Mitten Sunset (and Shadow), Monument Valley
Monument Valley is one of my most favorite places on this planet. It is quite a feat to find the words to appropriately describe this location, but in the next couple of blog postings, I am going to give it a shot. Few landscapes in the world come close to paralleling the mystical Monument Valley in terms of color, majesty and magic. It is truly an epic area, and a visit to this remote part of the American Southwest, near the Four Corners region, will never be forgotten.
You have to be crazy enough to come here – The mileages are staggering:
160 or so miles from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon
175 miles from Flagstaff, Arizona
318 miles from Phoenix, Arizona
401 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada
410 miles from Tucson, Arizona
Any other major city in the area that I missed? You get my point?
But those who make the long drive to the Navajo Indian Reservation (where Monument Valley is located and is administered under the tribe’s Parks and Recreation Department) will be rewarded with a landscape and experience that is undoubtedly unique.
When I visited Monument Valley in Spring 2009, I came from Page, Arizona, where I had just photographed Upper Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend. I knew that I was getting close to Monument Valley when I stared out of my car’s window and saw the massive buttes and mesas appearing strikingly from out of nowhere and towering high above the ground. The weather in this part of the Southwest can be fickle and change in an instant. As I approached Agatha Peak (or El Capitan), I was just starting to get caught in a sudden snowstorm, while on my left, I experienced a gorgeous Southwestern sunset.
Mother Nature's Color Palette, North of Kayenta, AZ, on the approach to Monument Valley
I’ve heard of others describing the experience of being caught in one of the Southwest’s legendary and dramatic thunderstorms – an awesome light display that lights up the whole desert put on by Mother Nature to declare her power.
Upon arriving inside Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park and settling into my room at the View Hotel, I felt as if I had just stepped into a movie. In fact, many movies, music videos, and television commercials have been filmed here over the years, including some westerns directed by John Ford. Despite the fact that Monument Valley has been featured in many forms of media, the location is not a sound stage – it is very real. The sights and vistas here represent some of the finest landscape images of the rugged West, which have been deeply engrained in the American psyche for years. Say “American West,” and most likely, some images from Monument Valley come up.
Left Mitten, Monument Valley
Monument Valley is very rugged, so be prepared for it. There is a fine red dust in the air and all over the place that permeates everything, and it will eventually find its way onto your clothes and belongings.
The area near the new View Hotel, which opened in December 2008, is the centerpiece of tourism in the park. In addition to the View Hotel, there is a restaurant, an extensive gift shop, and a small convenience store/stand. In a future blog posting, I plan to talk about the View Hotel. Near the hotel is also a Visitor Center, which was under renovation at the time of my visit, but I believe it is adjacent to the gift shop. Outside the Visitor Center is a small dirt lot, where one can find and charter a tour to explore Monument Valley. Just look for the small booth in the lot to ask for more information, including costs.
Also near the Visitor Center are two rather large boulders which stick out like bumps. This is the site where Ansel Adams photographed his famous image of Monument Valley, with the three buttes in the background, in 1958.
Things really haven't changed much since Ansel Adams took his famous photograph of Monument Valley in 1958. Above is my version, shot from the same tripod location.
This area around the Visitor Center and the View Hotel is also probably the best area to catch the sunrise in the morning, unless you have a guide which may be able to grant you access to the interior of Monument Valley before the gates open in the morning (more about this in the next blog post).
In my next blog post related to Monument Valley, I will talk about some of the options that one has in order to explore the valley and what it has to offer. Hint: the best way to tour Monument Valley is to invest in and charter a guide.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Few experiences are as unreal and incredible as a Monument Valley sunrise. Taken from the balcony of my room at the View Hotel.
Disclaimer: Monument Valley is a very rich place in terms of things to see and do. My blog postings related to Monument Valley are not intended to be a substitute for one’s own thorough travel research, but rather a “travelogue” of my experience with visiting and photographing Monument Valley, in order to provide some ideas and insights to others. Many ways to experience Monument Valley exist.
