I have wanted to come here since I was a kid, long before I knew what it was called. I saw it in photographs and in old western movies and told myself that one day I would go there. And here I am.
We are camped inside Monument Valley, home of majestic monoliths rising from the earth toward massive skies. They are beautiful, serene and evocative, both peaceful and powerful. My heart feels happy here.
Yesterday we camped at the Navajo National Monument about an hour away. There are very cool cliff dwellings under huge cliff caves, well worth the visit. It was cold at night, around -2 degrees, but luckily not windy. In the morning we packed up and headed to Monument Valley - to get close to the buttes you have to enter the Navajo Tribal Park, which costs $20. For another $20 you can camp inside with an amazing view of the buttes, which is where we are now.
Today we hiked around one of the buttes, the so-called "Western Mitten" (on account of it looks sort of like a mitten). We had lunch then took the car on a pretty rough dirt road loop which takes you all around the monument - you can do the road with a regular car, but go slow and watch for the many large holes and dips in the road.
We headed back to our camp and had dinner as we watched the sun set, illuminating the buttes in glorious golden light. And, as Fortune would have it, it happened that tonight is a FULL MOON. So we watched the sun set and immediately after watched the full moon rise over the desert. Beautiful.
We are camped inside Monument Valley, home of majestic monoliths rising from the earth toward massive skies. They are beautiful, serene and evocative, both peaceful and powerful. My heart feels happy here.
Yesterday we camped at the Navajo National Monument about an hour away. There are very cool cliff dwellings under huge cliff caves, well worth the visit. It was cold at night, around -2 degrees, but luckily not windy. In the morning we packed up and headed to Monument Valley - to get close to the buttes you have to enter the Navajo Tribal Park, which costs $20. For another $20 you can camp inside with an amazing view of the buttes, which is where we are now.
Today we hiked around one of the buttes, the so-called "Western Mitten" (on account of it looks sort of like a mitten). We had lunch then took the car on a pretty rough dirt road loop which takes you all around the monument - you can do the road with a regular car, but go slow and watch for the many large holes and dips in the road.
We headed back to our camp and had dinner as we watched the sun set, illuminating the buttes in glorious golden light. And, as Fortune would have it, it happened that tonight is a FULL MOON. So we watched the sun set and immediately after watched the full moon rise over the desert. Beautiful.