Day 970: Flying Goosnecks, Valley of the gods, and Monument Valley

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Ben

Shabbos at Goosenecks State Park was quiet in our dispersed camping spot. We walked along the rim and enjoyed the views.

This morning, I got up early and launched flight #103 from the RV. The view from above was fantastic! Our RV is the the lower left corner of the frame:

Flying over the canyon:

I flew northeast for ten miles to reach Valley of the gods:

Coming back to land:

Trish made a great breakfast:

On Friday, there was a bit of tire slippage getting the RV into position, creating a layer of fine dust which captured these mouse footprints:

We left the RV at Goosenecks and drove up the Moki Dugway. It’s a one-lane gravel road with 10% grades and 5MPH curves:

Views from the top:

Driving back down:

Views of the Moki Dugway from a pullout:

On the way back to the RV, we drove through the Valley of the gods, which we last visited in 2011:

We hitched up the RV and said goodbye to Goosenecks:

Our next stop was Monument Valley. We visited Monument Valley in 2011, but came in from the other side, so we didn’t get to see this view on the approach:

We saw wild horses too:

The goal of visiting Moument Valley this time was to fly out to the monuments from the Goulding’s Lodge airstrip, the only airstrip near Monument Valley. The airstrip can be used for $50, or by Lodge guests, so we opted to stay in their dry camping, no services area for the bargain basement price of $40 a night:

Setting up for launch:

The air was really bumpy, so I didn’t stay up for long:

This video has today’s two flights, as well as tomorrow’s flight here at Monument Valley:

See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 968: Shiprock and Goosenecks

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Ben

How you ever wondered how full-time RVers change their oil without a driveway or garage? Of course you have:

Trish should stop dong this, I’m really getting used to fantastic breakfasts:

We hitched up and said goodbye to the Farmington Dunes OHV Area:

We drove west and passed north of Shiprock. I really wanted to fly to this massive volcanic plug, but it was too windy this morning so we settled for roadside photos:

We continued west from New Mexico into Arizona, then north into Utah:

We soon arrived at Goosenecks State Park, one of the best examples of an entrenched meander in the US. We were last here in 2011:

After paying to enter the park, we found a spot along the rim to camp:

I went for a bike ride to explore the approach to the Moki Dugway, a one-lane gravel road that climbs the cliff face ahead::

Along the way, I passed the turnoff for the Valley of the Gods:

More warning signs:

I rode until the pavement turned to gravel, then raced down the grade on the way back:

Heading back to Goosenecks:

Our open range neighbors:

We really like our spot:

View from the RV as sunset approaches:

Good Shabbos from Goosenecks State Park!

See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 967: Aztec Ruins NM and the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Ben

We’ve been at about 6,000 feet lately, and the nights get pretty cold. At dawn, it’s typically in the high-20s outside and in the mid-30s inside the RV. We definitely bundle up before getting in bed:

Trish made another fantastic breakfast this morning:

We drove north to visit Aztec Ruins National Monument:

We enjoyed the exhibit space in the visitor center:

Compared to Chaco Culture National Historical Park, which we visited a few days ago, Aztec Ruins was a bit disappointing, but it was still interesting. Like at Chaco, these ruins were built not by the Aztecs, but by the Ancestral Puebloan people. Aztec Ruins was built between the 11th and 13th centuries:

We were amazed to find original 11th century wooden roofs in these rooms:

This excavated door, filled in during later construction, still has remnants of its 11th-century reed privacy screen:

The pueblo here was built with accent lines using green stones:

A satellite site to the main pueblo:

Overlooking the main site:

The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges:

We next drove west to drop off the RV at our overnight location in the Farmington Dunes OHV Area. We picked this location so M can drive around his R/C car on the dunes:

We drove the truck south to visit the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness:

We hiked east into the Bisti Wilderness:

Hoodoos were everywhere:

The Bisti Wilderness is best known for it’s “broken egg” formations:

We continued on:

The tiny Bisti Arch:

We drove back to the RV to overnight at the Farmington Dunes OHV Area. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 966: Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah WSA – King of Wings

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Ben

This morning Trish made another tasty breakfast:

We headed out for another hike in the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Study Area, this time looking for the hoodoo known as “King of Wings”. It was very windy and cold:

We spotted a few wild horses:

After a bit we reached the badlands:

The hoodoo group that contains King of Wings:

The King of Wings. This hoodoo supports a dramatically overhanging capstone:

Photographing it from below yielded some dramatic photographs:

At least this fellow died in a scenic area:

We continued on to search for the structure called “Space Spoon”:

The Space Spoon from a number of angles:

The vast emptiness of the American West never ceases to amaze me, and I treasure the solitude it provides:

Selfie time:

The rolling badlands create abstract patterns:

So many colors:

More horses:

A windmill on the way back:

We also saw this wild horse along the road:

We hitched up the RV and drove north to the Angel Peak Scenic Area, a designation well deserved:

Angel Peak:

I had hoped to find a dispersed camping location from which I could fly along the canyon rim, but we were unsuccessful, so we overnighted at a nearby gas station. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.