San Juan Trading Post

Navajo Expedition: April 29th

April 29th, 2010, 22:39 hours

Yesterday’s wind was followed by a 25° drop in temperature and a sprinkling of snow, making for a beautiful and dust-free return to Monument Valley. We set off from Mexican Hat after a wonderful breakfast at The Olde Bridge Grille. We will definitely be back this way, as the town is a perfect spot to base future explorations around southeast Utah. Today was a short day today with much of our sight seeing done from or very near the vehicles. The area of Monument Valley known as Mystery Valley is full of pictographs, small ruins, natural arches/bridges and slot canyons to explore. The place is a maze of rock, sand and history.

An early camp at Rain God Mesa made for a welcome rest and conversation around the campfire, and time to catch up on the trip’s highlights thus far.

The last remnants of the storm passed just to the west of us, making for a beautiful sunset…

Food: Dave made an excellent dessert tonight by grilling thin slices of mango, then covering them with honey. This combination of heat and honey changes the texture and brings out the flavor and sugar of the mango, and the peel makes the perfect bowl. The result is what candy would be if you could harvest it from a tree and grill it over a fire.

Tags: Arizona, camp, Colorado Plateau, Discovery, dust storm, food, Hunts Mesa, Indian Country, Land Rover, Mexican Hat, Monument Valley, Mystery Valley, Navajo, Navajo Expedition, Navajo Nation, OAUSA, Painted Desert, San Juan Inn, San Juan Trading Post, sand storm, Simpson’s, The Olde Bridge Grille, Trailhandler Tours, Utah
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Navajo Expedition: April 28th

April 28th, 2010, 20:50 hours

Morning brought us up through the tourist-saturated area around The View Hotel, giving us a welcome stop at a grocery store for resupply. Still no sign of my Hostess Crunch doughnuts, I really should have bought some when we stopped in Flagstaff. The rest of the day on into early evening we traveled through even more expansive dunes, cliffs, and slickrock trails with one added obstacle – an ever worsening dust storm.

We’ve reached the top of Hunts Mesa at what seems to be the peak of the storm. The weather radio reports it will not pass until sometime after 21:00. A search of several potential campsites reveals none with shelter from the sand-blasting, made worse by the many dunes up here on the mesa. It would seem the local hotels are in cahoots with the weather, with rates starting at $195. Carlos mentions he knows a good place for us to stay in his home town of Mexican Hat, so we’re heading for the Utah border.

The San Juan Inn & Trading Post, Carlos’ recommendation for “camp” and dinner, turned out to be this perfect little 2-story structure clinging to the cliffs over the San Juan river. As it is just outside the reservation, the restaurant (The Olde Bridge Grille) serves alcohol. As it is in Utah, they have Polygamy Porter. They also have excellent food…