The Valley Of The Gods

Thursday, September 20th, had it's highs and its lows. We started out trying to find the side road which leads up to the eroded volcanic spire called Shiprock. We ended up seeing it at a distance from every side but couldn't find the right road to get close to it.

Then we got lost for a couple of hours trying to find the 'Four Corners' where New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah meet. (The only four-point border in the USA.) Come to find out, we had driven right past it because the sign (which we saw) was misleading. About 20 miles later we got directions from a British fellow who indicated he had just been there, but sent us in the wrong direction! We ended up going 71 extra miles driving in a complete circle having covered two-thirds of it twice . . . But we did finally get there:)

After finally finding the Four Corners (and taking our turns standing on THE POINT), we drove through the desolate, but beautiful, southeast corner of Utah on our way to The Valley Of The Gods. We ALMOST decided to bypass the Valley because it required driving on 17 miles of DIRT ROAD, but the scenery was so impressive we couldn't resist! Although there were some interesting drop-offs and blind hills, the one-lane road itself was not tooooo bad, and we were able to travel about 15 mph when we weren't stopping to take pictures. It was so arid and dry, the few vehicles we encountered raised so much dust that we could see the cloud way ahead, and get off the side of the road before they reached us. As evening approached we decided to pull off the road and camp where we were for the night and finish tomorrow (about 6-7 more miles).

So . . . the beginning of the day had some unfortunate lows, but we ended on a high:)

 

Posted with Blogsy