September 17, 2015 Monument Valley, Utah

IMG_1333There is so much to see and do in Page, Arizona.  Before we left we had one last thing  to do.  We wanted to visit Monument Valley and Valley of the Gods in Utah.  We had contemplated taking the RV there and camping for several days but the heat and some changes in our schedule convinced us it was best to make it a long day trip from Page.   And a long day it was with about a three hour drive each way.IMG_1345IMG_1336IMG_1341IMG_1290IMG_1295IMG_1296IMG_1343

IMG_1351Monument Valley is on Navajo land and part of the Navajo Tribal Park which was established in 1958 to preserve the environment.  Monument Valley sits at 5,564 feet above sea level and is 91,696 acres in Arizona and Utah.  The height of the monuments, natural structures created by erosion, range from 100 to 1,500 feet tall.  There was a fee to enter the park and make the 17 mile loop drive.  The road of sand and dirt was in really bad shape making it almost necessary to have 4 wheel drive vehicle.  Monument Valley was made famous in many western movies, TV shows and commercials including Stagecoach (1939), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), How the West Was Won (1962), Easy Rider (1968), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Back to the Future III (1990), Forest Gump (1994), The Lone Ranger (2013), Breaking Bad (TV) and Dr Who (TV) just to name a few.  John Wayne called Monument Valley “God’s Treasure”.

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Mexican Hat

We also drove to area of Utah called Valley of the Gods with similar sandstone formations to Monument Valley but on a smaller scale.  This land is public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and did not require a fee. This too involved a loop drive on a dirt and sand road with less than ideal conditions to say the least.  We had downloaded a map ahead of time which led us to various named formations.  Sometimes it was very easy to see how the formation received its name, while others took an imagination we didn’t seem to have.IMG_1306IMG_1308

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Woman Sitting on Her Bathtub

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Hen on a Nest

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Rooster

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Seven Sailors with Flat Hats

IMG_1315Bill found a geocache in the rocks amid some sagebrush.  I stayed behind and took pictures.  The truth is I was terrified of possible snakes.IMG_1318IMG_1329

IMG_20150917_173850On the way home we stopped to find another geocache and saw John Wayne’s cabin (Captain Nathan Brittles) that was used as part of the set of his movie She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.

It was a full and tiring day.  We have certainly loved our time in Page.  Between Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Glen Canyon Dam on beautiful Lake Powell and Monument Valley, Page is a place we look forward to visiting again.

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