Navajo National Monument

Day two Muley Point to?? After firing up the Eberspacher – Espar diesel heater   I grabbed my iphone to shoot the morning sunrise which was currently beaming thru the passenger side of the van. Katie and Hoku were still sleeping soundly as I poured my first cup of coffee. Katie was in recovery mode still feeling the effects of a nasty case of the flu with Hoku exercising her teenage sleeping rights. Our Muley Point campsite was located at slightly over 7000 ft with the morning temperature outside the van hovering in the upper 30’s, inside the heater was doing a fine job with the temperature quickly approaching 80. That heater rocks, at some point I’ll do a post devoted to the install and use. Over breakfast I planned our next adventure, a visit to Navajo National Monument. However first we had to descend the Mokey Dugway which was a narrow winding dirt road down the side of the mesa.

Mokey Dugway video link

Goose-necks Sate Park UT video link

The drive from Goose-necks UT to Navajo National Monument AZ took us thru Monument Valley, classic western film shooting area, and the small city of Kayenta which we stopped for fuel and ice. Kayenta is also the name of the 190-million-year-old sandstone, shale and limestone rock formation so predominate in the area.  Less than an hour later we were driving thru the aptly named Sunset View campground at Navajo National Monument deciding which site would provide us with the best sunset view. Along with clean restrooms the campground had 30 or so sites all paved, all complimentary and most with great views. After settling in at site number 3 Hoku and I took off on our bikes to explore the park, Katie decided to recharge in the van.

Navajo National Monument is named for the people who now occupy the region and is located within Dine´ (Navajo) Nation land which occupies an area larger than West Virginia. The Monument protects the well-preserved cliff dwellings of Betatakin, Keet Seel and Inscription House built hundreds of years ago by Ancestral Puebloans AKA Anasazi – “ancient ones”. The Anasazi occupied these dwellings from 950 to around 1300 AD then mysteriously abandoned them with theories why ranging from drought to religious dictates.

Betatakin Dwelling overlook video link

The only way to visit the dwellings themselves was with a guide from the park. With us visiting during “low season” we missed out on the daily guided tour and opted for the self-guided overlook of the Betatakin dwelling. Betatakin, Navajo name meaning “ledge house” had at its height 100 to 125 people living there in over 135 rooms, multi-level condo’s with no monthly maintenance fee’s way cool!

That evening we attempted our first flight of our new Mavic Pro drone, long story short the drone never got off the ground, our inaugural flight was aborted due to one bar of connectivity. Which worked out great as we would later discover that flying a drone is a big No No in National Monuments, National Parks and State Parks.

Next stop the Grand Canyon, which side?