Monument Valley to the Grand Canyon

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Monument Valley, Utah

Everyone should have the opportunity to drive into Monument Valley early in the morning because this place is simply otherworldly.

Monument Valley, Utah

Photos cannot share the scale or sense of being at a place like a visit can. While these quick weekend jaunts might see us effectively speeding through our environment, we are always thinking that it is better to have fleeting moments of these places than to stay at home to see yet another match between some sports teams that have no relationship to our sense of aesthetic reality.

Monument Valley, Utah

There’s a small sense of tragedy here when one thinks about how these monoliths stand above the floor of the valley due to everything that has fallen away and then realizes how, at some point, they will be gone forever. Fortunately, that won’t happen in our lifetimes or for many lifetimes to come.

Monument Valley, Utah

I’ve been near this location before, and I’ll return in the years to come, but never have I seen this rock lit in just this way that it was so easy to see a face.

Lake Powell, Arizona

After a couple of hours in Monument Valley, we drove south towards Kayenta, stopping for lunch at the Golden Sands Cafe (now closed) and then onto Road 98 towards Page and Lake Powell. You might notice that the lake is full!

Chief Yellowhorse Trading Post, Arizona

Because “Nice Indians” are way better to shop with for Indian tchotchkes than angry ones.

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

That’s the Little Colorado Canyon out there. It joins the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, which is where we are going.

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

We are stopping in the Grand Canyon National Park because we can. It might be a bit out of the way if what we want to do is get home early, but as I said before, we’d rather collect these impressions and know that we’ve used our time to the best of our ability. This is the Desert View Watchtower, designed by Mary Colter and built in 1932.

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Needed at least one obligatory scenic view of the Canyon.

Caroline Wise and John Wise at Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

And, of course one of us in front of it too. We made it to Hopi House over by the El Tovar Hotel in Grand Canyon Village before pointing the car south for our four-hour drive home. Must have been about midnight when we finally got home, but not bad that we were able to visit Sunset Crater, Wupatki, Navajo National Monument, Valley of the Gods, Monument Valley, Lake Powell, and the Grand Canyon all in one weekend.

Wupatki to Monument Valley

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Wupatki National Monument, Arizona

We drive north out of Phoenix and, in a couple of hours, are passing Flagstaff. Just a wee bit further north, we turn right towards Sunset Crater National Monument where the road leads us right to Wupatki National Monument. This is not our first visit here; it won’t be our last.

Painted Desert, Arizona

On Highway 160 into the Navajo and Hopi Reservations, the stark landscape has a prehistoric beauty that, while visually appealing, seems difficult to tame for comfortable living.

Elephant's Feet, Arizona

These are the Elephant’s Feet near Tonalea on the Navajo Trail. We are driving northeast.

Navajo National Monument, Arizona

Looking into the Navajo National Monument and making note that we need to schedule a hike to the Betatakin alcove and ruins (pictured), which is a five-mile round trip. Equally as important but more strenuous is the 17-mile round trip hike to Keet Seel that requires a permit. Camping permits for overnight stays in the area are also available.

Monument Valley, Utah

It’s 4:00 p.m. as we leave Kayenta, Arizona, and stop for this photo near milepost 398 on Highway 163. Not making great time, but we love the sights, so we’ll get to our destination when we do, and that will be fine.

Monument Valley, Utah

Monument Valley and some asses come into view as we approach the Utah border here in northern Arizona.

Monument Valley, Utah

Tomorrow, we’ll enter Monument Valley, but it’s getting late for where we are planning to spend the night, so we need to keep going.

Caroline Wise and John Wise in Valley of the Gods, Utah

We are peeking into Valley of the Gods here in Utah before checking into the Mexican Hat Lodge.

Cow Canyon Trading Post in Bluff, Utah

With so much light of the day still available, we opted to drive up to Bluff, Utah. In addition to Navajo rugs, pottery, and jewelry, the Cow Canyon Trading Post has a restaurant that we ate at the year before while my mother-in-law Jutta was visiting us. We stopped in just for the photo today because the last time we were here, I forgot to snap an image for a reminder of exactly where we sat for a perfectly wonderful dinner at a place that surpassed all of our expectations for being so far off the beaten path.

Mexican Hat Inn, Utah

We had to skip dinner at Cow Canyon for the selfish reason that I was not going to miss having steak here at the Mexican Hat Lodge, which is also known as “Home of the Swinging Steak.” Live music, wandering dogs, coyotes howling in the distance, an occasional car passing by, and a lot of stars here in the Valley of Gods are the perfect companions for a night away from it all.

Aguila, Bouse, Lake Havasu, Oatman, Kingman

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Caroline Wise and John Wise at Hassayampa River Preserve

Last week, we passed through Wickenburg and drove right past the Hassayampa River Preserve, but we can only do that so many times to a place before we finally decide that we have to pay it a visit, and so that’s our first stop today.

Hassayampa River Preserve

It’s a pretty little oasis here at the Hassayampa.

Burro Jim Motel in Aguila, Arizona

Somewhere between Nothing and Hope, you’ll find Aguila, and unless you are a desert farmer or just someone interested in what stuff and which places are out beyond our purview from the freeways, I have no idea what you’d be doing out here.

