Moss Beach to Yosemite – Day 2

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The decision was made last night to deviate from our route home. Had we decided to try to make Bakersfield, we’d be home on Sunday by about 2:00 p.m., so let’s go somewhere else and use our time doing other stuff. With that, we looked at the map and drove to Jamestown, California. By 8:00 this morning, we were in Yosemite National Park for our second visit since we came through with my mother-in-law Jutta on our first visit back in the 20th century.

A beautiful start to the day with the weather on our side. Our point-and-shoot Sony Cyber-Shot is not capable of taking a photo of El Capitan at this range and getting it all in the frame, so we took three portrait images and stitched them together in Photoshop for the image you are looking at. You might see some smudging and focus differences if you look closely, such is the problem of the lenses and automatic shooting that accompanies digital cameras. At least we’re no longer shooting 1MP images.

Maybe it’s because we are here so early, or maybe in April, not as many people are on vacation, but this visit is shaping up to be much better than our previous encounter, where throngs of people were choking off the environment and creating a noise that made visiting a bit of a bummer.

Serenity should be experienced just like this.

It’s been nice moving through Yosemite Valley at a reasonable pace without feeling pressured to try to avoid heavy crowds. I can only imagine what people like Ansel Adams and John Muir found in these locations far removed from busy cities and not easily accessible back during their early explorations. I’m a bit melancholic with this idea that our National Parks can only get busier, more littered, and harmed as time goes on. Sadly, there is no season pass for entry where someone has to prove their trustworthiness when visiting these treasures.

How does one ever tire of gazing upon waterfalls?

Beaches, tide pools, sea life, a great movie, expansive nature, and a beautiful wife who loves being out here as much as I do. I am lucky.

Not a cloud in the sky nor a care in the world.

Always remember to turn over rocks, look on the underside of things, and be certain to see what others might have missed because it’s not just the extravagant landscapes that hold oodles of amazement, but it is often in the cracks and crevices that we can find things never seen before.

After nearly five hours here in Yosemite we have to take our leave. Five hours after that, we stopped in Valencia, California for dinner with our old friend Mark Shimer, and then at 7:30 p.m., we were back on the road for what will now be a late night. We made it to Starbucks in Banning three minutes before they closed and hit Blythe just before 11:00 p.m. with about 150 miles to go. All this to see a movie? Absolutely. While some people thought we were crazy for driving 1,500 miles to see a cartoon, they can easily sit on a couch watching TV for 10 hours on Saturday – who’s crazy?

Walnut Canyon National Monument

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Walnut Canyon National Monument in Flagstaff, Arizona

Drove up north and then east of Flagstaff for a visit to Walnut Canyon National Monument. The cliff dwellings were once inhabited by the Sinagua people, but that was about 1000 years ago. Today, they lay in ruin in the cliff walls. The nearby Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments are also considered early Sinagua locations.

Caroline Wise and John Wise at Walnut Canyon National Monument in Flagstaff, Arizona

The Arizona Black Walnut tree makes a home here on the floor of the canyon about 350 feet below the rim above. In all, there are more than 380 species of plants in the canyon. Unfortunately, the trails here are on the rim and down to the ruins; as far as we can find, there are no trails that venture into the canyon adjacent to the dwellings for us to familiarize ourselves with the local flora.

Walnut Canyon National Monument in Flagstaff, Arizona

And then I learned why there are no other trails: it’s because there are other cliff dwellings nearby that are off-limits to tourist-type visitors, which makes sense as, even though the percentage is low, visitors tend to also travel with an element intent of destroying or leaving their mark on native treasures and artifacts.

Walnut Canyon National Monument in Flagstaff, Arizona

A microcosm of the Grand Canyon is on display here, with the rim made up of Kaibab Limestone; below that is the Toroweap Formation, and Coconino Sandstone is the bottom layer. If you know what to look for, all three layers are visible here.

Stoneman Lake in Coconino County, Arizona

Stoneman Lake in Coconino County is one of just a few natural lakes in Arizona, although it’s not a large lake in any sense of the word. This is how we spent our Sunday.

Monument Valley to the Grand Canyon

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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

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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.

Yarnell to Williams

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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.

Native American Lands – Day 1

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Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona

Our lives should have stories; while this one is cheesier, it was ours. While many places along Route 66 are simply gone, there are a couple of stretches where images of an era gone by are clinging to life, such as in Seligman, Winslow, and here in Holbrook. Someday, this place too may join the fate of many of the other original Wigwam locations and be bulldozed, but we’ll know firsthand what it was like to sleep in a concrete Tee Pee on one of America’s most famous old highways.

Holbrook, Arizona

Fitting in with our nostalgic overnight we just had to stop in a cafe for breakfast, and a great breakfast it was.

Native American Lands

Heading into the lands of Native America.

Native American Lands

The landscape is beautiful, but it’s also obvious that it gets little rainfall. Along the way, we stopped at the Hubbell Trading Post listed as a National Historic Site.

Native American Lands

After this dust storm blew across the landscape, we were offered a bit of rain, but just a little.

Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado

Over in the southwest corner of Colorado, not far from the Four Corners region where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico all share a common border spot is the Mesa Verde National Park. For almost 10,000 years, the native people of North America have inhabited this area. Today, there are over 4,300 archaeological sites in this park, though only a few are easily visited.

Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado

These cliff dwellings are probably the largest draw for visitors to Mesa Verde.

Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado

Our time here is too brief as it is in so many of our travels while we are out here trying to get oriented to the lands of America.