...we get up early, heat some tea, eat the meager remnants of our supplies and set off to climb back up.
...we take a 30 min hike to a beautiful overlook called Plateau Point and admire the canyon in all its splendor - our cameras get red hot from constant shutter release... It's chilly but sunny and gorgeous. Summer must be hell here though.
...because of shortage of food, hot tea or general fatigue we struggle a lot to get back up the 1000m path to the parking lot. We take almost 3h and are quite exhausted by the end. Jan has to even rest in the car for 10 minutes before going to the restaurant, which is right there in the parking lot, he is so bummed. As for me I eat a big chocolate bar and then another one as a starter and then we order two coffees each and some delicious food to get warmed up and energized!
...we drive to Utah to a place called Monument Valley where many classical westerns were shot - beautiful buttes sticking out of desert bedrock, red rocks, dust, it couldn't be more John Wayne'y than that! It takes three hours and then we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere without a pre booked hotel. It's dark and we can't see anything. Luckily the GPS helps and we find a hotel a few miles off the main road. It turns out it is located inside the Navajo tribal park area (yes, these are reservation lands) but the entry fee collection booths are empty for the night so we get in for free. Hotel is quite pricey ($100) but nice and aptly named "The View" - the views from the terrace in the morning are spectacular. We eat some local fry bread specialties (Navajo taco! Yum!) and go to sleep!