Goosenecks, Moki Dugway, and Valley of the Gods.

October 13, 2013

We have a big day planned with our route taking us to Goosenecks State Park, the Moki Dugway, and circling back through the Valley of the Gods.

We head west from Sand Island on Highway 163 then turn north onto 261 and follow the signs for Goosenecks State Park (Road 316).  What an amazing place! 

This is the longest entrenched river meander in North America.  The river weaves through the canyon for more than 6 miles, but advances toward Lake Powell only 1-1/2 miles.  I won’t bore you with the geological details, but their formation is fascinating.  Check it out online.  River runners take 5 – 6 day float trips from Mexican Hat to Lake Powell through this beautiful meander.  Can you imagine the view from down there?

What is a dugway, anyway?

Back on Highway 261 we drive north until we reach the Moki Dugway, an 11% grade gravel road.  A “dugway” is a road or trail along a hillside that is dug out to provide a path for transportation.  The Moki Dugway was built back in the 1950’s by Texas Zinc Minerals to provide a route for uranium ore to be hauled from Cedar Mesa to the mill near Mexican Hat.  For us, it’s an exciting drive up switchbacks.  Here we are starting up the dugway.  You can see Highway 261 in the distance.

The winding road far below goes through Valley of the Gods.

Looking out across Valley of the Gods.

Switchbacks below us.

At the top we enjoy the view, and then slowly make our way back down and turn left on to Road 202 into the Valley of the Gods.

Valley of the Gods – A miniature Monument Valley.

We drive through the towering sandstone formations all with fanciful names, but we don’t know what’s what.  Since there are no signs – it’s a guessing game.  They are still beautiful even though, for us, they shall remain nameless.

The “native surface road suitable for high clearance vehicles” is like a roller coaster, which is pretty fun until we top a blind hill to a stopped SUV barely over the crest of the hill.  The driver has a terrified look on his face and both his hands plastered up against the windshield with fingers splayed in a “stop” fashion.  I’m glad Jack’s behind the wheel today.  He gets stopped while we both gripe about dumb drivers.    

The other 3 SUV occupants come waddling over to the road.   The ladies say in unison, “We found a desert toad.  Can you believe it?  We found a desert toad.”

I’m thinking, “Are you crazy?  We nearly smashed the living daylights out of your husband!  What are you talking about a toad for?”

All I can manage to muster is, “Okay, well that’s good.”

We move past them, look at each other, and just roll our eyes.  Jack has a little "i-phone quotation book" we have fun with.  This quote kind of sums up our thoughts of these folks.

Quote: “It may be that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.”

More nameless formations.  This one from the west, and then the north.

These next 2 pictures are of the same formation.  Most women understand about "Fat Days" and "Skinny Days".  This is what we're talking about. 

More lovely formations.

That takes care of our long day on the road.  Until next time - be safe.