Dave & Dru Monument Valley
We really never quite knew where Monument Valley began and ended. We actually crossed through the alleged area several times. Since there seemed to be no defined boundary, we use poetic license here to throw in some pictures from several other areas we visited that just didn't seem to fit anywhere else and didn't warrant a page of their own.
The two scenes above really are from Monument Valley, taken in the Navajo Tribal Park. On the left is a formation known as The Three Sisters. On the right is a striking view in the park.
We stayed three nights in Bluff, UT. It's a very small town (pop. about 450). However, there is a new motel called the Desert Rose Inn which is quite nice. We stayed in one of their cabins which is pictured above left. We highly recommend it. There's really only one place to eat in Bluff, but fortunately it's very good. It's the Twin Rocks Diner. (Just ignore the two huge rocks looming over the diner.) Oh by the way, there is a very nice "gift shop" adjacent to the Twin Rocks Diner. This is not your typical tourist shop. This is upscale, way out in the middle of nowhere. The shop features works by renowned artists with prices frequently in the four figures. From Bluff we spoked out to various attractions in the Monument Valley and Four Corners areas. Above right is a scene from Gooseneck State Park, just west of Mexican Hat. The San Juan River winds through the park, flowing five miles in less than one square mile. As you can see, it is quite barren.
We exited Monument Valley via the Mokee Dugway, a mostly unpaved road that winds its way up to the top of the mesa. If you love the thrill of making a continuous series of blind hair pin curves while sliding along a one and a half lane road with no guardrails and your wife's fingernails embedded in your arm, you'll love Mokee Dugway! About fifty miles north we went through Glen Canyon which had its own signature views. Above left looks up the canyon. The brown river you see is the Colorado River bringing our drinking water down to San Diego from the Rockies. About a hundred miles or so north, we went through Capital Reef. This is a spectacular area and it is not all that well known. Plus it's a bit out of the way, so it's not heavily populated with tourists. You see a snippet from there on the upper right.
The thing we really didn't fully apprectiate prior to making the trip through southern Utah was the fact that we would be encountering high elevations. Zion is a relatively benign 2,000 feet and we assumed that would be the norm. Not! The extreme elevation was in Cedar Breaks National Monument as we were en route from Capital Reef to Bryce. As you can see above left, we peaked out at 10,460 feet. So, Dave's personal records are he has taken an airplane to 55,000 feet and a car to 10,460 feet!
Well, that's about it. Oops, almost forgot. Yes, there was a tree in Monument Valley, captured for your viewing pleasure at upper right! (It's adjacent to one of the mittens in Navajo Tribal Park.)
Go to Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, Natural Bridges & Hovenweep, Canyon de Chelly, or Navajo National Monument
Go to the index for our Southern Utah travels
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