If I Were Going...: Back Again, with Some New Stops; Valley of the Gods

Valley of the Gods

Caty and I just went to the Southwest – see my most recent blogs. Scott and I wanted to take a brief weekend getaway and ended up going back the same direction. Our destination was the Grand Canyon.

I love the Grand Canyon

Yes, I have gone there a lot recently, but it’s a day’s drive away and the roads were open. I looked into Grand Teton, but we were about two days too early for access. I don't know if people from the lowlands understand how late roads stay closed in the Rockies.

Some parks don't open until June or July!

I am not going to blog about the Grand Canyon because I just did. Suffice it to say, our visit was lovely and rather laid back.

And, unlike many other visits, the Colorado River was a gorgeous turquoise blue.

Grand Canyon, blue river and sunset

I saw virtually NO wildlife except some scruffy Elk, a few Mule Deer, lots of Common Ravens, White-Throated Swifts too fast to photograph and a very, very brief glimpse of a very, very far away California Condor flying about mid-Canyon level.

California Condor above the Grand Canyon

While at the Grand Canyon, we went to the IMAX movie in the nearby town of Tusayan, something I had wanted to do for years. What a disappointment!

Not as good as my shots!

The disjointed script covered native peoples, John Wesley Powell, wildlife and ended, oddly, with an Ultralight flying to dramatic music into the sunset above the Canyon. Just try flying your Ultralight in that airspace!

The biggest disappointment was that this giant screen IMAX footage was dark and dull. The first time I have seen an IMAX movie make something look less exciting than it really is. Hire the Planet earth people next time!

But, I digress. On the way to the Canyon, we made some stops:

We stopped in Mesa Verde, which I blogged about in 2018, on the first night.

Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings

One reason we chose Mesa Verde is that there was room at the Far View Lodge, which sits 15 miles inside the Park. It advertises dark skies, but there is a significant amount of city light from the valley below. We were not successful grabbing the Milky Way, but we did see some pretty stars.

Big Dipper, left, and two planes, right.

We also briefly visited Monument Valley (mainly just to eat lunch), which I blogged about in 2017.

A quick Monument Valley drive-by

On the way, we visited Valley of the Gods, which I will talk about below ...

Valley of the Gods

Lake Powell, which I will talk about in my next blog ...

Lake Powell

And, Antelope Canyon, which I will cover in the final blog on this trip ...

Antelope Canyon, Canyon X

So, let's talk about Valley of the Gods.

Valley of the Gods

We would not have visited Valley of the Gods had we not seen a few hot air balloons lifting off way in the distance. The sight of the colorful balloons against the red spires and bluffs was so compelling that we pulled off the highway and took the winding gravel road back to where the balloons were without knowing if we could even get there. Unfortunately, we got there just as they were landing and packing up. That involves landing ON the road, which blocked our way fro a while, but it was lovely to watch ...

Balloon down!

... and, we still managed to get a few photos of the balloons above and in front of the striking landscape ...

Balloons in Valley of the Gods

Previously, I had seen Valley of the Gods from the Moki Dugway (Highway 261), a spectacular winding road down a steep cliff in southeastern Utah. From the top, you can see the Valley of the Gods.

Map: Google Maps

From the ground, it is very cool (and, because it was April, it was cool; in a month, it will be blazing hot).

Valley of the Gods formations

Just outside Bluff, Utah, Valley of the Gods is just north of Monument Valley across the San Juan River and has rock similar formations.

Desert flowers

Valley of the Gods was part of Bears Ears National Monument until Trump decreased the sacred cultural indigenous monument by 85 percent to make way for mining and other destructive commercial ventures. The state of Utah supported this move.

Very similar to Monument Valley -- and NO entrance fee!

Fortunately, the area remains protected public land administered as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern and managed by the Bureau of Land Management, as it was before the National Monument designation.

Plus, Trump's move is being contested by several lawsuits, including one filed by Patagonia, the outdoor clothing and equipment company, which is a great steward of the environment. Patagonia also pulled out of the outdoor retailers industry show in Salt Lake City. Other companies followed suit and the show moved to Denver.

Read about Patagonia's progress here.

A 17-mile-long gravel road winds through Valley of the Gods, threading through the impressive spires and buttes.

The road gets up close and personal with formations

The road is steep and bumpy, but very drivable. I understand that it can be impassable if wet; it crosses multiple washes. Camping is allowed in “disturbed” areas (mainly pullouts by the road) and we saw a number of people camping along the way (primarily in RVs). There are no facilities and campfires are not allowed.

A turn in the road

The statuesque formations are sculpted from Cedar Mesa sandstone dating to the Permian period, around 250 million years ago. Eroded by water, wind and ice over millions of years, the rock was carved into the unique buttes, monoliths (single massive stone or rock), pinnacles and other geological features as seen today.