi Spielberg
Stick to the directing!What was that Russian accent, or was it Scottish?! Just been watching the Applicant again. Ah those memories. It's two years since Rich and I did that and Comic Relief is on Friday. Not doing anything specifically for that except eating Burmese-style (although not for charity). Stunning scenery in the photos. I know what you mean about the adventurous one. My adventurous one does exactly the same thing (except not in anything cold). Speaking of which, her neck is better now. Mum's having a bit if a knees up next week. Will be thinking of you both wherever you are. And thinking along the birthday lines, happy birthday M! I've given up fry-ups and chocloate for Lent, and what with the reduction in alcohol and drinking of benecol, have lost some weight. Cycling back into work as well has also helped to shed a few pounds (especially when getting passed by those bendy buses - ome on Boris get rid of them asap!) Mandelson got hit with a custard tart the other day. And since you've gone, you both now own massive stakes in banks, as do we all. Hope you're having a great day for your b'day M. Are you placing a bet in Vegas. Hope your numbers come up!