Page is a small town by USA standards, and once more we are staying on the outskirts where only drive-thrus and fast food chains are the only available eateries. It seems the only places in the USA where you have to pay extra for huge portions are fast-food chains. So they’re typically always the worst bet economically as well as nutritionally. Instead we decide to drive into town and eat at a fried chicken place that isn’t KFC, and it pays dividends in portion size, even if we are still eating with plastic cutlery.
Horseshoe Bend
Our first stop today is to Horseshoe Bend, a famous photo spot, that I always thought was of the Grand Canyon. We’ve been warned to go early before the hordes arrive, and we’re there with only a cluster of other people.
Ham for the Dam
Having ticked off one of the main attractions early, we have time to kill. So, of course, we fill it. I fancy checking out the nearby dam that we drove over the night before. The dam here creates Lake Powell, and we make the most of the visitor centre next door to learn all about this impressive construction.
Before they built the dam, they had to build the bridge. The construction of both these structures is what created the town of Page in the first place, to provide for all the workers. The bridge construction in itself is a massive feat of engineering. Being the highest largest bridge of that kind back in its day. It looks like a giant just slotted the bridge in between the two canyon walls, wedged in there for stability. What they actually had to do was abseil down/climb up the sides, drilling into the sides to create the huge pilot holes. A crane then lowered one half of the bridge down into place as it was secured to the wall, and held up by cables, until the other side of the bridge could be lowered into place on the opposite site. The rudimentary safety standards make this an even more impressive feat.
Next came the dam. I’d never really thought too much about how you build a dam, imagining something more akin to Caleb and Clarkson just putting stuff in the way of the water. Of course, engineers know better, and so first the water gets channelled around where the dam will be built, by way of a big tunnel. With the ground dry and accessible, the dam gets built. The tunnel filled in. Lake Powell is created, taking 17 years to fill up. Power is generated by huge turbines that are connected to thick metal cables, that connect up to an endless sea of pylons. We’d seen these before but had no idea the four cables that joined them with the dam were channelling all the electricity created up and out of the canyon.
There are holes drilled into the side of the canyon to let water seep out from where it will inevitably push its way through the canyon walls. I believe this is to relieve pressure on the rocks and manage the pressure so it doesn’t create big cracks in the canyon wall.
Last of all, we learn about the impact the dam had on the native people. Now, truth be told, native americans were no longer living down in this canyon. A many-years drought had forced them away. However, relics and artefacts from their ancestors remained. They tell passed down stories from their ancestors about this area, the importance of it, and the importance of water. The exhibit doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the lack of consideration the peoples of the 1950s had for the native populations and the environment. Rather it gives them a platform to help us learn to make more informed decisions in the future. One native american speaks on video about how their people always consider the impact of their actions on the world. They didn’t know who or what lived up or down the river from them, the river being the source of life, and so they would never do anything to impact it. This is such a simple take, that it makes your realise how blinkered our culture can be to ‘development’. His culture considers the bigger picture, not just on other humans, but on the animals, the life that co-exists with us. Something we’ve seen across the Americas. So when people may argue that they weren’t as developed as other cultures, perhaps that’s because they respected their environment in ways we didn’t, they considered the impacts of their actions and so they didn’t develop the land further, because the price was too great. It’s a lesson they clearly learnt centuries ago, and sadly one we are (sometimes) only learning now. We had and have a lot to learn from these cultures, it’s a shame our ancestors were so dismissive when they met.
Anyway, onwards!
Antelope Canyon
Our last attraction in Page is to go into Antelope Canyon, something called a ‘slot canyon’. It sells out quickly, so we’re booked in for an afternoon tour. James receives warning of a storm coming. We’ll trust in the tour company. Slot canyons are essentially where the water erodes the ground underneath more and more, creating spectacular formations in the ground. What appears to be a small crack on the surface, is actually a huge open expanse of wavy walls, carved by the running water. This also means they’re not safe places to be in storms. Don’t worry, our guide Xavier tells us that they run tours on a canyon further up the way, Canyon X, which would be first hit by any inclement weather. I wonder if the people on their Canyon X tours know that they’re the canaries in the coal-mine!
Thankfully our tour is dry and clear and we get to enjoy the magical sweeping formations all around us.
Our guide, a member of the Navajo, points out the traditional shapes of his peoples… the eagle, the storm-trooper, and the pirate. Right. He takes photos of everyone at the designated spots.
