Thursday, September 29, 2011

Monument Valley

The first day at Monument Valley was a little rainy, but made for some great moody shots.


On the way here, I had my doubts.


But then, YAY, the sun came out!


I even got to see the leprechaun and his pot of gold!


When in Monument Valley, you can either do a tour yourself, or pay to go on a tour. We chose to go by ourselves. If you go on a tour, you can see more of the park.

This is John Ford's Point, made famous in 1938 when the movie "Stagecoach" was filmed here. If you want, you can pay a Navajo to take a horse out and stand on the point.



Horses run around loose on the reservation, and sort of belong to everyone. This guy was working the crowd in front of the Three Sisters.


Maybe he was hoping for some Indian fry bread.


More wildlife, this one posing in front of the Totem Pole and Yei Bi Chei, the pointy things in the background.


The roads on the self-tour are dirt, but in good shape as long as it isn't raining. That's me, running back to get the perfect shot.


The only hazards are people who stop in the middle of the road and set up their tripod.


But here's the best thing about Monument Valley. You can choose the "Primitive Campground" and park right in front of the Mittens, the most famous formations on the park -


Where you can keep an eye out for wildlife, like these horses, rainbows, and leprechauns!


My favorite tree has died since I was here last in 2007, but still makes a good subject.

14 comments:

  1. I love Monument Valley, only been there once, and just drove through, although my mouth was hanging open.

    Going to spend some serious time there one of these days (soon?).

    So are you going to share that gold with your loyal followers??? ;c)

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  2. Outstanding pics of a marvelous place! :)

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  3. Beautiful pictures. Thanks so much for posting them.

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  4. Fantastic photo captures. Love the pot of gold!

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  5. Awesome photos! I can't imagine what it must look like in 3-D!

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  6. I'm so jealous. It was pouring when we were there with just a little sun here and there. I definitely want to go back when the weather is nice. It's your turn to buy when we meet up again with all that gold.

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  7. Beautiful pictures. Love the lighting. Did they fix the road or are you just saying it was fine for a high clearance vehicle?

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  8. If you share the gold, we might be able to get on the road sooner :-))) Monument Valley has been our must-see list for a very long time.

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  9. All your pictures are great but that first one is awesome. I'd like that one made into a jig saw puzzle or if I had one of those stick built thingy majigs a picture for the wall.

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  10. Fantastic shots and a classic setting. I especially like the first 2 shots. I'm very envious.

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  11. I just moved Monument Valley closer to the top of My List! Great entry.

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  12. Isn"t that the best place in the world? Wonderful shots.

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  13. WOW and double WOW! Love the pics of the Monument Valley. That is high on my list of places I want to visit. Thanks for sharing. Hope you filled your pockets with that gold.

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  14. We drove through there today, but didn't stop -- except for the long wait on the highway for a wrecker to load up a camper van that had gone off the road a somewhere east of Monument Valley.

    We're headed for 6 nights at Grand Canyon -- 3 on the North Rim and 3 on the South.

    Thanks for sharing the images. Odd seeing them after just having passed through there.

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