Monument Valley, Arizona and Utah

Monument Valley, Arizona and Utah   April 11, 2022

This was the first monument that we encountered. From afar, driving toward Monument Valley it looked just like a Native American. It was so realistic that Larry and I thought someone was working on its creation, carving the stone to look like a Navajo. Unfortunately, we were unable to capture it on our camera due to no turn outs or no places that we could safely pull over.

After we passed it, from the back side....the same  monument looked like an owl. Isn't interesting what naturally can occur? 

                                       Map of Monument Valley and the tour that we took.

The West Mitten

                                       The contrast of the soil and sky was very striking.

 

We stopped at the Visitor Center and a Complex of stores and businesses.

They directed us to the Navajo Tribal Park, four miles down the road.

The last time we were here Larry and I just drove through from Mexican Hat to Kayenta.

This colorful painting was in the Visitor Center.

In 1927 Harry  and Leone (nicknamed Mike) Goulding ventured into Monument Valley to establish a trading post.

For the firsts few years the trading post consisted of a few tents, but in 1928, they constructed a stone building which became their place of business and their home.

The Gouldings became good friends with the local Navajo people, exchanging food and other basic necessities for their handcrafted jewelry, rugs, and other items.

Henry and Mike saw the need for health care for the Navajo so they invited a missionary doctor to Monument Valley to care for the local citizens . They also built a small hospital for the community.

Their friendship with the Navajo endured well past their retirement from the trading post.

Monument Valley became a recognizable icon. Soon filmmaker, John Ford, as well as photographers,

artist, and tourist flocked to the valley. The Gouldings built guest cabins and a lodge to accommodate their guests. Their dining room provided hearty meals for their guest who included the film crews and actors in the movies that were made. The Gouldings gave tours of the breathtaking monoliths and mesas that  made Monument Valley so famous.

In 1962 because of Harry's declining health they gifted the trading post and the lodge to Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.

Thanks to the Gouldings, people from all over the world travel to Monument Valley to explore its wonders.

Larry and I were so fortunate to stay in the Gouldings' Lodge for one evening. I wanted to capture a Monument Valley sunset and sunrise.

Today we started from Kingsman, Arizona driving to Kayenta and down  Route 163. We went to the Navajo Tribal Park and took a tour with guide, Tim, who took us in a private car on the 17 mile tour.

Tim was very interesting. He was the sixth generation of his Navajo family to live in Monument Valley.

Tim told us that this tree with the strange limb sticking out was called the Money Tree. I sat on the limb for a few moments and then noticed that I was sitting on coins that had been placed in the cracks of the bark...now I really understood where the tree got its name. It was sort of like a tree wishing well.

                                                                       The Mitten

This area is known as the Echo. Tim let out a hooping Navajo yell....it certainly did bounce off the walls of the monument and came back to us.

The Elephant Butte

                    Can you see it? It looks like it is walking down to the grass for a meal.

The Camel Butte

Looking from the rear of a camel, you can easily spot its hump, then its head.

                                                                   Shaded by a cloud

The same monument....Lit up by the sun

My Man...careful...don't step to close to the edge.

This is known as John Ford's Point. John Ford is a famous Western Movie director. He always included the scenery from this point in his movies.

It was spectacular!

Sky, clouds and monuments....an awesome beauty!

Tim told us that he lives just a few miles from here...no electricity...no water.
He carries water to his home. Refrigerates things with a cooler and ice.

Grew up here, enjoys living here. His grandmother raised him. His mom was my age.

Tim told us stories of his acquaintance with the actors that came here.
Johnny Dep, Charlize Theron, Michael J Fox, Tom Hanks and many more

The movies made in the Monument Valley date back to 1925 (The Vanishing American) and the Lone Ranger (1930) .....but but some of the more recent ones that you may recognize are:

Forrest Gump

Mission: Impossible 2

Back to the Future III

Easy Rider

A Space Odyssey

National Lampoon's Vacation

The  Lone Ranger (2013)

92,000 acres filled with colossal sandstone formations

                                                                 A Navajo Burial Ground

                                  As the afternoon passed, the wind kicked up, blowing sand everywhere .

                           Tim told us that this wind was normal weather for April and October.

                                        The wind picked up lots of dust and made the area look hazy.

         The immense size of the monuments can be compared with the car that is passing through.
           

The strong wind prevailed in giving the sunset a smoky appearance.

The next morning, Larry and I rose early to catch the sun coming up.

WOW!

                                   Driving northwest on Route 163 we passed by The Hen Monument.

 

            It was delightful to see Mexican Hat Monument as we came into the town of, Mexican Hat.

That morning we came upon  three wild donkeys.

                                         The scenery was spectacular that morning as we left. This place is a place where time stands still...long enough for you to feel the harmony and peace of the last western frontier.

                                                    Monument Valley..."Where the Earth meets the sky."