Day 38 - De-Na-Zin Wilderness, New Mexico - Monument Valley, Arizona/Utah

I left my campsite around 9:30, heading for the Grand Canyon. I was thankful to find a gas station after not seeing one for hours on my most recent drive, I had half a tank of gas left, but for me, half a tank, in the middle of nowhere and no idea where the next gas station is is cause for plenty of anxiety! Driving past a sign for the Four Corners Monument, I drove the 5 miles off-route to go see it, just to find it had an entry-fee and with plenty of people crowding the place, I did not care to pay an entrance fee for the quick look I was planning, so I drove on. I soon came across signs for Monument Valley and decided to turn off there, it is one of the places I had planned on visiting and it was only a half hour away from my route, so there was no point driving by it, despite how bound and determined I had become to get to the Grand Canyon. It was not quite 3 pm, but as always, my first step was to find a campsite. There were signs everywhere for places to camp, but I was itching for a shower, so found one that advertised that and wifi and decided to see how the price was. To my surprise, it only cost my $23 for such luxuries as 'free' showers, wifi, a full store on-site, gas station right by, pool (that is closed in the winter) and beautiful views, I saw one campsite nearby that only had outhouses and cost $20, I don't think I splurged much here! I went to drive to the Visitor's Center, only to find it was right in the fee area of Monument Valley, so turned back, having gone back and forth across the Utah-Arizona State lines. We walked for an hour or so along the road, then returned to the campsite. I read for awhile, went for a shower once it cooled down enough to leave Luna in the car (reached 17-Celsius today), cooked supper, watched the sunset, then tucked in to bed. I am very happy to have managed to get my blog up to date again with the rapidly draining battery on my computer.

Luna was very interested in how the stone caved out partway over us. Unfortunately I had my 50 mm lens on, so was unable to capture it in full. 

Blurry, but funny! I love this happy face!

Checking out the views.

View from the campsite, I got the best spot!

Some stray dogs in the distance were distracting Luna from her sunset photoshoot ;) All the dogs appeared in good condition, although none came too close.

Day 37 - Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, New Mexico

It was a cold night last night, but I was cozy in my sleeping bags and Luna seemed to do fine as well, with me routinely waking up to check on her and cover her up with the sleeping bag or my jacket if she had moved around. I stayed in my sleeping bag, sleeping on and off until 9:30, not wanting to get out until it was a little warmer. I had just finished up with breakfast and was packing things away, planning on a short walk in view of my vehicle before heading to my next destination. Much to my dismay, a red van turned off the dirt road in to the small parking area. The woman in the car waved enthusiastically to me then parked. When she got out of her car she came over and asked if I was camping in my car too, turns out, she’d been travelling for a year and a half and had not met another person travelling alone and camping in their car, it was quite funny that we’d meet in the middle of nowhere, with no one else around for miles. She came all the way from the Netherlands and has been travelling in Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and the US. We chatted for awhile, then I agreed to go on a short hike, I did not want to get lost and was planning on spending a good long time driving today. We ended up going a fair ways and stopping to chat for awhile. While we sat talking, Luna kept coming up to us and acting strangely, making some of her funny sounds and mouthing at our hands if we went to pet her, “She’s jealous!” Anne laughed, and I knew she was right, Luna has had my undivided attention most of the last 5 weeks and here we’d stopped for a long time on a hike (she hates stopping so long) and I was talking to someone rather than being focused on her, I have seen this behaviour before when I pet other dogs and she comes between us and starts talking and mouthing. Anne commented on how, what takes weeks (at least!) for people to tell new friends at home, it takes minutes on the road and that is so true. On the road, it doesn’t matter if you answer questions with brutal honesty, you’re unlikely to ever see these people again, you’re not trying to appear sane and like you have your life together. It’s quite nice to just tell it as it is and hear it as it is, rather than trying so hard to pretend your the person you think you should be and always failing, because all it does is burn you out and leave the worst side of yourself exposed. Upon returning to the cars several hours later, Anne gave me a bracelet she had received from a company called Lokai, they had sent her several of these bracelets so that she could take photos of them and post them on her Instagram for advertising and other than her own, she had given all of them away but this one. What is very cool and meaningful about these bracelets are that among the clear bead shapes, are a black one and a white one on opposite sides. The black bead holds mud from the Dead Sea, the card on the bracelet reads “Sometimes you’ve hit a low. Stay hopeful”. The white bead holds water from Mount Everest and reads “Sometimes you’re on top of the world. Stay humble.” A couple had just arrived back from the trail when she gave me the bracelet and Anne went over to ask them about some hoodoos we had seen in photos and had not found there. They gave us directions and we ended up driving together in her car to Bisti Wilderness, around 20 miles from De-na-zin Wilderness, where we were. We hiked there until a little after 4 pm, finding the Ostrich Rock and perhaps the Chocolate Hoodoos in a very round-a-bout way. Luna had some trouble with the hike as there were many times she had to make a jump or a drop farther than she felt comfortable, I had to help her out several times, it was almost all obstacles she could have easily done, but overthought it and became too scared and unconfident to do it, yes, Luna is a lot like me. Partway through the hike, Anne realized that we had not actually introduced ourselves, she had no idea of my name, but I had gathered hers from her talking in third person a couple times. She was not a dog person, but took quite a liking to Luna throughout the day. Before Anne left, after dropping me back at the car, she set up the tripod and took photos of us in our cars, parked side by side, to show us both car camping solo on our road trips. Once she had left, I made supper, packed up and settled in to read for the rest of the evening. 

