Monument Valley and region

[Tom&Shelly]

Saturday, we drove up to Monument Valley area for a long weekend. Our first tear trip of the year. We stayed at the Monument Valley KOA, which has clean restrooms and showers. Little privacy between sites.



Looks good in the picture, because many bugged out Sunday morning early, before it was taken. Filled back up that night. Shelly made us our traditional camping breakfast which consists mainly of powdered eggs and rehydrated potatoes! Yumm! By the time we headed out to explore the wind had come up. Fairly breezy this time of year.

Six hour drive up from home, and the Tundra did quite well. We felt much more relaxed after that drive than we would have in the Taco. Found we need a few minor things, like blind spot mirrors. But that'll teach that little blue car from suddenly changing lanes, accelerating without paying attention, and trying to pass us on the right!

After breakfast Sunday we drove up and found Tony Latham and his family camping somewhere in Southern Utah. Tony took us on a hike exploring some ancient ruins.



This one is called the Target Ruins, although the original builders may have had a different name



Had a picnic lunch with Tony, his brother, and their wives. Nick recommended a different drive back to the KOA, through a neat switchback called Moki Dugway. At the bottom, we discovered we were at the West entrance to the Valley of the Gods, a few minutes before sunset



Decided it was too late to go the whole way, and we didn't have the chance to make it back. But someday...

Tom

[RJ Howell]

Sounds like you scored with meeting up and getting in a hike! I saw the KOA there'd how open it was.. We stayed at Goulding's and paid the most we have to date for a campsite! It was laundry/shower/power-up day for us as we were low on each.. I remember only half the washers worked, showers were so/so yet we did get powered up! A neighbor, 3 ft away, mentioned a hike out of the campground to an arch with a nice view of the Mittens. Not all was lost. LOL

I just checked cause I remember checking for better rustic camping nearby and the spots are now closed off.. You hear anything while there of any of this?

I agree, Valley of the Gods deserves some time allotted just for there! I will do my best to return and give it just that.

Safe Travels!

[Tom&Shelly]

The next day we took a tour of Monument Valley. A dozen years ago, before Shelly and I met, I'd been there and took the 17 mile drive. This time we decided to pay for the half day tour. They sent a van to the KOA. We also found we had to pay the entrance fee to the Navajo Tribal Park (IIRC, a change from years ago). $8/person.

Here's the vehicle we took on the tour, with Shelly talking with our Navajo guide, Steve



We not only got to see the 17 mile drive, but also heard a lecture of Navajo traditions by a lady in a traditional (female) hogan



As an aside, at the visitor center, they show a female (round) hogan and male (pointed roof) hogan



We also saw some interesting geography not on the 17 mile drive, such as the "Big Hogan" a cave with nice acoustics (Steve sang for us). Oh, note the people at the bottom for perspective!



This petroglyph was made by the Anasazi, which means something like "ancient enemy" in Navajo. Since Steve is Navajo, that's probably the right term for him to use. National Park Service folks I know sometimes call them "ancient Pueblo people". Anyway, someone, a long time ago, evidently snuck in without paying the $8 fee, and left that graffiti.



Steve had good names for all the geographic features. He called this one "the Indian" which I actually do see



Steve has been in several of the movies filmed in and near the park. (He was a runner behind Forest Gump.) He also mentioned many other movies filmed here. Evidently, Clint Eastwood was flown by helicopter to the top of this structure



Fortunately, the structure was stable enough to handle it (as was, Clint, I suppose).

Of course, we also covered the 17 mile loop and the features even I know, such as the East and West mittens (Steve says those are pinkies not thumbs)



Here are a few of my better (least worse?) shots of random views in the park




Of course, if you're a John Wayne fan, as I am, you can almost hear the cavalry riding between the monuments! Ah, here they come now!



Yes, they also offer riding tours.

We didn't see Wiley E. Coyote chasing the Road Runner this trip, but, of course, most of the cartoons were filmed here. (They had to import the saguaro from southern Arizona for those cartoons.)

We felt the tour was worth the extra price, for a once in a lifetime sort of thing. Either the tour or drive is certainly worth the price of admission.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

Sounds like you scored with meeting up and getting in a hike! I saw the KOA there'd how open it was.. We stayed at Goulding's and paid the most we have to date for a campsite! It was laundry/shower/power-up day for us as we were low on each.. I remember only half the washers worked, showers were so/so yet we did get powered up! A neighbor, 3 ft away, mentioned a hike out of the campground to an arch with a nice view of the Mittens. Not all was lost. LOL

I just checked cause I remember checking for better rustic camping nearby and the spots are now closed off.. You hear anything while there of any of this?

I agree, Valley of the Gods deserves some time allotted just for there! I will do my best to return and give it just that.

Safe Travels!

The KOA was not cheap! We would have camped with Tony on BLM land, but we had a semi-sick cat in our tear and weren't sure his dogs and she would get along.

I did not hear about any rustic camping close to Monument Valley. (Tony's camp was an hour + away.) The tribal park also has RV parking and cabins, as well as the motel, but none allow pets, IIRC.

This early in spring was cool and windy. We even had a drizzly rain Sunday and Monday nights. Some year when pet and family matters allow, Shelly and I hope to spend a month or two during the Fall--say Labor Day to Thanksgiving, exploring from 4 corners west through Southern Utah and Northern Arizona, including the north rim of Grand Canyon, Natural Bridges, Bryce Canyon, Escalante, Arches, Zion, to points in Nevada and California. That should be the best time of year for that region. If it gets cold on the way home, we can swing back through Southern Arizona.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

Shelly wanted to see Four Corners, since we were in the general area anyway, and so we planned the trip home to go there. I'd been there before, in November 2011, and then there were few folks around, and no one in the concession buildings. This time, the place was bustling, and there was a check point operated by the Navajo Tribal Park Service, and they wanted $8/person to enter! We turned around, and we weren't the only ones! That's too much money to pay for the intersection of two imaginary lines!

But, I found my pictures from 2011 and so here is what it looks like



Oh, the monument was also put in the wrong place. Or maybe not. from https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/INFO/fourcorners.shtml#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20there%20is%20a,about%201800%20feet%2C%20or%20less.

"Finally, we cannot overemphasize the fact that the aforementioned technical geodetic details are absolutely moot when considering any question of the correctness or validity of the Four Corners monument in marking the intersection of the four states. Indeed, the monument marks the exact spot where the four states meet. A basic tenet of boundary surveying is that once a monument has been established and accepted by the parties involved (in the case of the Four Corners monument, the parties were the four territories and the U.S. Congress), the location of the physical monument is the ultimate authority in delineating a boundary. Issues of legality trump scientific details, and the intended location of the point becomes secondary information. In surveying, monuments rule!"

As do lawyers, evidently.

Tom

[Modstock]

Dang. You put some miles on all over southern Utah.
A few years ago we stayed in Natural Bridges NP and explored VOG , gooseneck SP and down to Forest Gump point. Never made it into Monument valley but one day I'd like to return.

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[bdosborn]

What a great trip, I love that part of the country.
Bruce