However, being sold on a tour that would teach us about navajo culture and the history and significance of this sacred and respected place, we get none of this information, as our guide starts wretching into the sacred sand on the latter half of the tour. Rather him than me I guess! Despite starting the tour reassuring us that he has electrolite drinks and supplies to help anyone with heat exhaustion, he seems reluctant to take any for himself, even though he blames the heat for his condition. Two members in our group, concerned for his health, rush the final section to get him out of the heat of the canyon. Somewhat disappointed, I ask in store if there are any information panels about the history of this stunning place, and am told no, because our guide should have given us that. In compensation, he gives me a booklet reserved for the deluxe tours. We try at the reception telling of our rushed tour and getting no information about the place, to which the lady basically shrugs and suggests it’s up to the tour guide. Not a company I would recommend (Ken’s). They must get thousands of people coming through every day so what is one bad review to them, they have a captive audience either way. It’s a shame really. It’s a stunning place, that I would love to have learnt more about, and the culture of the people who protect it, but we paid a lot of money to simply walk through it for 45 minutes, and we really got nothing more for our money other than access. But, supply and demand. If people are willing to pay that much, can we really blame them for charging it? Seems the Navajo learnt something from their capitalist neighbours.
Operation Desert Storm
The next day, we have a lazy morning start before we head off towards Monument Valley. Google warns us of an extreme thunderstorm, but the skies look clear compared to the previous days, and the prediction is of the storm above our journey. Meh, how bad can it be?
We take a little detour on to the Navajo National Monument on the way. The road is a Google classic that I should be able to drive 60mph on, but the conditions mean I crawl along at 20 at the fastest.
Eventually getting back to paved roads, we find the Visitor Centre and I take a wander along the short trails, as the clouds and thunder roll in, and James has a rest in the car. I reassure myself that there’s a giant conductor on top of the visitor centre, and I’m surrounded by trees, although as I return I realise I’m carrying metal, unlike the trees, and I’m unsure how far the conducting rod will draw lightning away from, so I quicken my step.
We continue onwards excited to see the picturesque Monument Valley skyline. As we approach the point where usually there would be a stunning vista of enormous rocks, James comes to a crawling speed. Not to take in the views but because the windscreen wipers can’t move fast enough to wipe away the deluge of water pouring down upon us. Dark grey coulds encircle us, the two-lane road can barely be seen, cars crawl forwards with hazards flashing and wipers also thrashing in desperation. Thunder cracks violently above. Lightning punches the ground every few seconds. We would have pulled in and waited for it to pass, except we can’t see the road to know where a safe place to pull over is, and we’re also on a deadline as we have another tour booked this afternoon. There is no signal on the phone to check with the company to know if it is going ahead. James is convinced it can’t possibly go ahead in these conditions. I have been burnt in the past and refuse to accept the word of anyone other than the tour company. We creep on.
The rain finally abates slightly, but now we’re driving towards lighting that crashes down in front of us. There is nowhere else to go, the road just goes straight into it. We soldier on.
We finally make it to the turn before our accommodation for the night when a thunder bolt crashes down maybe 20 metres from us. The car electrics flicker as a resonating boom of thunder echoes around. There’s nowhere else to go, and lighting rarely strikes the same place twice, right? We speed on.
At our accommodation, they tell us that the telephone lines are down, there’s no wi-fi, and no way to contact our tour company. They’re pretty sure the park is shut, and therefore our tour won’t go ahead, but I’m stubborn and need the tour company to confirm before I accept it. We rush on.
Our tour is meant to pick us up from in front of an expensive hotel. Also without power or phones, they are helping their own guests with their tour woes. They confirm the pick-up would be out front… back into the deluge, wind, thunder and lightning. I can see the tour jeeps. Why would they be there if the tours weren’t running, I think. Still convinced the tour might happen (it’s at this point I realise how much Latin America may have scarred my trust in tour operators!) I attempt to rush out, but the wind and rain pushes me back. James compromises to drive us round to the jeep in its relative safety. By now the weather has mostly passed over, although another storm looms close ready to hit once more, and we find a guy sitting with the jeeps. He was waiting for us. He confirms the tour is off, and we can go the next day. We decide to go for the morning tour and delay our drive to the Grand Canyon. We take a photo of the now visible monuments, and decide to head over to Forrest Gump Point.
The rush, panic, and storms largely over, we settle into our room that looks out onto Monument Valley. The restaurant serves only over-priced salads or sandwiches as there’s still no electricity to make anything else, so we decide on another home-made hotel-room special. With no power or signal to do any research, we sit on the balcony and drink, watching the scenery before us put on a show.
