STORM
CHASE... 4 CORNERS, MONUMENT VALLEY AND THE GRAND CANYON. Report: Clyve Herbert
An early start today from Cortez and to the '4
Corners'. This is Indian country... the day before we were approached by an Indian girl
selling jewellery in a Wal Mart carpark, Australians are weary of carpark deals but this
girl was not pushy, at first I showed no interest but as the girl walked away with no fuss
just a polite 'sorry' I asked to see what she was selling. The Indian girl offered agate
and other semi precious stone jewellery she had made them herself...they were good quality
I chose a necklace made from agate and paid her asking price of $15
By mid morning we were arriving at the 4 Corners
reserve - this where you can balance on one big toe and be in 4 states at the same time,
not a bad trick....The states are New Mexico/Utah/Colorado and Arizona. The area is run by
the local Indians and there are numerous stalls selling mainly Indian hand made
jewellery...all high quality...there are no pushy sales people here, whether you buy
or not they will greet you with a genuine smile and I saw similar necklaces to what I
bought in the Cortez WalMart carpark and for 15 to 20 dollars!. These Indians are honest
people and they will make any sort of jewellery right in front of you in what ever colour
mineral stone...Dont be afraid to buy here.
We had been watching all morning a developing
multicell storm to our north, a splendid backdrop of a brilliant white anvil and the red
semi arid country. By midday we were approaching Monument Valley, I recall my kid days and
watching cowboys and Indian movies at the theatre...this is that sort of country...but
nothing will compare to the vista you get when you line up some of the incredible geology
of this part of America...No photo will do it justice, you stand there and gape...
truly magnificent.....Mexican Hat is a small settlement on Hway163...It was run by
Indians, the reason it's called Mexican Hat is a weird rock formation near the
town...which looks like ...a Mexican Hat !.
In the local garage (Gas Station) we came across a
British Tourist overwhelmed by how cheap everything was ?...compared to England that is,
what we have discovered about America is no matter where you go in the country Gas
Stations don't rip you off, you can buy a cup of coffee for 69 cents and a packeted cake
for 99 cents every where!...We like this sort of retailing....
Meanwhile convection was kicking along and deep
cumulus were spreading across the sky, the Arizona monsoon had arrived in late May and not
July as normal. Storms were breaking out all through the '4 Corners' regions. This country
offers different storms to the mid west and great plains - they are high based and produce
the most memorable appearances with trailing precipitation trails and fantastic mammatus
features. We trundle on through the best of Monument Valley with spectacular pinnacles and
buttes, eventually we arrive in an area called the Painted Desert complete with dust
devils, nothing grows on the strange sedimentary soil but the region offers a fantastic
deal with colours, you also get a good indication of what Mars is like.
After a mid afternoon break in Cameron we head up
to the Grand Canyon, its a great road with towering rocky cliffs on one side and a
fantastic chasm on the other, soon we enter Pine country (7000 feet) and take a look
at our first view of the Grand Canyon. I dont care what anybody says .....your first view
is accompanied by a tendency to piss yourself <g>..especially with a backdrop of an
impending storm !...We wander around the South Rim, visit the Geological display and buy
another Geology book, mix with the tourists and view a remarkable sight of a storm
crossing the Canyon...Gees ! can it get better? Then you meet a few of the strange
tourists especially the ones who spend 10 minutes putting on makeup and re-arranging their
hair to have their photo taken in front of the gaping hole in the ground....A triple
lightning bolt zaps through the canyon and half of the tourists scatter for cover...This
is my kind of country...yippee for the USA....
Photography: Jane ONeill / Clyve Herbert |