Wednesday, September 8
Tuesday night it had sprinkled and Wednesday morning we woke up to a wonderful thunder storm, then rain storm! We were well protected in our cozy home in the Beast. That morning, after the rain had stopped, we packed up and did another hike in the Needles before leaving the area: Big Spring and Squaw Canyon. Some of the cairns had been washed away from the storms in Big Spring, so it made for an interesting hike trying to figure out the right way. Big Spring ends at a big wall that you are able to scramble up and goes into Squaw Canyon. Big Spring was an interesting canyon to hike in, but Squaw Canyon wasn't my favorite.


We left the Needles and drove to Gooseneck State Park that night. It's a very small park, but right on the edge of the San Juan, overlooking the Gooseneck section. The wind did blow that evening and night, but we were safe and protected in the Beast. It's fun to think that in the spring we'll be rafting down this part of the river!



Thursday, September 9
Gee, can you tell where our next stop was?? Monument Valley.
We actually drove only about 2 miles into the Valley. It was a very rutted, dusty road and we probably missed some fabulous view, but we turned around and left.




We moved on to Canyon de Chelly. This is a picture of the White House ruin, the only ruin in the canyon that you can hike down to without a guide.






It is a beautiful canyon with amazing ruins. We did the South Rim drive Thursday afternoon and the North Rim on Friday. We decided not to go into the canyon with a guide. We had heard from a friend and a stranger that the views were better from the rim.







One of the strangest conversations we eavesdropped on was a women who said to her friends "This is SO much better then the Grand Canyon." Now, Steve and I both agree Canyon de Chelly and Canyon de Muerto are lovely, but so much better then the Grand Canyon?? I'd love to know the rest of that story...