Nothing like the smell of burnt rubber first thing in the morning.

The end is near.  Or is it..

I am writing this just miles from the Canadian border, eating my last gourmet road breakfast, guess where? 

Yesterday I didn’t post simply because I was just too darn tired. Did a 16 hour day and 656 miles, that's 1056 Kilometers.

 

I had expected that once I left Monument Valley things would be pretty mundane for the rest of the trip back.   

WRONG…

To start, as I was heading north to Moab I did as I often did and kept one eye on my rear view mirror to see what might be materializing behind me. The beauty and scope of the country is just too powerful to speed by without “stopping to smell the roses” or in this case cactus flowers. Just don’t sick your nose too close.

Though it's a desert it is teaming with life

Pushing upward these ancient beauties are real desert jewels.

Came across a group, no gaggle is a better word, of girls on a GAP trip.  When I say came across it’s more like nearly ran over. 

Ok, now before any of you get your nickers-in-a-knot about running down the local wildlife, please, let me explain.

Going north from Monument Valley to Moab on Hwy 163 the road runs as straight as an arrow for about 4 miles, increasing in elevation until it reach a small plateau.    

Where else does a ribbon of asphalt add to the scene

At the plateau, there is a pullover and this is where 20 giggling and very excited young ladies were gathered to have their pictures taken with the majestic view in the BG.  They were turning the photo moment into a full-fledged production.  Taking their pictures in groups, jumping as a group, running towards the camera as a group and any other combinations you can imagine. 

The thing is this, for an approaching car (that being me) anyone or things on the plateau aren't visible until just before you crest.    Doing 70+ mph the gaggle suddenly came into view and I stepped on my brakes and the girls scattered, like a flock of crows feasting on road kill.  

The 18 wheeler only meters off of my bumper, (he was pouring on the diesel to make the grade) hauling 50,000 pounds (that's 22,679 kilos) of rebar, said it best.  With his air horn piercing the quite still landscape and dense blue smoke pouring from his tires the road becoming shrouded in a blue haze.  I'm sure the girls felt their GAP trip was just about to be terminated.  

The only damage was about $1,000.00 worth of rubber being left on the very hot pavement and a very annoyed "long haulier".

Wisely, the girls moved further down the road so they could better see oncoming traffic.  I pulled over to watched their antics, the trucker needed what little momentum he had left to finish the climb and couldn't stop.  Great fun, unless you're the trucker.

 

The excitement

Oh to be young and carefree again.

I've said it before but it's worth repeating.  This part of the country, for all of its raw and hostile environment, is indescribably beautiful.

For all of its beauty, you have to be careful as the desert can jump up and bite you just when you least expected it.

 

Caution is needed or you too could get bitten.

Arrived in Moab and hunted for Hwy 128.  Why 128?  Well, remember Don Robertson at the Ghost Mining town in Jerome?  Well, he told me to find this road "you'll be glad you did".

Hwy 128 runs beside the Colorado River in a gorge with the steep red sandstone walls towering above you.  Though taking 128 adds about an hour to your day, it’s well worth it.  The traffic moves at a snail's pace, everyone is soaking up the beauty. 

Glad I took Don's advise instead of staying on Hwy 163 and pounding straight for I-70.
 

Surprised that anything crows in this heat

These things  come crashing down on a regular basis and the road signs warn you.

Colorado winding along Hwy 128 near Moab

Dead Black Trees against the backdrop of a Crystal Blue sky and Red Butte.

About to go rafting on the mighty C

I had expected that getting to Denver would be pretty straightforward.  Like everything else about this trip, Wrong Again!

The highway is a series of huge climbs, through tunnels, past rivers, up and down valleys, though lovely sleepy ski resort towns just waiting to be awakened by the arrival of snow.  You become very aware that your car’s engine is labouring to suck oxygen in the thin air of 11,125 plus feet and your ears need to be constantly purged. Man, does you gas consumption shoot up.  Despite being on a high-speed interstate the trip is not quick.  Take a wrong exit and it’s 20 minutes before you can correct your mistake.  Great fun.