Anne dresses in nice clothes when she hikes as she has a popular Instagram account she takes photos for, I on the other hand dressed in baggy hiking pants that Luna had just adorned with mud as she road home on my lap from De-Na-Zin Wilderness.

Previous photos all taken by Anne on her phone.

Back to my photos. Luna riding an Ostrich! 

Chocolate Hoodoos, I think!

My shadow.

A very interesting looking area!

Cooking supper at my campsite.

Day 36 - Albuquerque, New Mexico - De-Na-Zin Wilderness, New Mexico

After a relaxing morning, we headed to Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness a few hours North. I had planned on going to another wilderness area near where I stopped for the night last night, however decided to take it off the list and just head to De-Na-Zin. This is BLM land in an area surrounded by the Navajo people. In the last hour or less of my drive, I saw two dogs laying dead on the road, a sad sight, that makes five dead dogs on the road I have seen on this trip. The side-road to De-na-zin was well marked, with signs every few miles. There was one other car at the trailhead, I was almost surprised to see it as we were so in the middle of nowhere by this point. I put my supplies in my pack and headed out, writing my name and details in the trail registry to be on the safe side. It was a beautiful, quiet walk, I loved how I could just enjoy this place to myself, that is, until 3 guys a little older than me appeared a little ways off, I kept walking, ignoring them, trying to think of them as wonderful, kind young men like my brothers and not potential threats. They left and I started to panic about them breaking in to my car, 3 young guys, in an impoverished area knowing I wouldn’t be back for awhile, yes, I am quick to jump to the worst scenarios even with the rational part of me telling me they were probably great people. Only 30 minutes or so in to my hike, stressed by my troubling thoughts and not wanting to go very far in this basically trail-less wilderness, I turned back and soon realized I was lost. Panic mounted as I walked in the general direction that I had come from, I went over the supplies I had in my pack and what would help me find my car if I just ended up wandering through the endless fields. I considered how close range I’d have to be for my car alarm to go off to guide me to my vehicle, maybe those 3 guys would turn up and end up helping me, how ironic would that be. Each hill I climbed I looked desperately for a sign of my car. During all of this, Luna was having an absolute blast, she was running around sniffing, doing zoomies and smiling like a loony. I arrived at the top of one hill to find a valley that I had never seen before, cueing the hyperventilating. After some scouting, I turned left and ended up in terrain that looked more familiar. Finally, I reached the top of another hill to see the roof of my Lexus just across the field and a slight path to get to it, I was so relieved. I think I'm done with solo wilderness walks for awhile! Upon returning to my car at 3:30, I began setting it up for night, then settled in to read and stress-eat the rest of the afternoon away. Since this is BLM land, I can camp here free, there is just no water or outhouse. Tonight is supposed to be -6 degrees Celsius, I am not looking forward to it in the slightest. I have my long johns on, a jacket, a toque, warm socks and two sleeping bags, one I am in, one to cover Luna and I, I really hope it will be enough to have a somewhat comfortable night! I have set Luna’s bed right beside my head rather than where it was by my feet so I can more easily check how warm she is and cover her up after she moves around and uncovers herself. 

Apparently I was not at all focused when I took this picture, I chopped off the bottom of this heart shaped rock!

Day 35 - Oliver Lee State Park, New Mexico - Albuquerque, New Mexico

After breakfast, I packed up and we headed North, quickly coming under cloudy skies that turned in to light rain, then sleet, then a full out blizzard by the time we reached Albuquerque. The snow did not stick at all, it was around 1-degree Celsius out, but it was quite a change from the 28 degrees from the day before! I had dressed in shorts and a tank top after weeks in the heat, so was a little chilly. When it is cold, Luna and I have to negotiate the temperature in the car, we usually end up with me being a little cold and she a little hot. I had made the decision the day before that I would stay in a motel today. After around 4 days in strong heat with no shower immediately after around a week with daily showers, my stench was revolting and my hair hung in greasy tendrils. The area I am headed has no real campsites that would have showers, let alone water, and I could not handle another day of greasy stink, so I was very thankful to find a cheap Motel 6. Luna has spent the day napping, I have spent it wrestling with the crappy internet that shuts off frequently (it was every couple minutes for awhile), doing some hand washing and finally getting caught up on my blog!