Ruin next to the road between Aguila and Bouse, Arizona

Horse tie-ups still in place. I guess that says something about how long this former establishment has been in ruin. Roadside in Salome, Arizona.

Old Brayton Ghost Town near Bouse, Arizona

Kinda neat little place along the road called the “Old Brayton Ghost Town & Museum.” To visit it, you are put on the honor system, and it is hoped you’ll offer $1 per adult and 50 cents per child to help keep things going. Our loop today is now traveling through Bouse, Arizona.

Parker Dam on the California-Arizona border.

London Bridge at Lake Havasu, Arizona

London Bridge, originally built in 1830, is now about 5,459 miles (8.844 km) from where it first spanned the Thames River. Today, it spans a small channel of the Colorado River to an island that came into being as the Parker Dam backed up the Colorado, forming Lake Havasu.

Sadly, we drove right by the Silver Dollar Chuck Wagon restaurant in Topock, Arizona, missing a “broasted chicken” dinner, but we’d just eaten an hour earlier in Lake Havasu. This is old Route 66, which at one time was the main road across the United States for those heading west. Somehow, I can’t imagine being out here in the 1930s in cars without air conditioning and services that were few and far between.

For those who took this road some 70 years ago out of Chicago and before the age of television, how foreign and exotic must this have looked to them?

In 1921, much of Oatman burned down, but the Durlin Hotel survived (not pictured). Besides having a population as large as 3,500 due to a gold find back in 1915, Oatman was put on the map after Carole Lombard and Clark Gable got married nearby in Kingman on March 18, 1939, and passed through on their honeymoon. Clark Gable enjoyed the town so much that he would frequently return to play poker with the local miners.

For that authentic Old West look, there should be donkeys everywhere in Arizona.

We are in Kingman and probably not where Clark Gable and his new bride Carole Lombard had dinner (nor did we), but we definitely like the old sign.

And this was the big payoff of the day, a spectacular sunset with crepuscular rays.

Last remnants of the golden fires of the late-day sky as we drive south back towards Wickenburg and Phoenix.

Would this be the last monsoon of the summer season near Phoenix?

Yarnell to Williams

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Congress, Arizona

Today’s road trip started on Highway 60, but this time, we are heading northwest in the direction of Las Vegas. Before we ever get to Sin City, though, we’ll pass through Wickenburg and then turn off to Congress, Arizona.

Congress, Arizona

Not sure Congress can be called a town but if so, it might be more appropriately referred to as a Ghost Town.

Congress, Arizona

Frog Rock is a roadside attraction that might garner more attention than Congress that we just passed through.

Yarnell, Arizona

Lunch was nearby at the Ranch House Restaurant here in Yarnell.

I have a sweet spot for decrepit old buildings and signs from a bygone era. The motel is no longer open, and one wonders about how long until the sign goes away too.

Update: In late 2023, Grace Harris took a photo of the same sign that is now a lot worse for wear. She told me that at one time, the place was called the Boulders Motel. I asked Google’s Bard about it, and it appears that the postcard on the internet of this sign and location with the different name was from 1958. 

From a former bordello more than one hundred years ago to a steakhouse today. Hopefully, someday, we’ll come back for something to eat here in Kirkland, Arizona, at the Kirkland Bar & Steakhouse.

You can bet that if there are a lot of people in the Phoenix area who have never visited the Grand Canyon, there are even more who don’t know we have a township on the back roads to Prescott called Skull Valley.

Keep driving north through Prescott, Chino Valley, Paulden, and Ash Fork up on Interstate 40, turn east, and you’ll reach Williams.

Williams, Arizona

This is also the place you might catch the train to the Grand Canyon, but probably not this exact one.

Walnut Canyon National Monument, Arizona

We were in the area, so why not make time for a stop at Walnut Canyon National Monument?

Even though it’s summer, we live too far south to experience the luxury of sunsets that don’t happen until after 11:00 p.m. It’s only shortly past 7:00, and the sun is fading fast on our way home.

Globe to Ft. Apache

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Near Superior, Arizona

Passing through Superior when we’re traveling east on Highway 60 is always a pleasure as it’s not too far from Phoenix and the landscape changes dramatically while traveling west on the I-10 towards California involves more than one hundred miles of desert.

Near Superior, Arizona

A quick stop at Boyce Thompson Arboretum satisfies our need for lush vegetation.

Globe, Arizona

Driving north out of Globe, you pass the Apache Drive-in, which is almost startling in appearance as you realize that it’s still open. How much longer can these relics from the past continue?

Flower in Arizona

A yellow bug for a yellow flower.

Off the road to Ft. Apache, Arizona

It’s still monsoon season here in Arizona, and where there’s some elevation, the water isn’t immediately absorbed by the thirsty desert. Not only does the rain replenish the plant life, but it also goes far to refresh our parched senses.

Ft. Apache, Arizona

A little off the beaten path is the Ft. Apache Historic Park. From here, we ventured into Pinetop for a short drive through town and something to eat.

Clay Springs, Arizona

Passing through Clay Springs on the loop back to Phoenix.

Payson, Arizona

Payson up on the Mogollon Rim is our last stop before heading down the hill and back to the hot desert we crawled out of.