Today we got into the valley properly. There's a visitor's centre detailing the lives of the Navajo, a gift shop, a seventeen-mile drive and one hike. We slapped on the suncream and the walking boots and headed into the desert.
After a short while we realised why they don't open up more of the park to hikers. Despite the towering monoliths, which you'd think would make navigating fairly easy, everywhere looks exactly the same as everywhere else. "Follow the rock piles" was the only instruction given at the start of the trail, but they didn't say whether they meant the 1000ft tall ones or the little ones dotted now and again across the sand.
The hike was great, taking us around West Mitten. Lizards scuttled away as we walked along dried river beds, while the wind whipped the orange sand up. The wind has been the major problem today, and I'm now hiding in the air-conditioned laundry on the campsite waiting for a dust storm to pass and enjoying a gritty cup of tea. We came back to a tent that had mercifully not blown away in the 35mph+ gusts but had filled up with sand. I'll be washing orange stuff out of our clothes (and several bodily crevices) for weeks.
A few monuments.
That trail is the 17-mile dirt track drive to Elephant Butte and Spearpoint Mesa. After 50 yards of potholes and sand we turned back.
Follow the rock piles...
Life in the desert.
West Mitten from the side - turns out it's only 2D!
A dry riverbed, and East Mitten.
Rounding a corner, we bumped into a few more monuments - Big Chief and Stagecoach amongst them.
Hannah in the desert, Sentinel Mesa behind.
And after that triumph, I moved on to something a little more adventurous.