Not much oxygen at this altitude. Even though the speed limit is posted as 60 you can see my speed is just 45.

Check out the altitude on my GPS's altimeter. Even the GPS has desert dust on it.

About to enter the 1.7 mile (2.74 km) Johnson Tunnel

Inside the tunnel

After Colorado, you enter the flat open expanse of Nebraska.  Talk about from the sublime to the ridiculous.  Actually, there isn't anything ridiculous about Nebraska but the sudden change in landscape when you pop out of the tunnel is extreme.  

Onward, onward you charge, thank goodness the highway speed is set at 75 mph which means most are doing 80+.

Then before you know it you hit Iowa.  Gorgeous slow rolling luscious green fields dotted with miles of wind turbines. I found an exit and just had to pull off of I-80 to stop to soak up the beauty and do some photography.   

Rolling Green Hills of Iowa

Truck on dusty Iowa country road

Iowans take their conservation seriously. Over 27% of Iowa's energy needs come from wind.   Not all solar need to boring in design. 

Wind Turbines in Iowa

I shot this pic as it struck me as funny.  It's a single blade from a wind turbine.  At 127 feet tall and 36 tons, you don't want this thing to topple over.  A full unit weights 171 tons.  

Single Turbine Blade as a monument at a weigh scale stop

What struck me as funny was that it reminded me of a scene in the original 1968 Planet of the Apes, with Charleston Heston.  In the scene, Heston who is an astronaut who time travels into the future and witnesses apes paying homage to what they think is an image of their god.  In fact, it's an ICBM missile.

ICBM in scene from 1968 Planet of the Apes

While the wind turbine's blade is used for peaceful purposes the ICBM is just the opposite. I was struck by the similarities even though how opposite these two objects are and what they stand for.  

Funny how your mind goes when alone for long periods of time. The strangest things pop into one's head.


More to come….

Into Tse Bii' Ndzisgaii

Monument Valley

If you stand long enough, squint and gaze into the far distance you just might see a dust plume and a galloping team of four horses pulling a stagecoach, along the base of a butte.  Following the coach you might also see a troop of US Calvary led by a distinct figure wearing a yellow bandanna and a white trooper’s hat with the front brim turned up.  That imposing silhouette looks very familiar, I'm darn sure I've seen that feller somewhere before.  Could it be?  I think it is! Yes, it’s..

Please, permit me this bit of fantasy.  I grew up with the likes of John Ford’s classic  “Stagecoach”, “Fort Apache” and more. It was these stunning black & white vista panoramic movies that featured the towering sandstone buttes of Monument Valley in Arizona. The Navajo call them Tse Bii’ Ndzisgaii meaning valley of the rocks.  Ford shot many of his western movies here and was an ardent champion of this unique area of the US.  In fact, Monument Valley has been catapulted into the American consciousness thanks to the many westerns that Ford shot here.

 

On the way to Monument Valley

Arriving at Monument Valley you can either stay on the rim and view the buttes from the comfort of the Navajo welcome centre or, as I did, you can test yourself and your cars endurance abilities and venture onto the valley floor, to drive "the loop".   

Driving "the loop" is not for the faint of heart. 

The first 100 yards consists of a 45º slope in the very soft red soil.  SUV’s can find it a challenge so you can only imagine how the average car does.  Not to go unmentioned are the washboard road surfaces in many spots that can seriously rattle and shake both you and your car.  There is a dentist at the welcome centre to replace fillings that get jarred loose and a Navajo towing service to the nearest garage to fix your car's suspension ;-)

Nothing can prepare you for the dust you are about to experience.  Every vehicle emerged from the one and a half hour trip covered in a thick layer of Arizona red dust.  The visitors who opted not to take their own vehicle into "the loop" but instead choose the open air vehicle guided tours needed to wear dust masks.  All the time you are in the Monument Valley area there is dust everywhere. It creeps into your eyes, nose, ears, hair and worst of all your camera's sensor.  Some say don't change your lens while on the valley floor but one lens can't deliver all your needs in such a place that's screaming to be captured with everything from a fish-eye to a telephoto.