Right at the foot of the mountains there is a white strip, this is White Sands National Monument from my campsite.

We went through the village of Los Lunas! 

Day 34 - White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

I woke up around 8:30, feeling like I had had a great sleep in. My surrounding views were absolutely stellar in the morning light. I made some porridge with Craisins in it and had a leisurely morning reading, before heading to White Sands National Monument. As I drove to the monument, I could occasionally see the top of a dune, it’s pure white standing out against the brown and green landscape. The entrance fee was a lovely $5, good for 6 days, I couldn’t believe it! If I had found that out before, I would have headed there yesterday to watch sunset, I was expecting a $20 day use fee like Petrified Forest National Park. I drove a little ways, then parked and walked over several dunes until we had a nice, private area so I could let Luna off-leash to let out the zoomies she was fit to burst with. As soon as I let her off she had a wonderful run, she loves the sand and was absolutely ecstatic to get to play in it. We hung out in that spot for quite a long time, Luna playing, me watching and relaxing. When Luna felt it was time for me to get doing something rather than enjoying the views, she would start digging in the sand right next to me, something she did at the beaches as well. Eventually, I decided that I had best go see if there was a hike I wanted to do before it became very hot. I did find a hike, the Alkali Flat Trail. I started the hike, then found a sign saying it was a strenuous 5 miles and approximately 3 hours long, I was debating whether to turn back and get a bit more water when Luna made my decision for me with a spot of business that needed hauling to the garbage. I was very glad later on in the hike that I had topped off the water and applied more sunscreen as we ended up with just enough water to be happy for the hike. Only a few dunes in I stopped, in absolute awe of the beauty around me; dune after dune of the purest white with mountains as a backdrop. I felt very grateful to be there with Luna. We stopped for a good amount of water and photo breaks along the way and completed the hike at 2:45, having started at 12:10. There was a couple that started the hike at the same time as I and I tried my best to distance myself from them, wanting a nice, quiet hike and privacy to let Luna off-leash when I stopped for photos. The couple got further and further away and eventually must have turned around and headed back to the parking lot, I did not see anyone else the entire hike, only one set of footprints seemed to have completed that hike before me today. I came across perhaps five or so ladybugs on the hike, it seemed odd, being in the middle of the desert and these little bugs just hanging out on the dunes. 

Arriving back at the car, I headed to a picnic area I had seen with many covered picnic tables. The shade was a beautiful thing and Luna and I spent a little while there. Not long after, clouds rolled in, cooling the place down thoroughly. I decided to head to the visitors centre and fill up on water, maybe check out the store and get something to eat, then come back for sunset. I purchased a bean and cheese burrito and some candy, eating it in my car as people went in and out of the visitors centre. I couple in the car next to me commented on Luna, asking what breed she was “She’s a mutt, maybe some Heeler, who knows!” I answered, “Just a really good dog”, the woman said with a smile, yep, the best! I could not have been more full of love for Luna today, watching her playing so happily, then being such a trooper on this very hot hike I took her on, then digging in the sand anytime we took a rest despite how hot and tired she appeared. The wind picked up so suddenly and with such force, that I opted not to re-enter the dunes. So many vehicles were leaving them, visibility looked poor and even out of the main dune area, sand flew through my slightly open windows and in to my eyes. I headed out and scouted for a McDonald’s parking lot to use wifi for a little while. As I drove back to the Oliver Lee State Park campground, the sun was setting beautifully, the sky a peach colour with a pink/purple hue dripping down in the clouds, it was stunning, had I been at the monument, I don’t think I would have been able to see much with all the sand flying around in that wind (not to mention my eyes being closed with the sand flying in my face!). As soon as I found a campsite, we settled in for the night, the wind howling outside.

Get ready for a record number of photos....

I absolutely love this photo!

Morning views at my campsite

This view was right out my window when I woke up, the lighting was prettier before, I just hadn't bothered to take a photo.

So fast her ears are pinned back!

Luna's pirate face.

She's...a very special dog!

Sand nose

Working hard here!

So happy!

I put her leash on to continue the walk, then  as I was putting my stuff in my pack, she went to do more zoomies!

Look at all that sand being kicked up!

I loved all the designs in the sand.

My trail markers.

Desert dog (she wishes this was snow!)

The best I could do, my greasy, messy hair, oily skin, dirty clothes and sun in my eyes, but it was quite possibly my favourite place, so I had to risk a photo anyway.

Luna waiting for me to finish on wifi, she was tuckered out!