National Parks, Monuments and (Spectacular) Back Roads
Arizona - Colorado - Utah
8 May 2015 - 16 May 2015
Arizona - Colorado - Utah
8 May 2015 - 16 May 2015
photos by G.P. Jones using Nikon Coolpix L830 digital
camera, except where noted
This trip, like most of my road trips, concentrates on back roads
(i.e., non-Interstate routes) as much as possible.
There is much more interesting scenery (always),
and less chance of getting a speeding ticket.
The itinerary for this trip went something like this (you might want to fire up Google Maps™ and follow along):
- East from Rialto, California (Wigwam Motel, just for the heck of it)
- East to "classic" Route 66 near Peach Springs, Arizona
- West and North on US 93 around the end of the Grand Canyon, then East to where I found out that I couldn't get to the North Rim until the road opened on 15 May
- East again through Page, Arizona and on to Teec Nos Pos (I didn't mis-type that!) and the Four Corners Monument, the only place where four American states meet at a single point
- North through Colorado to Grand Junction (the highlight was undoubtedly Colorado Route 141)
- West again into Utah and down Utah Route 128 to Moab and Arches National Monument
- South on US Route 191 to Bluff, Utah
- SouthWest on US Route 163 to Kayenta, Arizona
- SouthWest on US Route 160 to Tuba City, Arizona
- North on US Route 89 then West on US Route 89A to Jacob Lake, Arizona
- South on Arizona 67 -- now that 15 May had arrived and the road was open -- just in time for a mid-Spring snowstorm and complete fog cover of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (I suppose I'll have to go back some day for the view)
- West to Fredonia, Arizona, then continuing West on Arizona Routes 389 and 59 to Interstate 15 and home
NOTE: Many, perhaps most, of the places seen in these pictures -- and much more stunning scenery -- can be seen without the travel expenses, via Google Street View™. I've tried to provide coordinates (of a sort) to help if you want the virtual experience.
As a teenage driver, I often passed by the Wigwam Motel on Route 66 (known to us as Foothill Boulevard), so I decided to pay my respects after all these years and spend a night there. It turns out this motel isn't quite as unusual as their advertising claims. It was part of a chain built in the 1930s and 1940s.
This wigwam group, just on the border of Rialto and San Bernardino, California, still has what may be the first guest's car (right of picture). Or not.
Traveling East through the desert near Joshua Tree National Monument, one blinks an eye and misses Rice, California, because there's nothing there any more except this makeshift monument to, um, footwear. It started as the Shoe Tree, burned suspiciously in 2003, and was resurrected as the Shoe Fence.
It is one of those spontaneous growths, like the chewing-gum wall (Bubblegum Alley) in San Luis Obispo, California, or the Love Locks on Paris's Pont des Arts, one of many such locations around the world. (At this writing [June 2015] the Pont des Arts Love Locks are being dismantled, as the weight of the padlocks has begun to compromise the bridge's structural integrity -- or so they say).
Shoe Fence, or junkyard? Depends on where you point your camera.
A "nod" to the original is a nice touch.
This sign seems to make no sense to me, but I suppose it's as sensible as the Shoe Fence itself.
As the Shoe Fence is out in the middle of nowhere, I thought I'd include this picture of the closest mile-marker, in case you have some shoes you want to leave behind.
Also on Route 62 not far from the Shoe Fence is another example of creativity (or vandalism, depending on your politics): graffiti spelled out in rocks along the slightly-raised railroad tracks on the North side of the highway. (The Rice Shoe Fence hyperlink above also discusses these mineral messages.)
Somewhere in Arizona, I diverted myself from Old Route 66 and found myself on Really Old Route 66, a portion that winds through the XIXth-century mining town of Oatman. It seems there's another tradition here, sort of like the Rice Shoe Fence, where people festoon the scrub next to the highway with Christmas decorations.
Oatman is set in a rugged, rocky, scenic area of Arizona on a road so treacherous (back when) that Route 66 was diverted around the mountain even before Interstate 40 bypassed them both in 1956, The town of Oatman, like Tombstone in the South of the state, is now strictly tourist-trap (I counted no less than 18 donkeys/mules standing around waiting for photographers); the 50-mile loop of the old highway through the town and on to the North, however, is well worth the bumps and 25-MPH speed limit.
On a road trip a couple of years back (see photos on this Web page, if you like), I discovered the Grand Canyon Caverns, and took their standard tour. The elevator inside this building takes you down 22 stories (220 feet) to some quite extensive caverns that have a fresh-air connection to the Grand Canyon, over 50 miles away).
