On the way back from Moab to the campsite, I was again tempted to see some of the arches that are off the beaten path. There is a small area of hills just north of the Balanced Rock turnout that looked interesting. I could see these rocks from the hike earlier in the Devil's Garden area. Part of the route to get there involves a gravel road, the majority of which is noted as four wheel drive recommended. Well, the Subaru should be up to the task! I did make it about half way! Then considering the fact that I have to use the Subaru to get back to Michigan, I decided to turn around at a particularly gnarly uphill stretch. I was by myself and could not see over the hood nor spot myself as I made my way up the rocks, I decided it was a no go! As soon as I turned around, a father and his young son in a huge tired, jacked up, Jeep just cruised by and went up as if they were going down the highway. I think those jeeps are cheating.
After I arrived back at the campsite, a little cleaning up was in order for the packing in the morning. I then had some dinner. Then as we all know, Craig can't still for long, and the notion of going out onto the slickrock was thought of. Directly behind the campsite is a really nice section of red and white rock to hike about on.
There is one nice arch I got some shots of but the light was not great. I was really disappointed with the photo opportunities as the clouds were quite heavy. So I tried to see how high I could get and still get down. The red rocks have a cap layer of white rock on top of them. It is really strange to see all the red and then come out on the top and see all white rock. It is a slightly courser texture then the red and does not seem to be as hard. In places it looks like a big red ice cream cone with vanilla chocolate chip ice cream on top. Large rounded tops to all the fins and features. I tried to go up and over the white rock area I managed to get on top of but no safe route was found.
As I was making my way back to camp, all of a sudden, as the sun was going down, it burst out from under the clouds at the last few moments before the actual setting. I was running around, up and down trying to get some good angles before it was gone. It was fun cruising around on the slanted rock. The views were amazing and it was worth all the effort.
The breadth of the views is really what amaze me. You can see at least thirty miles away to the LaSal Mountains and the snow squalls moving through.
Morning brought the inevitable breaking of camp. I think it took about an hour to get all the stuff down, packed and back in the car the way it was before. I was amazed as that is not usually how it goes, the Law of Entropy say that the mess always gets worse, not better.
On the way down to Phoenix I stopped at the Natural Bridges National Monument. I learned the difference between an arch and a bridge. An arch is typically formed by wind and water action but not by the actual flow of the water through it. The arch is usually a result of water getting in a freezing thus breaking down the rocks to form the arch. A bridge is formed directly by the action of flowing water through and around the rock.
The Park is up on a high plateau which requires 500-600 foot vertical drops into the canyon to see the bridges up close. The feeling is different then Arches as the rock is much brighter then up north near Moab.
One very interesting sight was the Ansazi ruins across the canyon. I was surprised that from the viewpoint you are several hundred yards from the ruins. The view is not great as the ruins are a longs ways away and the shadows in the bottom of the canyon make for difficult viewing. These ruins are suggested to be about one thousand years old.
Upon leaving the Park I headed south toward Mexican Hat, Utah. The road to get there is like a roller coaster going up and down, then really down. The speed limit goes from 65 mph to 15 mph with many warning signs. The plateau literally just falls away about 1000 feet. I am always amazed how they build these roads.
After arriving in the valley below safely, I came upon the reason the nearby town is called Mexican Hat. The rock formation just north of town is quite distinctive to say the least. The moon added itself for a better effect. It took a lot of effort to get these shots. Not really, this falls into the "did not even get out of the car" group.
The highlight of the journey south, besides the Park, the road down the cliff, and the wind, was the drive through Monument Valley! This is the area made famous in countless Westerns and truly by John Ford and the Duke, John Wayne. The entire area is now the Navajo Nation. To get on to any of the property off the main road you must have a Navajo guide.
One thing I did notice that quite set me back is the road side litter. It almost appears the soil on the sides of the road is 25% broken glass. Another half is plastic bottles and other trash. It seems that Arizona does not have a bottle return deposit law and it shows. There are signs every so often for "Adopt A Highway" program. Does not seem to be effective. I could not imagine trying to pick up the litter from a 50 foot stretch, let alone a mile. It would require a dumpster!
I finally arrived in Phoenix at my brother's home. It is nice and warm!
I slept in a bed! It was warm! Did I say it was warm?
I finally got my act together about 10am to go for a ride in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve Park. This is one of the areas right in the Phoenix city limits that allows hiking, biking and equestrian activities on trails through the mountains. It is much different then Michigan because there is gradient for one and rock for another.
After a short ride on the nicely accommodating roads with bike lanes, I went up into the Shaw Butte area of the park. I had hiked this several times on earlier trips and had always wanted to try the bike. Whoa! The initial slope you ride up is at times about 22% grade, rocky, and loose. Very challenging. I "had" to stop at several points to take some pictures. That's right, I "had" to stop to take pictures, not because my head was going to explode.
The route I took goes up over the top of Shaw Butte where there is a plethora of radio antennas of all sorts, broadcast, cell phone, and phone relay microwave. Down the back side to another lower peak is another challenging slope. This is less technically difficult as there is either dumped concrete for the service vehicles or good solid rock not the ball bearings of the front side. I was more worried about this side then the front from earlier hikes but it proved easier.
I then managed to get my self lost! I got on to a wrong trail, that I had not been on previously. This required me to go all the way down to street level, unfortunately on the south side of the park. I kind of knew I could get to the park visitor center on the east side of the park and find my way back. This was a good move and I now have a map and better knowledge of the area. The other trails in the park are less gradient challenged and offer some great mountain biking.
The best part was no blood was spilled, no equipment was damaged and it was warm enough for shorts and a jersey.
I hear its snowing in Michigan.
Bummer!
One item of note is a ruin of an old restaurant, early 20's, that was up on Shaw Butte. From what I hear, all patrons were brought up the hill in four wheel drive jeeps to dine with phenomenal views of Phoenix in the evening and night. It burned down and was not rebuilt.
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