 

Did I mention the dust?

It’s definitely worth putting up will all the dust.  Monument Valley is breathtaking and cannot be truly appreciated until it's viewed from "the loop".  The buttes tower above you on your right, you’re left, in front and behind you. At every turn people were popping in and out of their vehicles with cameras, cell phones, tablets snapping, snapping, snapping.  Some try to capture the beauty, others check their emails, while others shoot who-knows-what.

Typical family scene. At least this group left their vehicle, many don't.

Cars on "the loop"

The point from which John Ford shot many of his scenes

 

Buttes and a very old tree

Must give the Navajo real credit for preserving this magnificent wonder.  Also, their entrepreneurship is never-ending.  At the John Ford lookout, this is the location where he shot many of his panoramic scenes, there was a guy renting his horse for you to sit upon so that a family member could then take a photograph with the famous vista in the BG.

 

The tourist just eat this kind of thing up.  One more step backwards and Dad will be a goner.

I’ve never shot so much of any one place, everything changes every minute.   I stayed long after sundown to shoot the famous buttes.  In the last of the day's fleeting light, using long exposures, these giants are magnificent.

Remaining well after the sun went down resulted in some of the best photos.  With only one exception all the others shooters jumped back into their cars as soon as the sun went behind the horizon. Regardless of what Apple might claim, the iPhone and iPads just can't capture long exposures the way a DSLR or mirrorless camera can.

"The Mittens" Before sunset

"The Mittens" After Sunset

No amount of viewing videos or looking at photos can quite prepare you for what Monument Valley has in store.  There is almost something magical about this place.  Just after the sun went down the wind started to gently blow and a soft murmur seemed to be coming from the valley. This noise along with the snaking line of the headlights of the last of the vehicles leaving "the loop" made for a surreal moment. No wonder the Navajo guard this place with such passion. 

For those interested as to how these marvels came about here is a brief explanation.  Not being a geologist I cannot vouch for the complete accuracy of my information but from what I've read it's not too far off the mark.

If nothing else moves you about this place perhaps the knowledge that you are standing at the foot of giants whose creation started 300 million years ago just might have an effect. 

300 million years ago this place was once an inland sea, then 220 million years ago it became a green forest that provided food for early dinosaurs. Sometime around 200 million years ago the climate became aired, the forests and early dinosaurs died out and the area became a desert with 200-foot high sand dunes. Around 160 million years ago the rains came back and the, by now hardened sand dunes disappeared under a lake. By 110 million years ago the early dinosaurs have all died and others replaced them. At this point, the weather here was similar to northern California, mild and wet and the first flowers appeared. About 100 million years ago an ocean slowly started to creep back in and kept rising for 10 million years until 2000 feet of water covered the region.  Around 75 million years ago the ocean started to recede and soon the sandstone buttes were above the water again.  About 65 million years ago a lake returned and the Rocky Mountains started to push up.  Around 35 million years ago the lake got pushed out and the Rocky's crew higher. Only within the past 10,000 did the climate become what it is today. 

More to come…

Quick Exit

At first light, I skedaddled out of Prescott as quickly as possible.

Headed straight for Jerome, which is 5000 feet up in the Black Hills of Yavapai County in Arizona. 

In the late 19^th century gold, silver and copper were discovered here and overnight Jerome became an active mining town. Eventually, most of the wealth was mined out.  In fact, to strip the mine of its mineral wealth the shafts went so deep that they nearly reached sea level.   Circa the 1940’s the wooden beams, deep in a shaft that supported the mine's roof, caught fire and quickly spread to many of the other various shafts and tunnels that ran for some 30 miles. Burning for about a year the only way to finally put out the fire was to close down the mine and flood it. 

