Day Twelve - a day of superlatives

I left Durango early as I knew there would be a lot to see on the road to Monument Valley. Actually, that turned out to be a pretty huge understatement.

My first stop was Mesa Verde. It's an incredible place - a massive mesa with the largest and best preserved Anasazi/Pueblo cave dwellings around. I'm not normally into these highly structured and managed park experiences but the huge advantage of coming here in winter is that there is no one else around. I was entirely on my own as I did the drive through the park. It's an amazingly atmospheric place and I was glad that there weren't any tour buses or crowds to blow the atmosphere.

I even took the guided walk with the ranger, who takes you to the one "house" that is open. The highlight was climbing down into a "Kiva" or underground room. It was quite a relief from the chill outside. I can see why the Anasazi moved off the top of the mesa into the caves. I didn't take many pictures of the ruins themselves - I'm sure they've been photographed into oblivion by now. But here's what it looks like up on top of the mesa - not too hopitable at this time of year. Yucca seem to thrive though.



I didn't think I would top the Mesa Verde experience but I decided to pull over when I saw a trailhead a bit further down the road. This walk, picked at random, turned out to be one of the best hikes I've ever done.



Around every corner was another incredible vista: the ruins of an old cave house



or a bizarre rock formation.



Big lizards ran up vertical sandstone walls, eagles circled overhead and shy little birds hopped around in the sagebrush and yucca. As for people - I saw one other person out for a walk with her dogs. I could have spent a whole day exploring but I had to get back on the road after a couple of hours. I'm definitely going back though.

To one of the best walks I've ever done, Monument Valley added the most incredible scenery I've ever seen in my life and the scariest drive. It's impossible to photograph or explain the overwhelming nature of the valley. It's just one bizarre and incredible vista after another: the "Gooseneck" bends of the San Juan river; a rock balancing on a giant pillar straight out of Roadrunner cartoons; incredible colours and textures everywhere you look.



Everything is out of scale. It's disorienting and overwhelming, particularly when you are driving a little rental car by yourself. I can't imagine why there aren't more people here in winter. Getting the place to yourself is incredible.

The last thing I did today, on the advice of the ranger from Mesa Verde, was drive up out of the valley on the "Moki Dugway". This is a road that somehow ascends one of the cliffs above the San Juan goosenecks. As I drove towards it, I simply couldn't imagine or perceive how the road would get up this near vertical, crumbling mass of sandstone and shale. The answer is: by switchbacking across the cliff face and not being afraid of massive drop offs.



The signposted speed limit is 15mph and I think it's too high. I'm not ashamed to say that I was shitting myself, particularly on the way back down. One false move or a failed brake line and you are toast on this road. There's a nice car wreck sitting on one of the scree slopes to remind you of the consequence of failure.

Tonight I'm staying in a brand new Navajo hotel right in the middle of the valley. To complete a day of superlatives, it has the most outrageous views of any hotel I've ever seen or can imagine.