and then started climbing down. In 3miles the road drops 1100’. Discovery channel described
this road as one of the ‘hell roads of the world’.
We could not take the famous picture of the sharp bends of the road going all the way down
because of the cloud but the experience we had was more than worth a picture. While coming
down we got a glimpse of the Valley of the Gods as the sky started becoming clear. It truly felt
like only God could live in that heavenly place. The Monument Valley was also visible in the far
southern horizon.
Next stop was Goosenecks state park. This is the result of 300 million years of time, where the
San Juan River winds carved its way through the desert, 1,000 feet below. This primitive park
offers a spectacular view of this amazing and rare geologic formation, known as an entrenched
meander. This place is under developed and not well advertised. Hardly any tourist was there,
only the sound of the wind talking to the river. No artificial concrete jungle will block the view.
From Goosenecks we drove to Four Corners Monument. It wasn’t a part of our initial plan but
we managed to squeeze it in. The Four Corners Monument marks the quadra-point in the
Southwestern United States where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet.
It is the only point in the United States shared by four states, leading to this area being called the
Four Corners region. The monument also marks the boundary between two semi-autonomous
Native American governments, the Navajo Nation, which maintains the monument as a tourist
attraction, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Reservation. After paying 5 dollars per person entry
fee we entered into the park. People were waiting in a long queue to step onto the four-state
junction. Almost 30 minutes we had to wait before we got our turn. We were four, so we took the
photo with each one of us standing on one state. Four corners monument is located 5 miles away
from Teec Nos Pos.
Next destination, Page is 170 miles from Four Corners Monument via US 160 and then US 98.
On our way, we had Chinese lunch at Kayenta. Our booking was at Travelodge at Page, it was
5.30 PM when we reached there. Quick check-in and refreshment and we were back on road.
First we went to Glen Canyon dam on Colorado River. The dam was built to provide
hydroelectricity and flow regulation from the upper Colorado River Basin to the lower. Its
reservoir is called Lake Powell which is the second largest artificial lake in the United States.
Lake Powell’s shoreline is even bigger than the entire pacific coast of USA. The lake with the
backdrop of Glen Canyon was looking so gorgeous in the late afternoon sunlight that we thought
of spending the entire evening there. To enter Glen Canyon national recreation center we had to
pay 15 dollar per vehicle entry fee. Then again it was more than worth for the money we paid.
Even though all of us wanted to spend some more time relaxing there, we had another plan lined
up - to view the sunset from Horseshoe Bend. So we left, deciding that we would be back there
the next morning. Horseshoe Bend is the name for a horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado
River located 5 miles downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell within Glen
Canyon National Recreation Area, about 4 miles southwest of Page. There is a .75 mile hike