Monument Valley is on Native land and there is a charge for you to get on the land. It was 20 bucks but well worth it as you could drive your vehicle around on the roads to your hearts content. The roads basically allowed you to go to the end, and then turn around and come back, with numerous places you could pull over for those important photo stops. You could also elect to pay and go on one of their guided tours in either an open jeep or a closed in vehicle.
En route we got hungry and stopped for brunch at a small town called Kayenta. The wind had gotten worse as we drove along and there were spots were it was blowing across the road like fine snow, only much worse. At times the sand obliterated your view completely.
 |
| This is the view as we left, en route to Arches National Park on I-163 before Mexican Hat
Monument Valley is aptly named as the large monoliths are like monuments created by nature. They have names for them which make sense, depending on their structure. It was easy to imagine how the wind can erode these rocks over the years as it was like being sandblasted at times!
|
 |
| Right Mitten closer |
 |
| "Camel Rock" |
 |
| Yucca Plants in bloom |
 |
| Add caption |
 |
| Add caption |
|
| Add caption |
|
| Add caption |
 |
| Add caption |
 |
| The "Right Mitten" is on the left as it looks like a mitten (no fingers)
Some of the structure didn't make sense until you were at a specific spot on the road and then suddenly you could see why they named it thay way.
We had a lot of fun looking at these structures even tho it was quite windy, and, to tell the truth, it made it seem a bit more like we were "back in the day", with the wind and sand blowing in our faces every time we turned around!
It was 3:30 by the time we left, so I foolishly suggested we maybe drive up to Arches National Park and do sort of a loop around after that to get back to our campsite at Wahweap. (It turns out that what I had suggested would take toooooo long to do properly and we "should" have headed back to camp at 3:30, but, no pain no gain I guess, and this was a lesson that I had to learn the hard way..... (I was quite tired by the time we finallly got back to camp).
Anyway, away we went, up I-163 and then on I-191 straight north to Moab, which is a real toursist town with lots of RV and camping spots. We drove thru, as it was close to sunset and Arches is just north of Moab. As we drove up to the gate, there was a steady stream of people leaving the park.... Once again, we did not have to pay to get in (30 bucks) due to the National Park Week. ARCHES NATIONAL PARK is incredible! It has more natural arches and bridges than any place on earth and is stunning to say the least! As you enter the park you immediately climb quite high before the road flattens out There is a path down this small valley at the very first stop in the road, and although it was tempting to take it, dogs were not allowed and the sun was getting low, so we continued on in the car. This is called "Balancing Rock" and there seemed to be quite a few of these that we saw as we travelled thru the park.  
Speaking of setting sun, it is definitely a time to plan to be there, or at sunrise, as the rocks certainly stand out in the low light!
It was like 8:00 pm by the time I was dragged out of there, although there were still people going in and it was dark already..... The drive home took 4 1/2 hours, which was worth it, as we saw Monument Valley and also had a little taste of Arches National Park to know that we have to plan to go back there for at least 3 days in the near future!
|
No comments:
Post a Comment