Four Corners side trip

 If you look up the Four Corners Monument on travel advice sites, people say don’t go out of your way to visit there. They charge you $5 each to line up and take a picture, and it’s really hot, and there are vendors hawking stuff all around.

Well. We were on our way to Monument Valley and literally passing the turnoff for the Four Corners Monument, and it wasn’t hot, and in November 2021 not remotely crowded. Indeed, I was worried no one would be around to take our picture! The only oddities were the mask mandate and the use of cards only (no cash) to pay the $5.

 

The duck is in New Mexico, T. is in Colorado, I'm in Utah and the chick is in Arizona.

Teec Nos Pos. Every village had a welcome sign.

 Colorado had the least restrictive mask-wearing and the Navajo Nation the most, with indoor businesses in New Mexico seeming to vary by city. It was all very confusing, and Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park appears to be partly in Utah and mostly in Arizona, with both states claiming it. I guess it didn’t matter because it was Navajo land. The park had recently reopened but what with washouts this summer, the normally drivable dirt loop was deemed out of bounds to regular cars, and T. didn’t like the look of it anyway. So we hired a guide, after agreeing that it was okay to lower masks when speaking to T. 

Masks proved useful with all the dust flying around in the open vehicle!

The Navajo guides can take you to places you can’t go on your own anyway. It wasn’t a cheap tour, but it was good value, as our guide actually lives and herds sheep in Monument Valley. He took us to see a hogan (a Navajo dwelling; a woman of his acquaintance took us inside the female hogan) and played his flute in one of Monument Valley’s awesome rock formations, which made it feel like I was being transported back many hundreds of years.

Three Sisters

West Mitten

He also wore a cap from the now-renamed Cleveland Indians baseball team. And not just any logo, but the defunct Chief Wahoo.

As he clearly wasn’t from Cleveland, I asked if he was a fan. He laughed and said yes. I understand that the “Indians” nickname for the then-Cleveland Spiders originated when Louis Sockalexis, Native himself, was actually playing for the team. I guess if anyone can unselfconsciously root for the Tribe, it ought to be a tribal member.

The geological formations in the Tribal Park are astounding, and the changing light of the afternoon played over them beautifully. My pictures don’t really do justice to them but here are some more anyway.

Moccasin Arch

Sun's Eye

Possibly even more astounding were the ancient petroglyphs drawn by Ancestral Pueblo (the same people who built the dwellings at Mesa Verde). The guide showed us these with pride, as these people were his own ancestors.

He asked about our trip, and whether we would be seeing my family in time for Thanksgiving. I wondered about an American Indian’s thoughts on Thanksgiving, but this was one of the most easygoing people I’d ever met. When he showed us “John Ford Point,” where the filmmaker shot some famous scenes, he said, “You know, when the Indians were chasing John Wayne…”

West Mitten in film

 “Very politically correct,” I said. He laughed again, asked us what religion we were, then pointed out another formation that some people say looks like a figure of Jesus. What a relaxed and relaxing presence this guy was.

John Ford Point

Ear of the Wind

The Western movie theme continued at Goulding’s Lodge, just outside the Park in Utah.

Harry Goulding and his wife, who went by the name of Mike, founded this trading post and lodge and worked out a partnership with the local Navajo. During the 1930s, the Gouldings brought filming to the area and much-needed income to the people, who were really suffering from the Great Depression. We raise our eyebrows at some of the movie things now, but for its time, this was a fairly progressive endeavour.

In She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

One thing’s for sure: the views from Goulding’s can’t be beat. Every room has a private patio or balcony.

There’s only one restaurant and, like everywhere on the reservation, it’s alcohol free. T. would also say it’s hot-food free. It was too bad that the food was so hit and miss. My green chili chicken and bean stew special was delicious, served with Navajo fry bread, which is like a funnel cake where you add your own powdered sugar/honey.

The sunrise before we left Monument Valley was unforgettable.

There’s a lot of pride in heritage around these parts. “We Are Family,” signs proclaimed in both English and Navajo. Even a Burger King billboard advertised a Navajo Code Talkers exhibit. Having said that, there were no Burger Kings or much else for long distances. We took Indian Route 59 down through Arizona.

Note arrowhead shape on Indian highway sign.

The community of Chilchinbito advertised “Home of the World’s Largest Rug.” The only other place names on that road were Rough Rock and Many Farms. “I haven’t seen any farms,” said T., “never mind many farms.”

Back on the U.S. highway at Chinle, Arizona, we were passing Canyon de Chelly National Monument. We had time for a rim drive, though T. expressed concern at the “No Wood Cutting” sign: “Damn, I’ll have to put my ax away.”

It’s not Canyon de Chelly’s fault that its ruins of ancient civilization aren’t quite as spectacular as Mesa Verde’s, nor the views as spectacular as Monument Valley’s. Had we not just been to both places, we’d probably have been more impressed. To its credit, Canyon de Chelly is free.

Tseyi Overlook

Speaking of views, at one of the overlooks we saw a car with a Virginia license plate, adorned with “Trump Won” stickers. We did not get out to chat with the “*!@?$! half-wit.” There’s a difference in views, and then there’s accepting reality. (It’s worth noting that this was the only such encounter we had the entire trip.)

 

Spider Rock Overlook

Ruins

Other signs as we made our way back to New Mexico: “Donations for Thomas Hardy” ? and “Fireworks 50% off all year.” Now, how does that work? If there’s never a regular price, my advertising background taught me, you can’t have 50% off. 

 

We’d used my atlas and, for the duration of our detour, not used the Route 66 navigation app at all. So T. said Jane (the navigation voice) had a long weekend off. “She’s probably having a fag and a cup of coffee, looking at her watch. Or on the phone to Marta in Spain.”

Defiance Plateau. Trail of the Ancients Scenic Byway…

 

When we returned to Gallup, we had a look round the old alignment of Route 66 through downtown (Coal Street). 

El Morro Theatre, Spanish colonial style (1928)

Another Muffler Man--the cowboy atop John's Used Cars

We (eventually) found ourselves at the Red Roof Inn. Ten or twenty dollars above our usual motel price range, and boy did it feel swish: even had a fitness room, and it was open! Not that it made up for weeks of road snacks, diners, and sitting in the car…

Even the "bins" have art in Gallup!

 

I couldn’t wait to get back to Route 66!