6-MONUMENT VALLEY

There is nothing that takes away your breath like the first view of Monument Valley from the highway, miles away.

Monument Valley is the stuff that old Westerns were made of…literally!

Many Western movies where made here including numerous John Wayne movies in addition to others, more than I could even list.  There were many of those Good-Guy-Cowboys-in-White-Hats movies made here, too.

We were told that Johnny Depp was here this past year preparing for a remake of The Lone Ranger where he plays Tonto. Johnny Depp…??Tonto??? There is something just wrong about that!! 

Who could possibly replace Jay Silverheels (who has long since gone to the Happy Hunting Ground)?? 

Of course we will never know who plays The Lone Ranger since he never takes his mask off… If you don’t understand this paragraph, not to worry. It just means you are YOUNG!

Our RV park is right in the middle of it all. After we arrived, we cruised around a bit. Don had seen a sign on the highway about an old historic trading post. These are the kind of things we love finding.

When we finally found it, it appeared to be long since abandoned which was disappointing.  Oh, well, there’s always next time.

Out on the highway is an area where several natives have set up shop and sell their wares, mostly jewelry and a few other things. It’s fun to walk through because the people selling are the ones making the products, often, right there as you walk through their little booth.

Here we found Lawrence Krank, a native award winning potter and his wife. They work together on their pottery and we found the work extremely well done. He was also a funny guy.  This pot is finding it’s way back to Oregon.

Today we took a three and one half hour tour with a native guide. This is the only way you can get into the back country. You are not allowed to drive those private roads by yourself. (I guess there is still the chance of a scalping...)


So we hopped on an open air tour “bus” and away we went.


“Joe” was a really good tour guide. He gave a running dialogue of information as we went, even singing us a native song.


First stop was at a Hogan. You can see these Hogans next to most of the native’s homes in the area. They used to live in them, now they are used mostly for ceremonial purposes.

The Hogan’s have sun-baked dirt on the exterior and cedar logs inside with a dirt floor. The cedar structure inside is put together in such an intricate manner, not using nails or anything to hold the timbers together. They are just cut in such an exacting manner that they will hold up for 70-80 years.

Our guide, Joe, gave a detailed explanation of the Hogan and how Suzie prepared the wool for spinning to make the Navajo rugs. 

You can see the timbers above Joe’s head and a couple of the finished rugs.


Inside the Hogan was Suzie, an elderly lady who gave us a demonstration of what is involved in preparation of wool for weaving.

Here Suzie is spinning the wool. I kept watching how she had her feet curled under her, and my knees hurt just to watch. However, she was obviously used to it.

There is a lot of character in that face.

Next we stopped by the Tribal Visitor Center. This is a beautiful building with a large gift shop and art gallery.  

It included a room with displays on the WWII Code Talkers. It also has a great restaurant that has unbelievable views of the valley floor and the monuments.

These buildings are not the Visitor Center. It is behind the flags.

Then we started out across the valley with amazing scenery on all sides.

There were several places along the way where the natives sold jewelry, mostly it was all very much the same. This is at John Ford Point, where he supposedly used to go to think through his next movie.

Here one of the natives slowly rides his horse out to the point and stayed there a while, imitating a famous old painting. What a background for this!!

 

The Three Sisters (Nuns) were just around the corner. The one on the left is most easily identifiable. 

Further into the backcountry we came across a few arches carved by the wind into the rocks.

At this location, there were also petroglyphs carved into the rock face.

Here a couple were taking a horse tour with a native guide. They were way back in the backcountry. I don't know how long it took them to get there. Hope they were in shape for this before they started.

Just around the corner were two more arches. The one above has the hole in the top. The light spot in the middle is the sun shining through, not the arch itself.

Down at the base, almost at ground level, was this wind-carved formation, about five feet high, maybe six feet across, but such a delicate sculpture.

Then we drove by one more arch as we began our trek back to where we started…

…with more beautiful scenery along the way.

This is one of my favorite pictures. It is so typical of Monument Valley.

I loved this shot, too. This is such an impressive place! I'm sure God had a lot of fun making Monument Valley.

Now it’s time to say “Goodbye” to Monument Valley. Tomorrow we head to Canyon de Chelly.  We hear we may not be able to access the Internet there, so it may be a couple days before I can post again.  Just keep checking.