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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 8 1
to the bottom. We now realised why the satnav had told us to
take the long route! After some debate, and realising that to
backtrack would take hours, we determined to tackle this dirt
track. We carefully read the notice at the start of the descent
— no more than 5 mph and no heavy or long vehicles. The
descent was in second gear, on the wrong side of the road,
hugging the cliff face and with ample use of the horn! It took
nearly an hour to get down — a distance of some 3 miles! We
passed only two vehicles on the way down, one of which we
were astonished to see dragging a boat up the precipice!
Obviously he was a local!. At the bottom we uttered a sigh of
relief and headed for Monument Valley, some 40-50 miles
away. We were now in Arizona.
Monument Valley is within a Navajo Indian Reservation and
is an astonishing collection of sandstone buttes, mesas and
stacks, some of which reach over 1000 feet above the plateau
floor — which itself is some 6,000 ft above sea level. The
valley is far from any significant habitation and was made
famous by those John Ford westerns made in the mid 20th
century. There is even a viewing point named after John Ford.
The Navajo have made the Valley a money spinner and charge
for access to the 17 miles of track within the valley. The track
is not for the faint hearted or saloon cars, being extremely
rough. Ideal, of course, for rented 4x4s! Some of the most
spectacular formations include the ‘Mittens’ and the ‘Three
sisters’ (see photos).
After Monument Valley we overnighted in Kayenta, a small
nondescript town of shacks, trailers and flatpack houses.
Route 66 and Flagstaff
From Kayenta we drove south west towards Flagstaff, skirting
the Painted Desert. We stopped briefly at Sunset Crater
The Grand Canyon. Sedona and the Petrified Forest
volcano National Monument to see an extinct (?) volcano and
acres of lava fields from an eruption some 1000 years ago.
Arriving at Flagstaff we found our vacation home, which we
had rented for 6 days, as a base, as we had felt, correctly, that
by now we would be ‘canyoned out’ It turned out to be a
welcome stop, with a well kitted house — which included —
of course — four televisions!
The Grand Canyon. Sedona and the Petrified Forest
After a day of rest/shopping we visited the Grand Canyon,
which is some sixty or so miles north of Flagstaff It is over
6,000 ft deep, and 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide.
The North Rim is higher than the south rim. On the day of
our visit it was too windy for fixed wing flights over the
Canyon and we didn’t fancy a helicopter ride, so we took the
tour bus. The problem with the Grand Canyon is that is too
big and one’s eyes cannot really adjust to the vastness of it.
Still it is impressive. I gather from another Old Stationer,
Roger Engledow, that to really appreciate it one has to trek
down to the valley floor on a two day jaunt.
After a golf day we next went to Sedona, a typical cowboy
town set in splendid red rock canyons. It is very much a tourist
trap and now one of the most visited places in the USA.
However, the drive to it, down Highway 89A, is beautiful and
the town has immense charm. There is a sign you can see on
entering the town that states “God created the Grand Canyon
but he lives in Sedona” (See photo of ‘Bell Rock’).
The following day we tracked east on Route 66 in the
direction of Gallup, New Mexico — what a dump! — to the
Petrified Forest. This is an area of a former primeval forest
that has seen the trees petrified. Large chunks of petrified logs
are scattered across several square miles. (see photo). Whilst it
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