(Day 1 of 5 is a jip! You paid the price of wasted calories and index finger muscle soreness by clicking on the link only to get a half day’s worth of pics! Day 2 on the other hand, is a bargain, I promise)
Red-rocks and Aspen. Heat and hail filled thunderstorms. Desert and 11,000 foot mountain passes. Utah is weird. Weird good.
(A picture of Tuba City Arizona shown, to confuse things...)
So, we headed out after work and made our way from Phoenix to Flagstaff. We stopped in Flag to get a bite and ended up talking to a kid who’d just moved there from California to study Physical Therapy. He didn’t know a single person in town and had never even visited before. We chatted him up about the many outdoor activities he had at his finger tips and with him sufficiently stoked and re-affirmed (or was it terrified) in his life changing decision, we motored on towards Monument Valley, AZ.
On the way we stopped off to see the fossilized Dinosaur tracks near Tubac, AZ.
At first some of the footprints seem vague.
Then you add a little water and the outlines begin to define themselves revealing a recognizable foot print!
(Toenail paint brings out the fossils.....)
There are even Dinosaur fossils besides just foot prints. It’s a pretty neat stop. I wouldn’t say it’s a destination by any stretch, but a worthy 15 minute break while driving. Be prepared to tip the guides that will show you around and most likely lie about what dinosaur each print is from. (Yesir, this one’s a Velociraptor, Velociraptor, Trex, Velociraptor and Giraffe.) Or, bring your own water and let the guides know that you’re okay on your own. That’s the way I prefer it.
There is something special about driving through Monument Valley at sunset with a swirling thunderstorm around you. The road was quiet, the lack of tourists not lost on us, the views I’d seen many times were new to me now.
(3rd Photo: During this minute long exposure not a single car passed which was good since my camera was sitting in the road. It’s not often you visit a place millions travel to and have a quiet moment to yourself.)
We pulled into “Goosenecks State Park” to realize that in the 5 years since I’d visited they’d added exactly 1 facility, a pay booth for camping and entry. We decided to find a nearby dirt road and call it a day. Please stop developing everything. We were beat.
Goodnight.
Previous: Bugout | Next: Redrocks and Aspen Trees - UTAH - Day 2