We said goodbye to the red rock formations I love and I vowed to return some day and search for Edward Abbeys Desert Solitude. Not wanting to break the spell of my account yesterday, I did not mention the vast amount of people visiting Arches. I certainly don’t begrudge all those wanting to see these wonders and I’m not quite piggy enough to want the whole place to myself. I also do have a good time visiting on occasion with fellow tourists and taking group photos when I can.
What amazes me is the cavalier attitude exhibited by many of the visitors, busy talking about seemingly mundane topics while immune to the present surroundings. I also don’t mind the children, especially those having great fun at the sandstone arch as the buried themselves in the sand. What was disturbing was the number of extremely small children (aged 3 or younger) hot, crying and tired and obviously not having a good time. Perhaps I am too serious and need to lighten up! Either that or go hide under a rock!!
The sheer number of people makes finding solitude a real challenge. This has been a great practice in patience and tolerance for me. I manage to pace myself, let the groups go by and take aloneness when I can. Where and when does one find the solitude?
As to our travel day, this was to be a relatively easy 200 mile journey through SE Utah and into Arizona. The green grassland and mountain range with some snow was a change from the red rocks:
Then back into the high desert for a while:
These bluffs near appropriately named Bluff UT caught my eye:
After crossing the state line into Arizona, you begin driving through Navajo land. With over 17 million acres, the Navajo Nation encompasses the entire northeast quarter of the state of Arizona, and spills over into New Mexico and Utah. An interesting observation: Arizona does not observe daylight savings time and is the same time all year, like Indiana used to be. The Navajo, however, do observe daylight savings time. Makes determining the time a challenge! The land is this area is mostly arid with more neat rock formations:
This land is open range and you need to be on the lookout for wandering cows, sheep and horses. We were not sure how they determined who owned the stock – livestock brands or communal property? This is definitely ranch land and we saw many small rodeo arenas and some good-looking horses.
We also saw a phenomenon neither of us had seen before. It was a very windy day and we drove in and out of rain clouds several times. Funny thing, you can see the rain coming out of the clouds, but it never hits the ground.
OK so far as Thomas cooks dinner:
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