Day Three – April 8th, 2009
Four Corners USA
I drove from Albequerque to Four Corner USA. It was fun to stand in four states at the same time. However, I learned later that perhaps this monument may not be technically where the four states meet. It doesn’t matter for this trip anyway.
It was VERY windy here…
Monument Valley Park
I drove from Four Corners towards Monument Valley Park. I saw breathtaking views and I seemed to be the only vehicle for miles! I can’t wait to get back here with a pro camera to take some awesome photos. Throughout this journey a song started playing in my head with wordless vocals sung by a Native American. It was my soundtrack for the trip.
This is my favorite photo from the trip and I see a priest providing overwatch of a castle. I found out only recently upon searching that this formation has the name “Stagecoach”. You can view it on Google Maps.
There were many other formations like this one but I didn’t get very good photos of them. Next time.
Fans of the Half Life video game franchise may recognize Black Mesa which is the location where the game takes place in a secret military base. I’m guessing this is where they got the idea from. I was surprised to see actual signs with this labeling.
Not pictured is my detour through The Valley of the Gods. As I was driving along the road I saw the sign and thought, “Why not?” I stopped at the entrance and let another vehicle pass – tourists in a rental who appeared to be just fine racing along and chuckling as their vehicle bounced. However, I wanted to be careful with my vehicle. This was the most frightening part of the trip as the temperature was soaring and my vehicle was borderline overheating. The path is a 17-mile dirt road that is VERY rocky and I had to go VERY slow so as not to damage my vehicle suspension. My Jeep is supposedly “trail rated” but seriously, was not able to handle this. I tried to enjoy the scenery but it was quite treacherous. I was praying the entire time that I would make it through okay.
Near the 5-mile mark a women in a small white four-door vehicle stopped and asked me for the nearest gas station as her tire was going flat. Unfortunately, I didn’t know anything about the area, and was wholly unprepared. Cell phone service is not available and my phone at the time had no service. However, I think the navigation system in my vehicle was working and so I could follow the trail. She went onward and I felt bad that I could not help her. I now have a portable tire inflator that I keep in my vehicle. She was near the exit and there was about 3 hours of light left in the day so I have hope she was okay.
It took me perhaps 1.5 hours to get through this trail moving at a snails pace. I was so happy to make it through. Next time I may rent a rugged vehicle or something.