Mexican Hat and the Valley of the Gods

After leaving Monument Valley behind, we were headed on to our next accommodations. But along the way, I wanted to take a detour and drive the 17 mile long loop through the Valley of the Gods. It wasn't a place I was familiar with prior to planning this trip, but I saw it on the map and looked into it. The road through the valley is gravel and clay surfaced, but is passable for passenger cars as long as they haven't had recent rain. This would be one last opportunity to enjoy view of the massive sandstone formations this area is so famous for.

My plan was to enter the Valley from the west entrance, off of UT-261, and loop back to US-163 before we continued on to our accommodations. Along the way, we passed through the tiny town of Mexican Hat, UT.  Sitting on the banks of the San Juan River, just outside of the Navajo Nation, this is about the only town along this route, tiny as it is (The 2020 Census shows a population of just 21). However, the geography of the area is absolutely stunning. In addition to the nearby Valley of the Gods, the sandstone ridge along the San Juan River was also very striking, especially in the afternoon sun. We ended up stopping to take some pictures of it, as well as the Mexican Hat Rock, a vaguely sombrero shaped rock formation just northeast of town (and with gives the town its name).

The actual drive through the Valley of the Gods was not terribly challenging. The condition of the road dictated a slow pace, and the few times I let my speed get a little fast, we found ourselves bottoming out on the rocky segments. Perhaps the biggest driving challenge was exiting out of the washes we had to cross. The climb out of several of them was pretty steep, and there were points where all I could see was the hood of the car and sky, which was a little intimidating, especially if you don't know which way the road goes on the other side of the rise, or whether another vehicle is coming the other direction. But we made it around without any incidents, and I left with a profound respect for the drivers who managed to get their motorhomes or fifth-wheel trailer campers back on that road to the campsites where we saw them.

Managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the Bears Ears National Monument, there is no visitor center or other services in the Valley of the Gods. Which meant we did not have any maps or pamphlet to describe the various formations. We did manage to find an online vehicle tour of the loop road, which did provide some guidance, but some of the descriptions were a little ambiguous, and we aren't entirely sure which formations had which names for part of the loop. But even without knowing the names of the various formations, they were impressive to look at, and the late afternoon sunlight brought out the red color of the sandstone, making everything that much more beautiful.

Finally, we had finished our drive around the loop and found ourselves back on US-163, where we finished out drive to our accommodations for the night.

Natural Bridges National Monument

We previously visited Natural Bridges National Monument on our family trip through this region back in 2009. On that trip we didn't spend a lot of time here, and only viewed the three natural bridges from the viewpoints, and didn't do any hiking. This was the only location from that trip that we would re-visit on this trip, and the plan was to hike down to each of the natural bridges for a closer look at them.

On our previous trip, we had learned the difference between an arch and a natural bridge. Natural Bridges are formed by running water, such as a creek or a river, while arches are formed by freezing ground water and wind erosion. The Natura Bridges National Monument includes the canyons of two streams that have formed three different natural bridges: Sipapu Bridge, Kachina Bridge, and Owachomo Bridge. In addition to the hikes to each of these bridges, we would also do the hike out to the overlook for the Horse Collar Ruin, which show that this area was once inhabited by Ancestral Puebloan peoples.

When we arrived, we discovered that the Visitor's Center was closed, which we hadn't expected. It was unclear if it was because the facility was still on their reduced, winter schedule, or if this was the result of budget constraints. Either way, the restrooms were open, and we were able to refill our water bottles before we headed around the one-way loop road to the overlook points and trail heads.

Sipapu Bridge

The first stop on the loop was Sipapu Bridge, which has separate parking areas for the overlook and the trail head. From the overlook, this bridge is difficult to make out, with the coloring of the rocks forming a natural camouflage that makes it hard to see and even harder to photograph well.

The hike down to Sipapu Bridge starts from the trail head parking lot, a bit further along the loop road after the overlook. The trail approaches the bridge from the other side, relative to the overlook, so as we hiked down, we had views of the other side of the bridge. The upper part of this trail was in the shadows of the cliff, and there was a short stretch of about 50 feet or so where the trail was covered with packed snow and was  pretty slippery. The other challenge on this hike was the ladders, which scaled some of the steeper cliffs down into the canyon. About halfway down, we found some Ancestral Puebloan ruins tucked under a rock overhang, with a stunning view of the Sipapu Bridge.

When we finally reached the canyon floor, we found ourselves almost directly under the bridge. Based on the position of the sun, I decided that the best place to try to get photos of the bridge was on the other side, so we walked under the bridge and along the stream bed for a bit until we got a good view back towards the bridge.

