Rockhopper Road Diaries Episode 3 Across the Navajo Lands

I have a crow cawing right above my car this morning. Well, I see why he was outside. He finished off the last of the turkey breast that was in that container that I left outside there. Oh, and I was going for some more. That's just some scraps left in the potato chip bag. I guess he'll be amused for a while. Oh, that got his attention when I opened the door. He's back. Let him have his fun and finish off the scraps. Enjoy your national parks. Provided you're willing to pay the entry fee to get in, I guess. I just found the remains of a little wiki-up type shelter while walking around on the Navajo lands. Look at this insect that flew into my car. What is that thing, like an antlion adult? I wake up to a wild horse wandering not far from my car. This ant is completely thrilled that he's found water in the desert, even if it is my pee. It's a red-earth dust devil up ahead. Having a bite to eat here on the Diné lands. While a puppy is biting me. Paying respects on Memorial Day to my Diné friend who passed. This is all since COVID. Said goodbye to my Diné friends and now on the road again. That is a long way down. Here we go, let's drop this rock. This is how I start my mornings. Going across the big landscapes of the Navajo Nation. That's Navajo Mountain in the distance. Near the turnoff for Navajo National Monument is an abandoned laundromat. I'd say this place is all washed up. The gas station is abandoned too. Here in the Burger King in Kayenta, you can find a very nice display about the Navajo Code Talkers during World War II. This is part of the display of the Navajo Code Talkers. Alfonda Many Beats' father was a Code Talker during World War II. Diné dogs. We're back in Utah again. This is where I parked the first night in Utah. Amongst these big huge red rock canyons. Right up a little wash. Come on, let's explore this canyon a little bit. Well, it didn't take long to reach the end. Here, I'll show you. This is pretty cool. From down here in the wash, it goes hundreds of feet over my head. I have to say, this is a pretty nice way to start the day. We're heading down a little trail now. In an area they refer to as Gouldings, which is actually the village of Monument Valley, more or less. We're heading off to an arch. Diné cats, too. Hey, buddy. I'm back on the road, and I found a scenic pullout with some rock formations I think you're going to like. Okay, we're at the Forrest Gump turnout. From the movie Forrest Gump, where Forrest was running and stopped. Anyway, this place has become kind of famous. I'm Forrest Gump. People call me Forrest Gump. Mama says the desert's like an old man's attic. You never know what you're going to find. People filming themselves in the middle of the road with a drone. What could possibly go wrong? The old neon sign's kind of cool. Hey, guys. Should I get a Mexican hat? Because that's where I'm at. What do you think of that? It'll be nice to get to the water, because look at that temperature. 108. The water I speak of is Lake Powell, which is not really a lake. It's a reservoir. And we're going through this hot, dry desert country right now. Which is quite colorful with red rocks and other assorted shades of rock. And we're going to be going to this big mesa, I believe. Yep, that's exactly what we're doing. We're going up and over this big mesa here. Kiss that pavement goodbye. This should be interesting. Oh, yeah. Here we go. Let's step out of the car for a second. Check out this view. Yeah, look at that view. It just keeps getting better and better. And these turns are very, very sharp. Wow. Cathedral in the Desert is a fantastic alcove of rock, apparently. With a waterfall running right down through the middle of it all. And it's normally submerged by Lake Powell. Well, when the Glen Canyon Dam was put in, it inundated the cathedral and all the rest of things that were along Lake Powell. Such as Indian ruins, petroglyphs, pictographs, just all sorts of things. Hanging gardens of ferns and amazing places that are now pretty much gone forever. But now the lake level is getting low, so it's looking hopeful that I can see this place. We're traveling along the top of Cedar Mesa now. Heading toward Lake Powell, which is somewhere out there. Got some Painted Hills type action going on here. Even though it's Utah, sometimes it has a look of Namibia. Lizard Track Crossroads. This road is a pit mudder. What's that, you might ask? Well, there are very few roads in America left, paved roads anyway, where you can pee in the middle of the road. So that's an acronym that I use for those roads which you can still do that. Like this one, which I just did. You can pee in the middle of the road without having to worry about getting run over. Okay, here at Lake Powell, got some sausage patties on the barbie. And it's a beautiful evening. It's actually very warm out here. It's probably over 100 still. Pretty nice though, out here in the sunset. On the lake. That's a pretty nice place to be right now. Not too bad a place to be at all.