Gray Mountain and the Painted Desert Project

A fascinating piece of the high desert in Arizona.

Anasazi Motel, Gray Mountain, Arizona. All Photos by the author.

I always stop at the Maverick station to fill up before heading up north toward the Res. It has good prices, clean restrooms, and some great little cherry pies.

It’s the only place I buy cherry pies other than at the “7” in Red Lodge, Montana.

I’m kind of a boxed cherry pie snob.

Getting back on the 89 and going due north, I pass through mountains, pine trees, extinct volcanoes, and cool, sometimes cold, air.

For about 20 miles.

And then there’s that last little bit of a hill, and at the top, you begin to see it in front of you. Navaho land. The Res.

One of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and I go back at least once per year. In fact, lately, it has been a couple of times a year.

The road looks as straight as an arrow, no pun, I swear.

And then it disappears over a horizon that must be 20 miles away.

Far beyond, an experienced eye can make out parts of the Kaibab Plateau and a hint of the spectacular Vermillion Cliffs.

The fragrance of pine begins to fade into the familiar sage and grass of the high desert. I have been here so many times.

And down we go.

The road simply and smoothly drops from the San Francisco Peaks foothills down to the floor of the sky, the Little Colorado River, and the quiet splendor of a rare landscape.

The hum of the V-Twin becomes slightly less strained as we can roll off the throttle a bit and let gravity pull us down into the valley below.

It’s a double highway all through the mountains, but at the foot of the first hill, it combined into a two-lane ribbon of damaged asphalt and wide shoulders of dirt.

I love this place.

GRAY MOUNTAIN 12 MILES

There is no mention of any other town on that road sign. There are few in the vicinity, and why bother?

In a few more miles, and more loss of elevation, you can make out something odd in the distance.

Four tanks of color, or pattern, or whatever decoration they have been painted in this trip.

I have never seen them in the same garb.

Anasazi Motel, Gray Mountain, Arizona. All Photos by the author.

As you get closer, you see the tanks are painted with interesting and exciting art.

The installation is part of the “Painted Desert Project”.

The Painted Desert Project is a public art initiative that connects artists with communities through mural opportunities on the Navajo Nation in Arizona. It was started by Dr. Chip Thomas, a doctor, photographer, and activist, in June 2009. The project aims to energize the community, stimulate conversations, and boost tourism on the Navajo Nation. It has involved world-renowned street artists and has led to an extensive installation of street art along major roads through the Navajo Reservation. The project has received nationwide attention for its messaging around health and safety measures, particularly during the pandemic. The art created as part of this project is intended to bring people together and nurture a stronger sense of self and collective identity within the community.

A few years ago, only the abandoned tanks were painted. I have a collection of images that show them as I have passed by—always interesting, always surprising.

But starting a few years ago, the project started painting the abandoned motel next door.

The hotel must have been grand in its day. Two-story, big lobby, plenty of parking.

Now it is a failed building on a wind-swept high desert, and I wonder why every time I pass. Why would anyone build a fancy motel here, less than an hour from Flagstaff, with no visible things to do or places to go.

But build it they did.

And painted it is.

Anasazi Motel, Gray Mountain, Arizona: The Painted Desert Project. Photo by the author.

I generally pull in and shut the bike down and just listen to the way the sound plays through the tanks and open windows of the big structure.

Yes, there is usually a bit of wind, not counting the trucks and trailers passing by at 70 MPH just a few feet away.

I try to make a few shots to document the changes as I go, but I know I only catch them when I get by.

And they change much more than a couple of times a year.

Anasazi Motel, Gray Mountain, Arizona. The Painted Desert Project. Photo by the author.

Generally speaking, I spend about twenty or thirty minutes here, walking and shooting.

It’s good to get off the bike every hour, and it is about an hour from the Maverick station, and that nice display of boxed cherry pies, so I get the circulation going, and enjoy my pie.

It has become a ritual of sorts.

Photo by the author.

Recently, they had been painted with a thematic color scheme.

You can see the radio tower down on the edge of the property.

This is not an art installation; it is a real radio tower.

Great reception in the middle of nowhere.

Highway 89 is my favorite road, by far. Going from Ajo, Arizona to the Canadian border just outside of Glacier National Park, it goes through some of the most spectacular country the west can offer.

Thanks for coming along, and remember that no matter where you go, the great eye knows.

I’ll see you next time.

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