Navajo Monumental: Walking through Time - Slim's 2024 Road Trip Part 14
I've always had a deep respect for the original inhabitants of North America and I'm very pleased that uh I can travel through their lands now this is really cool I'm at the Navajo Nation and just before Tuba City look what's here these are dinosaur footprints like real dinosaur footprints ! look at this isn't this incredible although these tracks were birdlike they were not like any bird of today perhaps a small raptor dinosaur there's something really eerie about walking on the exact same ground as those Prehistoric Beasts amazing 200 million years ago these dinosaurs walked here where were they going and did they make it questions Lost in Time as for me I had a general idea where I was going but I wasn't sure if it was open this season or if there was space available finding the entrance ungated was a good sign this is the Navajo National Monument a map by The Visitor Center showed me the sunset view campground was nearby and it also confirmed that drones were not allowed here no campfires pets on a leash all fine with me but there is one detail the sign didn't mention which is quite important to people like me because all 31 campsites on this beautifully paved Road are free for 14 days and that includes a restroom with running water but no showers hey you can't expect everything for free so no fire pit but you do get a picnic table and a paved parking pad although I found it a little short ouch a little tough getting in here but I made it oo little chilly as well you grab my coat after setting up camp I needed to get oriented so went to a couple of viewpoints this one from Tsegi Viewpoint Overlook features the Fir Canyon a short descent on the Aspen Trail took me to the Aspen Forest overlook this featured the Batatakin canyon which is the Park's major attraction my curiosity satisfied I went to bed under a crescent moon whoa what in Earth's going on it's really really cold this morning when I got in here um it was like 65° F you know just a light jacket because of the wind and last night it got below freezing and right now it's still freezing I did check the forecast couple of days ago it said there was be a couple of days of sun and uh you know about 65 however when I looked again this morning everything had drastically changed uh cold front moved in there's going to be snow tomorrow so uh this might be a very short little visit I better take advantage of it now if I wanted snow I'd stay in Canada so I set off for a little exploring to access the trails you pass through the information center along with a service desk for info maps and souvenirs there is a nice little Museum showing the history and artifacts of the various people who inhabited the region for close to A Thousand Years also featured are the miniature dioramas of cliff dwellings in the area a walk out the back door brings you to the present the sandal Trail is well suited for nature and bird watching which peaked my interest when the first bird pictured was a "bush tit" the problem was these birds move so fast I couldn't get a good video but I did manage to capture a still proving this to be a white breasted nuthatch in a flash of feathers another bird appeared blink and it's gone however I do think I did finally get a little Bush tit that day but I digressed a little sandal Trail is only a mile round trip and is easy for all to explore especially if you like gnarly trees now although the land's pretty rugged here the Trail's pretty easy it's on pavement and if it goes down there's steps uh there are more rugged Trails uh especially to the uh to the ruins but um they have to be booked in advance and uh right now that's about 4 months in advance uh seems those tours go really quickly but there's no tours today I can just walk around the predominant rock formations here are made of sandstone that are soft and porous in the upper parts of the hills these are susceptible to erosion and the rains and winds sketch patterns on their surface underneath however is a harder variety of sandstone that acts as a barrier to groundwater this makes them unstable causing giant slabs of rock to break loose at the lower elevations these indents at the base of a cliff are called alcoves All Along the trail are placards to identify Flora like this one which is Utah Juniper primarily used as fuel by the original settlers the pinion Pine provides pinion nuts a tasty treat still sold in the roadside stands in the area the yucka Buffalo Berry and Mormon Tea it's good for stomach trouble even if you aren't Mormon a little snow was still here from the last storm okay a little too much Doddling time to finish the walk wow look at that ancient Village right into the rock cliff in a hollow these are the ruins of Batatakin nestled in an Alcove are the well preserved remains of an ancient settlement of the Puebloan people sometimes referred to as the Anasazi using bricks carved out of the local Sandstone 120 rooms were plastered together using mud mortar and wood wood samples have determined the Batatakin was inhabited between the years 1250 and 1300 which is a relatively short time period and for some reason it was abandoned over 700 years ago some believe a 20-year drought may be the reason the people moved on however the Hopi oral history suggests it might have been a spiritual Quest and that the Builders of this Monument are still with us must have been a beautiful place to live even if you only came to peer across this Overlook a trip to the Navajo Monument is a memorable visit it's just so absolutely stunningly beautiful here and so rich with ancient culture for those that seek history and tradition or admire the effects of time on the Rocks who study the diversity of ecosystems or can grasp the raw Splendor of nature will surely appreciate these sacred lands my visit to Navajo Monument was far too brief but I knew I had to move on as another force of nature was lurking on the horizon well here comes the snow I thought I was going to get away from it but guess it follows me but that was just a little sprinkle a reminder of bigger things to come and as the sun set on the horizon the fire in the clouds would eventually be dosed after a little careful consideration I made a decision for the next day and retired for the night in the morning I set off again too bad I didn't get a chance to visit that little Casita camped nearby although I usually forge ahead on New Horizons this time I actually backtracked returning the way I came all reports said it was going to be a rather big storm covering most of Arizona New Mexico Colorado and Texas and the only way to avoid it was to Head West I passed through the higher elevations of the kibab plateau where the snow was a regular feature this time of year I only made one stop to view the grand staircase from The LeFevre Overlook on display in the distance are the Rocky Cliffs of the Colorado Plateau which include the natural wonders of the grand staircase Escalante Monument Bryce Canyon Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon but none of those places were on my current path and as I passed into Utah near Hildale my elevation started to descend at the Harrisburg Junction I entered the usual chaos of the I5 interstate now back in Arizona I made a quick Dash through the Purgatory Canyon the final state in this journey was Nevada heading south from Mesquite I entered a familiar road that leads to the Whitney pocket by late afternoon I made it to camp just in time it seems as the clouds were bursting in anticipation of the downpour well it's a miserable windy and wet day but the good news is it's not snow I am not in a blizzard uh it's at least above freezing but not much it's actually still kind of cool here but where I was it's a lot worse so uh I'm okay with that gives me a chance to do a little editing just chill out inside the camper and hopefully it's going to blow over soon well it's pouring out there pretty good uh I haven't actually seen substantial rain for several weeks so it's a good thing because uh my truck and the camper both needed a car wash but I got one courtesy of Mother Nature for free as the storm marched West wearing a white Veil my truck was glistening its weeks of dust and grime washed away and of course a rainbow waved from the hills it stopped raining the winds died down it's calm and the smell oh it's so wonderful it's the smell of the creosote bush after the rains it just this fragrance just explodes from these bushes oh it's it's like incense and uh pine it's just so beautiful one of the best things about being in a desert after rain is the smell however this was not a place for quiet but for recreation and as the RZR Boy comes and takes your fleeting peace away a ground squirrel sings on a cold and windy day but in closing the sun points its orange spotlight on the Virgin peaks with a final wink it disappears behind the Sierra Nevadas the curtain falls covering Lake Meade with candy floss well I think that's it weather's cleared up it's sunny and warm again but I was only here just to get out of a really bad weather situation it's over and done with time to travel again I hope you enjoyed this video and will continue to follow me on my travels safer roads ahead everyone
2024-04-29 05:04
