My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

tgil.....hopefully that will continue to be the case.....I'm cautiously optimistic but it's cold out there and it could be all about that. I'm still in cold country (Utah) and I'm concerned with what I might find as I continue south (assuming that I do indeed go further south).....



I guess that I would say that at this point in my travels, I had seen enough of the Anasazi ruins, of the petroglyphs and the pictographs.....I had finished another David Roberts book on the Anasazi and the one thing that became evident to me about my endeavors were that my experiences lacked the adventures that David Roberts describes in his books.....yes, I loved everyday of my travels.....I always do.....but there was definitely that something that was missing for me.....



.....so we left the Valley of the Gods and we headed south.....



We passed through Monument Valley as we had in past years.....







.....and now we're driving on the lands of the Navajo Nation (Dine') Indian Reservation.....typically I would not stop in the next town that we entered (I never have).....Olijato-Monument Valley.....but this year I decided to have a look just to see what I could see ((and possibly grab a cheap shower (& not a shot of whiskey) at the Goulding Laundromat)).....



Interesting thing about this area.....it seems as though this family named Goulding owned just about everything at one time.....the shower was out of order at the Goulding Laundromat & Goulding's Museum was closed for renovations.....





I shopped at the Goulding Store, stopped in at the Goulding Gift Shop, bought diesel & propane at the Goulding Service Station, thought about spending a night at the Goulding Campground.....see what I mean ? We stopped at the visitors center and then headed south into Arizona.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Our next stop was in Kayenta, Arizona (population around 5,500).....a fairly good size town located within the Navajo Nation (Dine') Indian Reservation.....the plan for this town was to simply make a stop at the local Burger King for my favorite veggie burger, fries, & large coke.....just love it. So I pulled into the parking lot and I almost immediately noticed a real nice rig parked in the gravel lot out back obviously spending the night here.....I'm thinking maybe I'll overnight here as well.....



The elderly couple in said real nice rig were sitting in their lawn chairs throwing rocks at what they would eventually tell me are "a pack of wild dogs & they're mean so be careful" .....hmmmm......they go on to tell me to "be careful with the Indians.....lock up everything you got.....they'll steal anything that's not locked up".....hmmmm.....



People often ask me if I'm a Snowbird and I proudly say that I am not.....I'm a traveler.....and the point I make here is that I travel the highways to learn & see.....not to visit places with preconceived ideas from things I may have read on the internet or elsewhere.....I ignored the advice of those Snowbirds (yes they were definitely Snowbirds in every way possible) in that real nice rig and made myself some new dog friends here in Kayenta, Arizona.....I chose dog treats over stones.....



And the Native Americans that live in Kayenta, Arizona.....they were no problem to me.....they did indeed ask for money.....but I doubt there's a single Walmart in America where you don't see white people panhandling.....that's just how it is.....poor chooses all kinds & colors of people.....



The following morning we drove west and when a highway flagman stopped us due to construction I spied a directional signpost for Navajo National Monument.....after a few minutes wait the flagman motioned me on and right then at that moment I took the turn to see what was up that road.....



This place was empty and it had a free campground.....31 unoccupied sites.....we ended up staying here for 3 nights.....it was a great place to chill.....





.....until this guy pulled in.....go figure.....30 unoccupied sites to choose from.....

 

[Ace Brown]

“i chose dog treats over stones”. I would too.


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[Riversdad]

Nothing I hate more than people who are mean to animals. Good on you for the dog treats.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace / Riversdad.....my guess is that I had much more in common with the "wild dogs" and the "thieving Indians" than I did with the Snowbirders.....just cause I look like them doesn't mean I am like them.....I fed those dogs from my hands and I loved them.....



Sometimes I wonder how it is that I can waste away three days at a place like Navajo National Monument.....there really wasn't much that we could do here.....the trails were off limits to dogs and one trail even requied a guide & a permit to hike it.....this short paved trail which I did walk on (maybe one mile roundtrip) led to an overlook.....



.....which is where you could see this massive dwelling in an alcove.....





The ruins looked amazing from a half mile away.....I'm sure the real pleasure here would come from a hike down there to the bottom of the ravine.....something I didn't bother to do.....





This exhibit was a reminder that I'm in need of a good cleaning although I doubt I was actually in need of any reminders.....





.....but unfortunately that couldn't happen here.....I was able to access unlimited free water so I did get some laundry done during our stay here.....yes, I still hate the laundromats.....



Our water came from this thing.....I honestly have no idea what it is.....it almost seems like it should have had a sign that said "don't stand on this thing".....



.....anyhow.....

 

[tgil]

Trapper wears a cap well!

 

[Riversdad]

How's your training going with Trapper? Are you able to walk him off leash consistently or not yet?

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

tgil.....she's funny with that baseball cap.....

Riversdad.....since the incident with the rabbit (I wondered if I'd ever see her again) I have not let her off the leash. I just don't want to risk it.....she's hard headed but I'm sure with time (& age) she'll come around. We spend most of our time in wild areas so I'm not sure it's worth the risk (again).....