We then began to retrace our steps back up the trail to our car. The round trip distance for this hike was about 1.4 miles, with a total vertical drop of about 436 feet from the parking area to the canyon floor.

Horse Collar Ruin

Our next hike was the relatively easy hike to the overlook for the Horse Collar Ruin. Because of the way we visited on our first visit, I don't think we gained any appreciation of this park as an Ancestral Puebloan site. None of the ruins are visible from the easily accessible overlooks, and I don't remember reading about them at the time. However, because we were hiking this time, we got to see some of the ruins, both up close, and from a distance. And while the natural bridges might be the star attractions here, the protection of these ruins is the real reason the area was originally designated as a National Monument.

The Horse Collar Ruin is located on the far side of the canyon, nestled under the overhanging rock ledge. The hike to the overlook to see them was an easy 0.6 mile round trip with very little vertical change. The overlook included signage that discussed what is known about the people who used to live here (which is apparently very little) and about the remaining mysteries surrounding their presence and disappearance.

Kachina Bridge

The overlook and trail head for Kachina Bridge share a single parking area. The walkway out to the overlook is paved, and provides a view down to the bridge at the junction of the White and Armstrong Canyons. This overlook also allows visitors to see how the bridges are formed, with the White Canyon forming a sharp bend here before the junction with the Armstrong Canyon. The stone that forms the bridge was part of the canyon wall in the middle of that bend until the water eroded its way through the wall to create the bridge.

The trail down to the bridge branches off the paved path about halfway out to the overlook, and loops below the overlook before descending into the canyon. It begins with a series of switchbacks down the steeper part of the canyon wall, before emerging on the slip rock lower down. Part way down, we discovered a small arch forming on the canyon wall, right next to the hiking trail. We also had to navigate some ladders as part of our descent to the canyon floor.

At the bottom of the canyon, we had to walk along the dry streambed in Armstrong Canyon the rest of the way to the bridge. There was a large cluster of trees and brush growing where the streams from the two canyons merge, right next to the bridge, which made it difficult to get a good photo of the entire bridge from the canyon floor. However, after some experimenting, I was able to get a decent shot from a sharp angle along the canyon wall, looking at the bridge. I was also able to get a good wide angle shot of the bridge using my phone.

After taking in the views from the bridge, it was time to make our way back up and out of the canyon. The roundtrip hike was about 1.4 miles, with a total vertical drop of 462 feet from the parking area to the canyon floor.

Owachomo Bridge

The final bridge was the easiest of the three to hike to. Again, the overlook and the trail head started from the same place, and we began by checking out the view of the bridge from the overlook.

Then we began our descent down the trail to the bridge. The trail here wasn't as long, nor as steep as at the earlier bridges, making this more of a stroll than a hike. The bridge is not actually at the bottom of the canyon, since the stream has since moved, leaving the bridge standing alongside the canyon. We walked under the bridge and took some photos looking back at it. We also spotted some more ruins on the cliff across the canyon, and unsuccessfully looked for some petroglyphs we were told were in the area. Then we returned back up the trail to the car. The total roundtrip distance for this hike was just 1/2 mile, with a vertical drop of just 188 feet from the parking area to the base of the bridge.

Having finished our hikes and our visit, we made one final stop at the visitor's center to top off our water bottles before we began our drive off to our next accommodations for the night.

 

Taos Pueblo

After discovering that the San Antonio Missions were on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, I looked through the rest of the list of World Heritage Sites in the United States, to see if there might be any others we hadn't already visited that might be along our route out or back on this trip. The only other one that seemed like a reasonable possibility was the Taos Pueblo, outside Taos, New Mexico. After looking at the information about the site, we decided that it was worth making a slight detour in our return journey to visit.

After visiting so many Ancestral Puebloan sites over the years, visiting an modern Pueblo community would be a refreshing change of pace. The Taos Pueblo has been continuously occupied by its tribal members for around a thousand years, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied places in America. While the number of full time residence in the Pueblo structures themselves has fallen quite low, members of the tribe continue to pass down units from generation to generation, and families continue to use their spaces here to get away from the stresses of modern life and to connect with their cultural and spiritual heritage.

Paid admission is required for visitors to enter the compound, but they then provide complimentary tours for those interested in learning more about the history and culture of the community. Many of the community members maintain shops here, selling art and craft goods. We also snacked on cake and fry bread as we walked around and took in the sights. We talked with a number of shop owners and others who live and work here, and found them to be quite friendly. Our overall impression of the site was one of sacredness and peace. These people have deep connections with their past, and it strongly influences how they approach the future.

We spent a couple of hours here, exploring and enjoying the calmness of the place, but soon enough had to move along to get to our next destination.