Near Bluff, we pick up the US-161 again to go westward to Mexican Hat - a town named after a nearby rock formation (left). Here, we stop for coffee at a cafe overlooking the San Juan River and its impressive bridge. We then drive to Monument Valley (above).

However, we do not take a tour of the more remote monuments as we did in 1995. Instead we visit the gift shop at Gouldings - the hotel where we stayed  that year.

The road over the San Juan River takes us south through Monument Valley, providing us with the classic views of the 'monuments' that are so familiar from the many western movies shot in this area.

Passing through Monument Valley, we cross from Utah into Arizona. The latter state does not recognise Daylight Saving Time, but the Navajo Nation (on whose massive reservation we have spent most of the day) do, so we do not need to alter our watches. It is 5:30pm when we reach the Hampton Inn at Kayenta.

 

In common with the majority of Hampton Inns that we have stayed at, this is a nice hotel, but Kayenta is an Indian settlement in the middle of a windy desert. The strong wind is creating the occasional sandstorm - a particularly unpleasant experience.

 

We do not need to face the sandstorms to eat, as there is a restaurant (with the strange name of Reuben Helfin) in the hotel, where we have the day's special: Caesar's salad (2); char-grilled salmon with lemon pepper and dill weed, a very nice Dijon sauce, rice, vegetables, and a lovely bread roll (2); To Die For Chocolate Pudding (J), Indian Fry Bread with Apple Cinnamon & Ice Cream (D). David's pudding is the house speciality - and it's enormous. A very good value meal at less than $32.

 

We make a short trip into town to buy gas at a Conoco station that has little water in the wash buckets - an annoying omission considering the visibility problems caused to car windows by the sand.

 

 

The sound of the prevailing wind results in us having a restless night, and the wind is even stronger this morning, with a glance out of our bedroom revealing an unpleasant view of lots of sand being blown about. After breakfast in the Reuben Helfin, we move the car to the rear of the hotel in the hope that there will be some shelter from the wind. In fact, it is only a little less windy, but the wind does contain less sand than at the side of the hotel.

As we drive west out of Kayenta, and enter an area of sagebrush, the wind ceases to carry sand. There is some cloud this morning, and it is cool. But when we reach the Navajo National Monument (elevation: 7,286-feet), the clouds clear and it gets warmer. We have driven 28-miles from Kayenta.

Tsegi Canyon, Navajo National Monument.

                   Prickly Pear Cactus                                                                                      Scrub Jay

At the Navajo National Monument, we walk two short trails: the Sandal Trail leads to an overlook with a spectacular cross-canyon view of the ancient village of Betakin - a settlement in a cliff-side alcove (right) inhabited by Pueblo people around AD 1300; and the Aspen Trail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Aspen Trail involves a 300-feet descent to obtain a superb view into the valley below of an ancient forest of aspen and fir.

 

 

 

Left:

 

White Mesa.

 

 

From the Navajo National Monument we drive north to Page, arriving at the Best Western Hotel at 12:40pm.

Jeanette at a fork-sticked hogan dwelling.

The receptionist at the Best Western is able to book us on the 1pm cruise of Lake Powell assuring us that the Wahweap Marina departure point is only a 10-minute drive away - this proves to be optimistic. Despite a fast drive, we arrive at the marina to find that the  Lady Grace has already departed for the three-hour cruise - no problem, the harbour staff call the boat back, and we join the other eleven passengers already on board.

Wahweap Marina 

Lake Powell (which is 186-miles long with a surface area of 161,390 acres) was created in 1963 when the gates of the newly-built Glen Canyon Dam closed to hold back the Colorado River. And the dam is the cruise's first destination before we begin exploring the lake and some of its almost 100 side canyons.