On the tour, the guides point out a platform in the middle of the largest cavern, on which there is a small theater seating area (about 40 seats) and a remarkable sleeping area/entertainment center which they rent out to those willing to pay the fee, which is comparable to an average hotel room in New York City (i.e., it's expensive).
I got the bug, I have to say, and over the last couple of years decided that I could not pass up this experience. This is what it looks like walking into the "room" from where the elevator lands.
This is the sleeping area, still looking in the same direction as above, up from the elevator.
Turn around, and you see the cavern from the point of view of where you will sleep. It was everything
they said it would be -- remarkable, spooky, and (as one might expect) quiet.
Just outside the platform someone has constructed this slate (?) dog (?). Not something they found while excavating, just a whimsical addition.
Impressive rock formations are not only found in the National Parks and Monuments, but along most of the back roads in this four-state area (see below for which four states, if you don't already know), such as here on US Route 93 NorthWest of Kingman, Arizona.
Approaching the Four Corners Monument (a Navajo business as well as an offical marker) one looks out over four American states. Clockwise from the upper left of the picture you see Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. The point where the states meet is under the flags seen in the distance.
The viewing area for the marker has lotsa commemorative plaques and (usually) people taking selfies with various parts of their bodies simultaneously in each of the four states.
"X" (or "+") marks the spot.
The drive North along Colorado Route 141 was both surprising and stunning, mile after mile after mile. This view, just a few feet from the highway, is the Dolores River Canyon as it appears about 5 miles NorthWest of Uravan, Colorado.
The view in the preceding picture is also the location of the famous "Hanging Flume", an aqueduct of sorts built from 1.8 million feet of board lumber in the 1880s to provide water to otherwise-inaccessible gold-mining activities downstream.
The "Hanging Flume" is not operational, of course, but what remains of it can be seen here right in the middle of the cliff!
Normal intersection in a provincial town? What if I told you this was the corner of Highway 6&50 and 24-3/4 Road? It's in Grand Junction, Colorado, but I don't think this particular intersection is the original "grand junction".
I can see the above caption needs proof. Highway 6&50 . . .
24-3/4 Road
For some reason, I kept seeing faces, heads and bodies in the rock formations on this trip. As this phenomenon repeated itself, I finally started taking pictures of what I was seeing (having already missed getting photos of at least two or three good ones). Here on Utah Route 128 about a mile East of Ninemile Bottom, this outcropping facing to the right looks to me like Abraham Lincoln.
Mt Wass as seen from a vantage point on Utah Route 128 just South of Ninemile Bottom.
Parriott Mesa is along Utah Route 128, just East of Porcupine Canyon. Little did I know when I took this picture that the Apache Motel in Moab would have a still photo from a John Wayne movie (see below) showing this very rock (from a different angle).
One of the two main destinations of this trip was Arches National Park in Eastern Utah. (The other was the North Rim of the Grand Canyon; see below.)
Arches National Park has arches, all right -- over 2,000 of them -- but much of its beauty and variety comes from the unending variety of its other rock formations. I suppose, however, it wouldn't be nearly as romantic to call it Rockpile National Park.
Arches, like most National Parks, is a favorite subject for the real photographers of the world. My photographs are pedestrian by comparison, posted here to give examples and make comments. I recommend a Web image search if you want to see the real artistry that Arches National Park inspires. This is Skyline Arch, seen from the South.
Around on the North side, another view of Skyline arch is seen from Campground Road.
Arches is full of narrow slabs of rock called "fins".
Many Arches rocks jut out of the ground quite dramatically. Anyone who has seen the desert "landscape" of the Cars ride at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim, California, will recognise this look. Of course, this is the original!
Walrus? Or perhaps a fat bird.
More fins
Still more fins
As if the rock formations at Arches aren't enough, the La Sal Mountain Range often provides a dramatic backdrop, seen here from Arches Scenic Drive.
One of the most dramatic arches at Arches is the Double Arch, seen here at the left.
Double Arch, a bit closer. Many photographers have captured much better images than mine. Again, I recommend a Web image search.
South portion of the Parade of Elephants.
This is a PANORAMA - scroll to right to see the entire picture.
Many locations in Arches beg for a wide-angle picture.
This is the Windows area looking East from the access road.
There is not yet a corresponding Mac area.
(The Double Arch and Parade of Elephants seen
above would be just behind you, to the left.)
Another view of the La Sal Mountain Range from Arches Scenic Drive.
Balanced Rock is a popular feature, just off the Scenic Drive and easily accessible.
