Durango to Mexican Hat

Plan for the 28th was to head out of Colorado and into Arizona. So that's pretty much what we did. Left Durango and headed for Arizona. Stopped at a small trading post that sold Indian goods and had a good look there. Lots of interesting rocks, I bought some magnetic "hematite" which is pretty fun, though reading more on the net I'm not convinced what I got is really hematite as true hematite is only very faintly magnetic, but these stones are incredibly strong magnets. But for 25c each I'm not complaining; they're fun to play with.

Shortly after we crossed into New Mexico again, and then very shortly afterwards into Arizona. This part of the States is called Four Corners because it is the only part of the States where four different states meet at a common point. There's a nice little monument here so we rolled up and paid the $6 to get in and had a look around. We're in Navajo Nation here which is the largest of the Indian reservations, so surrounding the actual monument are lots of stall holders hawking jewellery and other Indian crafts.

Went round the stalls and got chatting to one of the guys, who suggested we try and find an old volcanic crater just around the corner. Went looking for it but couldn't find it, so pulled over and had a look over the fence at a cool little river canyon. Couldn't get any decent shots, but did get a photo of a cactus that looks a lot like one Mum gave me years ago (and is still growing nicely at the flat)

Drove back into Arizona and into the town of Kayenta, where we planned to spend the night. Kayenta had other ideas however; not a single motel, and just three chain (i.e. expensive) hotels. Kayenta isn't that small either, but it is deep inside of Navajo Nation which means poverty is rife and I believe it is very difficult for any non-Navajos to run business inside a reservation. We went looking for more motels but ended up in a council housing district, which was bleak to put it lightly. The houses were all browny-red colour, the same as the dirt, and sandwiched in groups of 3 on bare plots of land. Some had back yards which were just squares of dirt with mesh fences around them. Pretty damn rough looking. Most had a pickup truck outside. We checked out our guidebooks which warned that the Navajo Nation had very little in the way of accommodation and restaurants for travellers and Kayenta especially. It also remarked that while the Indians may live in the reservation, they've embraced the American lifestyle of baseball caps and pickup trucks. We looked out the window and had to agree with them there!

So where to? We were more or less smack in the middle of the reservation, with little promise of a motel for 70 miles or more! Monument Valley was to the north so we headed that way, hoping we'd come across a motel in southern Utah somewhere. So we headed off and paid the $10 entry fee and drove in, but it was almost dark so there wasn't much to see and we felt a bit let down to be honest. Still I tried to get some photos as we headed north towards Mexican Hat, UT.

 

 

Arrived in Mexican Hat late at night, well after sun down. Luckily we found a great wee motel and checked in the for night; somehow we ended up with a massive room and enough beds to sleep a rugby team?! But it wasn't too expensive, and was just what we needed. Went down the road to the only restaurant in town and had a huge meal of Navajo fry bread with various things on top; wasn't quite what I was expecting but was nice all the same.

At some point we drove past some big lumpy red rocks which were quite a sight:

Slept well that night; had done a lot more driving than we'd planned to. Had planned on a nice quiet day with no major events, but hadn't counted on Kayenta being so tourist-hostile. So avoid Kayenta; maybe even avoid Navajo Nation. The cash I'd got out just the day before already had a big hole in it and there were Navajo roadside stalls all over the place, and yet their average household income is just $US6000 a year. Drugs are also a major problem apparently. As we were to see tomorrow, the Navajo's really do have a rough patch of land.