Ice climbing and all that.

After our little sleep-out in Canyonlands we were looking forward to a nice quiet few days, and we got them, sort of. At least we were in our own warm bed each night.

After a "rest" day in Moab, we headed off to our next stop - the old mining town of Ouray, in the San Juan Mtns of Colorado. This town sits at an altitude of around 8000', and is surrounded by mountains that go up to over 13,000'. Just a 10 min walk from our accommodation there was a very narrow, vertical walled canyon around 90 to 120' deep, which is one of the ice climbing meccas of the US. A famous alpinist named Jeff Lowe had the bright idea of diverting creek water through pipes over the edge of the canyon in winter to create an ice wall nearly a mile long. Susie and I checked it out the afternoon we got there, and next morning there I was at the bottom of the canyon with my guide, decked out with crampons and ice axes. What a blast! I did 3 routes bottom to top (top roped) with no falls, but that was it. By then my arms and legs, especially calves from standing on front points, were trashed, and i called it a morning. Yet another sport I wish I'd tried when I was 21!

That afternoon we loaded up the car and set off over a couple 10,600' passes, in continuous snowfall, for our next destination - the mining and cowboy town of Durango. They call this road The Million Dollar Highway, not sure whether that's it's cost to push through the mountains, or a reference to the amount of ore that came out of these mountains, but there were some big dropoffs and no guardrails. We were very glad of the 4WD under our bums.

Whil Durango we stayed at the beautiful old Strater Hotel, a real institution in the town, and reeking with old world charm. We loved Durango, and Ouray as well. They're beautiful old towns which cherish their history, but at the same time have a vibrant life about them. The food is great, and plentiful, and not too pricey, the wine is good, and just about every pub and bar has a live band playing. Good music, too, from blues to bluegrass, country, soul, and good old rock. And the people? Well, they're just downright friendly. And I just LOVE that 4 out of 5 vehicles are BIG pickups, most with stonking V8s in them. They love em out here, cowboy hats, spurs an' all.

As a day trip from Durango we visited Mesa Verde, the ancient site of a settlement of Puebloan Indians, which was just fantastic. To see these stone communities built against the rock of gigantic canyon overhangs almost defies belief, most of then dating from the 13th century.

After 3 nights in Durango we moved on to the Valley of the Gods, and Monument Valley. The Valley of the Gods is kinda like a prelude to, or mini Monument Valley. Beautiful desert country full of towering buttes and mesas, and our bonus was that we got to stay in the only B&B in the valley. In fact it's the only building in the whole valley, and I mean for miles and miles. Gary and Claire, our hosts, have turned what was once a shell into an eco friendly, delightful B&B. There is no electricity or town water to their property. They use the sun for all their electricity and heating, and supplement the rain water tanks by trucking in town water in the back of Gary's giant pickup. The whole place is built out foot+  thick stone walls, with the roof timbers giant beams salvaged from an old oil derrick. Great place.

On Claire's advice, next day instead of going straight on to Monument Valley we did a loop to the north before turning back toward MV. The first part of this loop involved driving up the Moki Dugway, a gravel series of switchbacks going up the mesa wall immediately behind the B&B, where the last scene of Thelma & Louise the movie was shot. A great drive which led us to Natural Bridges Natl Monument. These are some of the largest natural stone bridges in the world, scoured out by the action of rivers over eons, leaving only the hardest rock remaining. There were also more puebloan ruins to ooh and aah at, and we wandered around a very informative museum on the same subject. A very full day before we tooled off towards Monument Valley and our next visual feast.

Aaaah, Monument Valley. A visual feast indeed. In fact much more of a feast than the food we got there, but that's another story. Suffice to say, the Navajos can't cook.
MV being part of the Navajo Nation Tribal Park, the whole thing is controlled by the Navajos. Bit like Uluru, I guess. You can drive yourself around a 17 mile loop, which gives you super views, or you can sign up for a backcountry tour with a Navajo guide, which we did, and well worth the cost. What a stunning place. Words are useless trying to describe this place, and many others we've seen for that matter.

After leaving MV we stopped at Navajo NM, checking more ancient pueblo ruins, then motored on to Page, AZ, home of Lake Powell and the stunning Antelope Canyon. More on that next blog...