Today Jerome is a lovely tourist town; great eateries and various craftspersons have shops from which to peddle their wares from.

 

Jerome High in the Mountain

However, the real treasure and fun of visiting Jerome is the old ghost miners town about 1/8 of a mile past Jerome, higher up in the mountain.  This place has the largest collection of old rusty vehicles, tools and you name it, that I've ever seen.  There is still the original dentist shack with the chair and its rusting dental equipment.  All covered with a layer of Arizona dust. 

 

Care for a quick check-up?

But wait, there's more..

Many of the original miner's homes are still standing but there's more to this Ghost Town than first meets the eye.  Actually, it has a beating heart, called Don Robertson.  

I arrived at the town just as it was opening and paid $4.00 Yankee bucks to get in.  Wondering around with the place. all to myself, I bumped into Don.  He owns the whole kit and caboodle and seeing that I was the only person to have yet arrived, Don was only too pleased to chat about the history of his town and proceeded to give me a private tour. Besides owning the place I also discovered that Don is a racing car diver, master mechanic, and all-round fascinating character.  

The place is full of old vehicles and whatnots as well as huge engines that run giant buzz saws and much more.  In fact, Don even has an honest to goodness WWII submarine engine that he runs to drive various belts attached to HUGH saw blades.

Rusty Tanker

Gas Pump

Once a Great Ford

Population at Don's place

The Man Himself with his racing car

 

Don Robertson

Explains Don's Racer

Forget Jerome, go straight to Don’s place and spend the better part of your day being lost in Neverland.  Later go to Jerome for a late lunch and a poke around.

Left Jerome and headed to Sedona.  This has got to be one of America’s most beautiful cities.  Makes Santa Fe look like an army camp.   The scenery is nothing sort of breathtaking. 

The outskirts of Sedona

 

Does Your backyards view look like this?

As I wanted to reach Horseshoe Bend at Page Arizona before the sun went down I didn’t spend as much time in Sedona as I would have preferred.  Been there several years ago and its beauty is still just as captivating. If you even get to Sedona plan on spending at least two or more days as I did on my last visit.  The area deserves the attention.  Sooo much to see and photograph.

 

Majestic Arizona desert, on the way to Page

My heart sank as I headed towards Horseshoe Bend, as the northern end of the Grand Canyon was so hazy that nothing and I mean nothing could be seen.  Looked like solid fog, the type you would encounter in Portland Main had set in.

Arrived at Horseshoe Bend to find that though it was a bit hazy it wasn’t anything like what I’d driven past on the way here.

 

Horseshoe Bend

If you suffer from vertigo this isn’t a place for you.   

To fully see the Colorado River you need to get close to the rim and even I was a bit apprehensive.  The busloads of Chinese didn’t seem to mind the height and were all hell-bent on standing at the edge of the lip  (they must be related to the Mohawks of Quebec who are regarded as the best high steels workers in North America for their lack of fear of heights) to take “selfies” with those stupid sticks.

There was one guy who was there with his family and had just bought a new Canon and tripod.  How do I know?  Well for one he didn’t have a camera bag, his kids and wife were each holding a lens and the boxes they can in.  I kid you not. 

Wait, there’s more.  Dad’s new Manfrotto tripod (the type that Best Buy sells) still had those labels/instructions attached to it on a string.  There he was flat on his tummy at the rim holding the tripod over the edge as far as his arms would go with the label/instructions flapping at the end of the string.  He was using his new a 17-35mm lens and I'm willing to bet that when he gets home he will have great shots of Horseshoe Bend with a part of the Manfrotto tag in nearly every shot.

Watching the folks at the rim was worth the trip as much as seeing the mighty Colorado River.   

I was always aware that the canyon is made of limestone and constantly crumbling.  Being close to the rim's edge still gives me the hebejebes.

