Day Thirteen - more fun in Monument Valley

I got up early because I really wanted to get down into the valley and walk around by myself. Here's what I saw from my hotel window at about 7am just before I left for my hike:



The two mesas on the left are called the Mittens, for obvious reasons. I think the other one is Castle rock.

It turns out that I needn't have bothered getting up early as there were only about 5 people staying in the hotel and none of them went on the walk anyway. But it was pretty cool being down in the valley as the sun rose and it was incredible being alone as I walked around the Mittens. It feels a bit like being on the moon. There's absolute silence and nothing in view but desert and these giant monuments looming all around you.



The floor of the desert is really fragile - there's a thin crust that is apparently biologically active, the occasional yucca, juniper or sagebrush and lots of sand and rocks. I would have liked to wander off the track and explore the desert a bit, but it is very easy to damage the desert environment even with footprints.



I did see quite a few animal tracks, mostly little rodents but probably some larger things as well - coyotes or even bobcats. I can't recommend this experience - walking by yourself through Monument Valley - highly enough. It's truly one of the most incredible places I've ever been.

But eventually I had to pick my jaw up and get back on the road. If I'd driven along the highway to the south on any other day, I would have been stopping every 5 minutes to take a picture. But after Monument Valley, you get a bit blase. I did stop just outside of Flagstaff to do a short walk up to the base of a cinder cone from a recent volcanic eruption.



Once again, I was the only person in the park and I bumped into the ranger on my way around the trail. He was a bit apologetic about the fact that you can't climb the cone anymore. It's basically just a big pile of ashes and pumice and hikers were seriously eroding it. I wasn't at all sad, as climbing a giant pile of hot sand isn't my idea of fun.

Flagstaff seemed really cool - a pretty laid back and hip town in an amazing setting, but I wanted to get a few more miles on the odometer so I continued on to Prescott. Lonely Planet recommended a historical hotel downtown where I am now. They've steered me pretty right with a bunch of other places, so I forgive them for this recommendation. The Hotel St Michael is on the historic drinking street and it feels a bit like a place you check into when you are too drunk to make it home for the night. Anyway, I'm not going to stay here long. I think I'm going to push on all the way to LA tomorrow so I can relax and not be under any pressure to drive on my last day.