01/08/10 Chinle (AZ) - Grand Canyon (AZ) / 553 km

During our visit to the Navajo Nation we saw dramatic landscapes but almost no villages. We do not know where do the Indians leave. We left Chinle and we set off to Monument Valley. The road is very nice. In the way we stopped in the spot called Four Corners, the place where four States converge (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado). While going towards Monument Valley I did not tell Josune where we were going to, in order to surprise her. She loved it. Monument Valley is the landscape that you must have seen in loads of westerns and in many commercials. It is a reddish landscape that has become the icon of the west. The rocks are like needles, long and thin. Very impressive. Monument Valley is in the State of Utah. From the road you can see the highest rocks but it is possible to enter the National Park to walk in the dunes and see all the rocks very close. Apparently it is even possible to climb the rocks with a guide. We could not enter the park since the tracks were not paved and we could not ride the bike. Besides, we had to rush since we did not have a reservation in the Grand Canyon campsite and we wanted to arrive early. We did not enter the park but we keep the nice photos we took from outside and the memories of a unique landscape. Now, back home, we regret not having gone inside, the Monument Valley deserves more time than what we could spend.

We went back to Arizona, in some scattered showers of rain that were fine to refresh ourselves. Josune had loved an Indian arrow she had seen, but that it was very expensive. Trying to look for something similar she entered many shops, but nothing, it was either expensive or nothing.

Finally we headed towards the Grand Canyon. Josune was dying to see it, and even if I am not very fond of very touristy places, once there, I had to see it. The closer we were getting the more caravans we saw. They looked more like buses. When we arrived at the park entrance we discovered that those huge caravans had to pay the same fee as our motorbike. We told the ranger that was in the entrance that we though it was unfair, and with an angry face she said she fully agreed.

As soon as we arrived in the Grand Canyon Josune ran to look down the abyss while I stayed looking after the motorbike. Afterwards we did it the other way round. The fact that we had to look after the motorbike forced us to visit some things separately due to this we could not enjoy this moment together. The thing that surprised Josune the most was the fact that the earth was not red, as she expected, but green. The red colour is the result of the light at sunset or sunrise, and of the filters of the photo cameras, I guess. The Grand canyon can be seen both from the north rim and from the south rim. Usually it is more crowded in the south rim, where we were, since this was the rim that allowed us to go back to Route 66. There are two campsites in this rim and we were in the Desert View. When we arrived there was plenty of room but by night time it was full.

We went to see the Grand Canyon Village with the motorbike, we stopped a few times in the way, to see the views. After having dinner in a fast-food place, we went to see the sunset to Hopi Point. There is a bus that goes from the Village to different viewpoints in the canyon. The evening was perfect, in the horizon behind us we could see the lightning of a storm that was coming closer, to the east there were very low clouds that seemed that touched the floor, and to the west the sky was perfectly clear and we could see the blinding sun that formed a rainbow with the clouds behind us. We made some very nice photos, taking into account the limits of our camera, and to be honest in this case we were lucky since it was a perfect evening. Hopi Point is crowded at sunset; everybody is well equipped with cameras and tripods hoping to take the million dollar picture.

As soon as it got dark, it started raining, and we still had to go by motorbike to the campsite. At night and raining, not a very appealing plan. We rode very slowly, and among the very low clouds that gave to the road a ghostly appearance, we saw some animals in shades crossing the road in front of us, which made the journey back even more surrealistic. Some very wild and beautiful scenes, but a little bit dangerous as well. Josune was frozen, since with the excitement on arrival she had worn sandals and a pair of light trousers, and the temperature had gone down significantly. Fortunately we arrived fine to the tent and not too soaked. We went in the sleeping back in a world record time, and we set the alarm clocks for very early nest morning, in order to see the sunrise in the canyon.