A slightly wider view of Balanced Rock shows clearly the layers (strata) that existed as a connected plateau before the erosion. Note the thin, lighter layer of rock indicated by the arrows. (I apologise to geologists if I am using the wrong terms.)
The Organ, at left, in the Courthouse Towers area, view to the East
Formation to the North of Courthouse Towers and Sheep Rock
Sheep Rock (right of center)
This massive monolith is known as the Tower of Babel. It's roughly 700 feet (214 metres) high.
Side view, Tower of Babel. It looks slanted, but when seen from a distance
its top surface is roughly parallel to the valley floor.
(Take a look at Snuffy's picture© posted on flickr.com/, taken in 2006.
Also, this Google Street View™ shows the same view, with The Organ at the right, and
Sheep Rock in the distance to the left.)
This is the backside of Park Avenue, seen from the North.
When viewing Park Avenue from the South, perhaps the most striking feature to the left of the viewpoint area is Queen Nefertiti Rock. On seeing it, the reference to Nefertiti was unmistakable, even though I had no idea until later of its official name.
Park Avenue
As noted above (while we travelled South along Utah Route 128), the Apache Motel in Moab, Utah -- a historic landmark mostly because John Wayne stayed there in the 1950s -- has this picture in the lobby, apparently showing The Duke and wagon train snaking around Parriott Mesa to the North of Castle Valley, NorthEast of Moab. The plaque under the picture says it's from Rio Grande (1950), but I couldn't verify that. It seems more likely it would be from Wagon Master (also 1950), but that is just a hunch.
Self serve? I can just imagine Fido coming in, sunglasses and all, and sponging himself down on a hot day.
This, to use a common Utah phrase, is an abomination. Signs painted directly on magnificent geology such as this were a crime when painted, and will remain a crime until the day after they are removed in an environmentally-responsible manner.
Having said that, the Hole n" the Rock attraction -- originally a home built (you guessed it) in the rock about a hundred years ago -- is a remarkable place, ruined by the inevitable gift shop and tourist features.
South of the Hole n" the Rock tourist trap is a real hole in the rock -- Wilson Arch, on US Route 191.
This is a PANORAMA -- scroll to the right to see the full image.
The Valley of the Gods, off US Route 163 about 3 miles North of Mexican Hat, Utah, is sometimes called "Little Monument Valley".
Competing geology? Here are horizontal strata backed with near-vertical curvy features.
(Again, apologies to the Science of Geology.)
In a supermarket in Kayenta, Arizona, I was struck with the similarity between these layered stacks of Spam and some of the stratified rock formations I had been seeing on this trip. (I guess you had to be there!)
Most old buildings seen along the once-great US Highways before the Interstates siphoned off the traffic and the business are completely gone. This old ruin, however, in a spot known as Cow Springs, Arizona, along the Navajo Highway (US Route 160), still has original signage. (If you plug "Cow Springs, AZ" into Google Street View™, it will take you right to the spot.)
Strong feelings on the walls of the former filling station.
To me, "Remember who you are" is good advice for anyone, Native American and otherwise.
OK, now to the second "main attraction" of this trip. I mentioned above that my original intention was to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon just after spending the night in the Cavern Cave Room on US Route 66, which would have been around 10 May. On arrival in Kanab, Utah, I saw a sign informing me (and everyone else) that Arizona Highway 67, the only route to the North Rim, would open on 15 May. After circling around through New Mexico, Colorado and Utah (see above), I positioned myself to enter the National Park on the first day of opening. So did the snowstorm, seen here shrouding a recent fire-damaged area.
Yes, folks, after very warm weather and bright sun everywhere else on this trip, this was the scene on 15 May 2015 on the Kaibab Plateau approaching the North Rim.
Beautiful, but dangerous without snow tires, and the staff at the Lodge told me their best guess that the thick fog completely covering the Canyon would likely be there all day. The better part of valor instructed me to plan to come back another day, maybe in July. Ah, Nature!
About a mile West of Fredonia, Arizona is my favorite Ship Rock. This formation, from almost any angle, looks to me like the Queen Mary without smokestacks.
(NOTE: This location is all but impossible to find with a Web search engine, since the Navajo Shiprock in New Mexico is much more famous, even though [to me] that other one doesn't look like a ship at all. Shiprock apparently is the white man's name for the New Mexico rock, since it sort of resembles one of those full-sailed clipper ships. In fact, the Navajo name [Tsé bit 'a 't] for the New Mexico Shiprock means "rock with wings", and that fits it much more adequately.)