I drove up to Springdale after leaving Vegas and found a nice little motel to stay in, and an internet cafe(!) all in a nice small town that was all mainly closed for the season.

The next morning I woke up to snow on the peaks and it was extremely cold. I got up early and headed into the park, which was only a mile from the motel. I went to the visitors centre and was told that Bryce Canyon (further up the valley) was closed due to snow, so I wouldn't be heading there that afternoon. I then went to the cafe for breakfast and watched the clouds come in, and the snow start to fall - b*****.

It snowed quite heavily for about half an hour, but brightened up soon after that and it was quite nice to walk along the river. Again, a lot of the trails were closed due to the weather, so I was only there until lunchtime. I then headed back south and towards Page - just passed the Grand Canyon. It was a great drive through the edge of the canyon and the red landscape, and I luckily arrived to Page in the daylight and found a place to stay.

The next morning I drove east towards Monument Valley. Unfortunately the road I went on was only a minor road and was thick with snow and ice for most of the way and there had been a lot of snowfall over there on the the higher ground. Luckily it got easier the further east I went until I got to the red desert and Monument Valley, though the winds had got up and nearly blew me over when I got out the car!

I did the self-guided 17 miles drive round the monuments. It's all unpaved road, desert basically, and very bumpy! But it was an amazing sight to see all these strange, towering, red mounds in the middle of the flat desert. Unfortunately after I'd finished my car was white from the grit and ice from the mornings roads, and then bright orange from the dust blowing about in the gales!

I stayed in Tuba City that night and drove onto Flagstaff the next morning...