Being in the middle of the desert, this is an opportune place to take in the stars. The storm has cleared, and the power still out, meaning the only lights are the headlights of some sparse cars, and the expansive sky of stars above us.
A Monumental Conspiracy Theory
The power turns back on in the middle of the night, and so breakfasts are back on the menu. But first we’re up to watch the sunrise up over the monuments.
For breakfast we share an immense omelette, check-out, and head over to the tour. As we pass through the entry gate, the sign informs us the park is still closed. As we find our man, he tells us the roads have washed away but they should be re-opening the park soon, we can give it an hour. We wait.
We find a place to sit out looking over the valley with access to the luxury hotel wifi and so we catch up on the latest research as we wait. An hour later, we go back and see a crowd gathering. We all wait.
We continue to wait.
We get herded into the jeeps, despite being told the park is still shut.
We wait in the jeep.
We get the go-ahead! Our guide Duffy, a large navajo guy with the voice of droopy the dog, welcomes us and drives us on. At last.
Welcome to Monument Valley, the land of many films and media, apparently. Duffy tells us a bit about the area, and says that most people don’t want to hear about the Navajo or the region or what he has to think. Our jeep seems to be full of Europeans, so we think we’re safe in saying we know nothing about Ford or John Wayne and so we’re actually more interested in what he has to say. Which, it turns out, is a lot, and gets more suspect as the tour continues on. I’ll let you decide what you believe or not from his commentary…
- Monument Valley is 192,000 acres
- There are no cuss words in the Navajo language, because you’re representing your ancestors
- The Spanish did an expo in the 1600s and that’s why we have spanish names here
- The monuments are sacred. Other religions have temples and churches, native americans have nature as their church, it is sacred to them.
- Merik and Mitchel were prospectors.
- The name Navajo comes from the spanish. They are called “the people” de-neh.
- The de-neh pray, the swirls on their fingertips connect them to the heavens, the swirls on their toes connect them to earth.
- The navajo have their own health care system, they don’t need insurance from employers.
- They’re the biggest native american nation, the only tribe that got to keep their land.
- The governnment makes money from the navajo parks more than they get money from them. They have power and solar plants here, they also make money from agricultrue.
- 75% of navajo people go into tbe military, they have taught them many things for how to interact with different cultures, by showing respect to one another, rather than aggression.The navajo hunt in small groups, and the spanish couldn’t conquer them because of their skills in the area and in fighting.
- You don’t hit your kids in the navajo culture, you tap them on the shoulder and tell them to stop, hush, listen, look around. Language is carefully used and spoken with intention.
- 570 different native tribes.
- The chaco canyon is where it all began, people were given a language and some water and dispersed across the country.
- Casinos are an extension from the games they used to play.
- James gets put in a headlock to display the martial arts of the people (?).
- The older generations pass down the knowledge of how to live off the land.
- If all the satellites stopped working, they would still know how to communicate.
- The size of a smoke fire would indicate the size of the incoming party.
- Four elements, earth, wind, air, water.
- An asteroid (or missile!) has recently hit the moon, the moon controls the tides, maybe thats why we got such a big rainstorm.
- Silica in the sand makes it sparkle.
- No water, means no insects, but also no birds, except ‘trash birds‘.
- The next development is lasers, the tech giants are putting a laser on the moon, and will destroy us all. I think I’ve seen this movie!
After Duffy’s dip into the conspiratorial, he takes us back down to earth with teaching us how this area was formed. “This would take you months to learn in your universities, I can show you in five minutes“. Indeed, he shows us a clever demonstration of how sand turns to monuments and canyons.
And that’s our lot. Duffy is a kind-hearted guy who seems surprised and happy to have some people eager to listen to his tales. We learn as much about him as we do about the Navajo culture and Monument valley. It’s been an interesting tour, and it’s definitely an impressive space, full of majesty and wonder.
We quickly head off to the Grand Canyon, and are shocked by how green it is around the incredibly dry canyon!
*******************
Adventure – Exploring our first slot canyon. Getting shown around Monument Valley whilst the area was shut to everyone but the tours.
Excitement – Being in the eye of an incredible storm. American sized portions. Tumbleweed families! Getting to Forrest Gump point and it being as brilliant in real life. The majesty of Antelope Canyon. Learning about engineering and native cultures. The stars.
Trauma – A lightning bolt a bit too close for comfort. Driving rain. Vomitting tour guide.
1 Comment
Stunning scenes and the storm sounds fun! Glad it didn’t stop you enjoying Monument Valley.
What a balcony view…