Zion

An inspirational place complete with biblical names, the Zion National Park is  a geologist's delight. The river has cut through the sandstone layers leaving almost vertical sides up to 800 m deep. I can't even begin to describe the complexity of the formations but the park as it stands today is fabulous. In a few more million years the Virgin River may have eroded the mountains away to 'ordinary' but in the meantime we can enjoy it all as it is.

To get to the town of Springdale (where the information centre is) the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway traverses a section of the park. We drove through in late afternoon and the scenery was stunning and we also had to drive through a mile-long tunnel that was completed in the 1930. We go through it again tomorrow when we leave this area to head up to Bryce Canyon.

They are very organised here, through necessity. The river valley is quite narrow and car traffic was becoming a problem so they 'shut the gate' and installed a very efficient shuttle bus service instead. It's a very popular park so the buses are busy. We hopped on and hopped off all the way up and back. We saw mountains called Mount Carmel, Angels Landing, Temple of Sinawava, Abraham Peak, Isaac Peak and Jacob Peak. We saw a quiescent river that a few times a year becomes a raging torrent carrying tons of sediment. We saw numbers off very fit-looking people setting off to climb the horrendously difficult cliff face to Angels Landing (Google images to see, and include 'Walters Wiggles'). It was all fascinating.

Emerald Pool

Virgin River valley

Court of the Patriarchs

The view from our motel.

Page and the Antelope

Tonight we're back into Utah again (we'll be exploring Zion NP Tomorrow), and we had to change our clocks, again. Arizona is not on Mountain Time like most of the other states we've been in. And not only that, the Navajo Nation part of Arizona is on Mountain time.

Page, in Arizona, was a surprise. We were in Page to do a tour of Antelope Canyon but the surrounding countryside is so spectacular and dramatic it was an absolute delight. And as well as that they have Lake Powell which an absolutely enormous dam on the Colorado.

Combine spectacular geology with water and you have a winning combination. We went to the marina ('the largest floating marina and restaurant in the world') to see the way the other half lives - huge boats, jet skis, houseboats as well as tour boats. And we went to the information centre that has been built on a cliff over the dam wall. And we went to see Lower Antelope Canyon which is mind-blowingly dramatic in form and colour. All of this on a day which was close to 40 degrees - the hottest day we've had since we were at Yosemite. Page is a new town - built since the 1950s - and I liked it a lot. It would be good to spend a week on a houseboat here exploring the lake.

Antelope Point Marina on Lake Powell

Antelope Canyon is really a slit canyon. It's very narrow and can be dangerous if there is a flash flood. We went into the Lower Antelope Canyon and the tour, led by a Navajo guide, lasted almost two hours as we wound our way down, in single file mostly, on the natural floor and down ladders. The natural colours of the water-eroded walls of the canyon are astonishing.

Entering the canyon

Our guide playing pipes - the canyon had great acoustics.

Four corners and more

No, not the Four Corners, but a surveyed intersection of four US states. In fact the only place in the USA where four states meet - namely New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. It's on Navajo land, and at the Four Corners Monument a number of Navajo artisans have set up stalls in an organised way. We called in to have a look and found we had to pay $3 each. Oh well. We had fun watching the other tourists attempt to be in all four states at once. And I bought a necklace with a Navajo motif.

We were on our way to Page via Monument Valley. Along the way the landscapes  kept changing. It was a lovely drive.

Twin Rocks near Bluff

Mexican Hat

San Juan River

We've all seen the images in countless westerns but it was spectacular to see the real thing, an astonishing group of sandstone buttes called Monument Valley. We didn't do the 17 km dirt road drive but what we saw from the main road was beautiful despite the smoky haze.

Durango

Durango is a self-satisfied tourist and ski town that has retained the old buildings in its central streets (downtown) and is now a nationally registered historic town. And it makes the most of its assets- it's very pretty, diverse and lively, and full of tourists.

We went to see the steam trains and a great little museum at the Durango railway station - it's home to the famous Durango-Silverton Railroad steam train ride.

And we had dinner at Christina's where I took the plunge and ordered steak, and I can honestly say that it was the best I've ever had. Melt-in-your-mouth gorgeous. It was big, very big, as are all our meals here.

Mesa Verde

Call me ignorant. Somehow it had never clicked with me that the name 'Mesa Verda' (green table) meant that the cliff dwellings of the Pueblo were actually on a mesa.

I started to get an inkling yesterday when we visited the Hovenweep buildings (on a mesa), and then today we drove 6 km from the valley before we got to the park entrance station and then 18 km up to the top of the mesa, and then 13 km to the 'Step House' (free), then 13 km back to the intersection and then 8 km down another road to the 'Spruce Tree House' (free). We didn't pay extra to join a tour to any of the other buildings because we didn't have time and we'd already seen the free options which were very interesting anyway.

At Mesa Verde, in contrast to the quiet atmosphere of yesterday's visit to Hovenweep, we joined the throng of tourists. But the cliff dwellings were still very impressive.

Step House

Spruce Tree House ( and below)

And we were pretty impressed when we went to the post office on the mesa and got talking to the PO lady who, it turned out, bred kelpies and knew they originated in Casterton!

Hovenweep

Hovenweep is on top of Cajon Mesa. From about the year 1100 the Pueblo people began to grow crops such as corn and beans and build villages around canyon heads that contained water sources (springs or a system of small dams). By the year 1300 the region was abandoned but some of the buildings remain.

We went to see Little Ruin Canyon in the Hovenweep National Monument. It's fairly isolated but the information centre was excellent and the trail well designed. Most of the buildings are spread out around the rim of the canyon and architecture and building techniques are amazing.

Several people we spoke to said they liked it better than Mesa Verde NP up the road because it was less 'touristy' - we'll be able to judge that for ourselves tomorrow when we go to Mesa Verde.

Twin Towers (above and top)

Round Tower

Hovenweep Castle

Boulder House

Arches National Park

Landscape Arch

Delicate Arch

Balanced Rock

Window Arch

Double Arch

And then beside the road south of Moab there are more spectacular rock formations.

Wilson Arch