Day 19 Grand Canyon Rim to Rim Trip: Forrest Gump Hill
Day 19: Grand Canyon Rim to Rim Trip
Friday, October 28.
Today I drove on a 17 mile rough dirt road called The Valley of the Gods which featured many, many huge red sandstone rock formations and a road that is often a washboard and was deeply rutted at many of the dry stream-bed crossings. In places the road smoothed out and I could go about 30 mph but then I’d hit a rocky, rutted spot and have to slow to a crawl. It is land managed by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and allows for dispersed camping. I saw a surprising number of campers set up along this road… surprising considering the roughness of the road. It was dusty but beautiful and after this drive I headed down to Monument Valley. The road to Monument Valley has a section where the speed is reduced from 65 mph to 45 mph and there are many scenic pullouts. When I first came up this road pulling the trailer behind me I recognized it from the movie Forest Gump. It is the scene where Forest is running down the road and has a long beard and has accumulated many, many followers. Ultimately it is where Forrest decided to end his cross country run… they call it Forest Gump Hill.
In Monument Valley I discovered Gouldings Grocery (picked up some yogurt) and across the street I found a coin op car wash to get the thick coating of red dirt off of my truck. It looks much better now. This evening I enjoyed my first campfire at sunset and I had dinner in front of the fire as well. All in all… another great day.