More to come…

Searing Heat

Escaping from LA 

Even driving early on a Sunday morning escaping LA requires patience.  I’m convinced that this town has two types of traffic, heavy and heavier.

Finally got clear of all the traffic once I made it to the I-10 heading for Palm Springs.

Coming into Palm Springs I’m always in awe of the massive wind turbine farms that stretch down the valley mile upon mile upon mile.   

If you ever get to this part of the world, a word to the wise.  The reason there are wind farms here is that there is nearly always a very strong wind blowing.  I forgot this and as I stepped out of my car the door was nearly ripped out of my hand by the force of the wind.  Just managed to hold on and no damage was done.   

Because there is scant vegetation growing here, from inside of a vehicle, you don’t get an indication how strong the wind is blowing until you step out.  Small children and anyone under 100 pounds would be well advised to stay in the vehicle, or at the very least, make sure they are carrying your heavy camera bag.

 

Wind Turbines Palm Springs, CA

For all its beauty the desert is one inhospitable place.  Not sure why anyone would want to set up an “Airstream” trailer as a permanent home here.  But then, to each their own.

 

Airstream against the mountain. It's that tiny silver spec at the frames bottom.

This is rock falling country, why would anyone camp here?

Normally I wouldn’t have stopped in Palm Springs but I have a friend there, Gary Dorothy.  Gary is a very creative photographer who owns and operates “Imageville”.  All the work for sale in Imageville is shot and printed by Gary.  If you are ever passing through the Palm Springs area take a moment to drop to see Gary.  His shop is located in the centre of town surrounded by great watering holes. His work will inspire you. Tell him I sent you and he'll charge you aw additional 15% ;-).  On second thought don't mention my name.

 

Gary Dorothy

Imageville

After departing Palm Sprints and just before leaving I-10 exiting onto Hwy 60 I stopped in Blythe, CA, to fuel up and grab a coffee.  Now I knew it had to be hot outside because my car's temperature gauge read 115F but quite frankly I wasn’t prepared for just how hot it actually was in the sun.   The best way to describe it is “searing heat”.  I now understand why you wouldn’t last long if your car brakes down in the desert.  I also now know why so many vehicles paint jobs look like they have been blistered right off of the metal. Between high temperatures and high UV levels, this part of the country doesn't favour humans or for that matter much else.

 

115 Degrees F

Blistering paint

I was pleasantly surprised finding such an abundance of ghost building along Hwy 60. Also came across an old pioneer cemetery on a road call Ghost Town Road.

 

Ghost building

Where did all the people go?

Just had to find out what lay up this road

Wonder whatever happened to the horses that once hitched here

Pioneer Cemetery, check their spelling

Pioneer Grave

To reach Prescott requires a slow and winding climb up into the Weaver and then the Bradshaw Mountains.  Much of the road cannot be travelled beyond 25mph and takes the better part of an hour.   Then, of course, one has to stop to take pictures and this adds a tad to the travel time.

One tends to forget that this here is gun packing country.   

When I was checking into my Prescott motel, in front of me was a 5ft 2in bald guy wearing a "wife beater" shirt, camouflage shorts and flip-flops.  Now, in this part of the country, this is a fairly common sight. What I hadn’t seen before was strapped to his waist was a Glock 9mm along with two extra clips.  This guy had enough ammunition to start his own war.  His wife was waiting outside with the meanest looking giant Boxer I’d ever seen wearing a studded collar (I swear it had what looked like the remains of a small animal hangout out of its mouth) and she was wearing a "husband beater" shirt.    I guess that packing while on vacation makes a 5ft 2in "good old boy" feel more comfortable, not to mention the hound.

I had seconds thoughts about asking them to pose for a pic.

Remember folks, "don’t leave home without it”.  Is American Express referring to their credit card?  I guess that depends upon in which part of the country their ad plays in.

More to come…