SWS— Kaibab to Rough Rock

Just a quickie.

The drive down from the Kaibab and past the Vermillion Cliffs is beautiful. The hour or two before sunset is probably the best time to do it, because the Vermillion Cliffs really live up to their name then. But here’s a couple of shots of them around midday.

That’s where they begin. I pulled over to grab those shots as soon as I saw them come into view. Around a bend or two, there’s an official viewpoint, where I took this.

Didn’t stop again until I got to the Navajo Bridge Visitors Center at Marble Canyon. It’s a new-to-me development, and worth a stop. The building is well-done and scenic, and there’s a wide walkway across the river.

Building:

Bridge, viewed from the south side of the walkway:

River, from the north side of the walkway:

It was a bit disturbing to me how little water is being released into the river from Page this early in the year. Hardly looks like “the mighty Colorado”, does it?

Rocks, looking north from the Visitors Center:

Met up with Pat and Bill at Tuba City that evening. We all chowed down on Navajo Tacos, though at separate times; I got there mid-afternoon, and was too hungry to wait for supper.

The next day we headed for Rough Rock. First stop, Kayenta for lunch at the Burger King, which now has a nicely done display on the Navajo Code Talkers. Something else new-to-me–the display, not the Code Talkers (or Burger King🙂). The pictures aren’t very good because of reflections in the glass.

Jane (my Navajo “sister” in Rough Rock) had more work to finish up than she had counted on, so we decided we had time to head up for a quick stop at Monument Valley. One of the international attractions of the area–we heard at least four or five languages other than English or Navajo. A few classic views:

Pat and Bill backed by the classic view.

And a couple more for good measure.

Here’s a shot of the Monument Valley Visitors Center.

And our vans in the parking lot there, side by side.

For Reasons, as the kids say, we ended up parking/camping next to Jane’s house, which is actually pretty comfortable for us.

Next up, Canyon de Chelly.