We continued west passing through northern Arizona and spent a night in Page, Arizona where I met a woman that convinced me to head for the lands that overlook Lake Powell.....so back into Utah we went.....



We left the paved highway in Big Water, Utah and headed into the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.....



The skies were cloudy that day and rain was in the forecast.....now the one point that this woman emphasized was that you don't want to be on that road if it rains.....her exact words were "you'll never get out of there if it rains".....





Much like the woman that said that I needed to spend a night at Muley Point , this woman said you need to spend a night at Alstrom Point.....





I had checked the local weather forecast and it looked like we had 48 hours before a storm was expected to move through.....





This woman said I'd have no problem getting my rig to Alstrom Point.....so at that point in time I had little concern with the roads.....but the possibility of rain and getting stuck in there weighed heavily on my mind.....

 

[Arjan]

Totally awesome !
Thanks.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Arjan.....yea man ! Sweet spot !! Thanks.....




Initially the road into Glen Canyon National Recreation Area was in really great shape.....we were actually lucky since a motor grader had just worked the road.....







Once we got off that main road, things went downhill fairly quick.....there were quite a few low points in this particular road and lots of places where it was easy to see that drivers had had problems getting in & out.....we made it five miles down that road plus or minus and definitely wished that we hadn't.....



Once we got to the rim overlooking Lake Powell, I decided to walk from there and definitely was pleased with my choice not to drive any further.....I have no idea what that woman was thinking.....



The air was calm that night.....





Alone in our thoughts.....silence was the prevailing sound of the night.....it really was paradise right here right then as we viewed the night sky above the calm waters of Lake Powell below.....

 

[longhorn1]

Ace / Riversdad.....my guess is that I had much more in common with the "wild dogs" and the "thieving Indians" than I did with the Snowbirders.....just cause I look like them doesn't mean I am like them.....I fed those dogs from my hands and I loved them.....



Sometimes I wonder how it is that I can waste away three days at a place like Navajo National Monument.....there really wasn't much that we could do here.....the trails were off limits to dogs and one trail even requied a guide & a permit to hike it.....this short paved trail which I did walk on (maybe one mile roundtrip) led to an overlook.....

View attachment 697835

.....which is where you could see this massive dwelling in an alcove.....

View attachment 697836

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The ruins looked amazing from a half mile away.....I'm sure the real pleasure here would come from a hike down there to the bottom of the ravine.....something I didn't bother to do.....

View attachment 697839

View attachment 697840

This exhibit was a reminder that I'm in need of a good cleaning although I doubt I was actually in need of any reminders.....

View attachment 697841

View attachment 697842

.....but unfortunately that couldn't happen here.....I was able to access unlimited free water so I did get some laundry done during our stay here.....yes, I still hate the laundromats.....

View attachment 697843

Our water came from this thing.....I honestly have no idea what it is.....it almost seems like it should have had a sign that said "don't stand on this thing".....

View attachment 697844

.....anyhow.....

View attachment 697845

Gotta love that look??

 

[Sierra Valley]

Road looks doable but I do a lot of off roading LOL That scenery is epic out there on my list now.

 

[Riversdad]

Sorry about Trapper. Our newest is about 11/2 and she was a handful to get trained, but it's really nice to be able to let her run around free on our walks. You're good with dogs, I'm sure you'll get there once some of the "puppy" has worn off.

 

[Ace Brown]

I was about to set off on another long summer of travel just like Jerry is doing when he left Montana. I had recently acquired a new pup who was not yet trained for travel. So I took her to puppy training. We went twice a week for two or three weeks. The lady said she was ready so off we went. It was well worth our time to hang out near a bigger town (Paducah KY) to get in the training.

That lady was a strict disciplinarian. I always remember her telling me “no Flexi-leashes” in my class. Just a few days later Kyla did a ten mile off leash mountain bike ride and never once strayed.

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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

JD.....she's one of a kind (as all dogs seem to be in their special ways).....

Sierra Valley.....yep, the road is certainly doable. As a matter of fact Ace hauled his trailer through that mess. My rig is much bigger and heavier.....I just don't like taking it on roads like that. My truck camper loaded must be over 4,000 pounds and the Jeep probably more than 3,500 pounds loaded.....that's a lot of bending, yanking & tugging on the truck and I can't believe that's a good thing. Just the Jeep or just the truck.....no problem.....

Riversdad.....don't feel sorry for me.....life is way better than anything I deserve. Trapper will come around.....she's a fine dog.....

Ace.....looks like Tanner in that picture.....



The following morning with a mere 5 % chance of rain in the forecast, we headed out early to view a sunrise at Alstrom Point.....



I kept both dogs on the leash that morning.....maybe fifty feet from us was a several thousand foot drop.....



We started out 2.1 miles from Alstrom Point.....hiking in the dark made route finding a bit difficult here. At some point we must have come to a "Y" in the road and thinking that we took the road most traveled we hiked to the south (the actual route was kind of to the northeast).....



I believe this to be Aces spot.....



There wasn't much of a sunrise that morning so it was no big deal that we had got off track and missed the sunrise at Alstrom Point.....







It now had become a blessing as we had quite a hike along the canyons rim.....