Monument Valley

tagged:

Navajo Nation


Rough location: 37.102367, -109.98923.

I had a bit of a scare at midnight when I heard plops of water on the roof. The sign says "impassible when wet" in rather big letters and with my rig, that will be more true than with most. I wasn't sure I'd be able to leave in the morning like I planned. I told myself that after so many months of dry, it couldn't possibly be enough water. I woke up to find that it was actually snow and, indeed, there's not enough of it to worry about. Judging by the cars coming from the south, it was bigger there. The monuments are all dusted with snow in Monument Valley. The Utah portion is littered with turnouts to pull aside and look about. The Arizona portion is a little less accommodating. Careful along the bit where Forrest Gump decided he was done running. There were two out to run that bit while I drove by and I expect it's an absurdly popular activity. It's even in that "101 Ways to Experience San Juan County, Utah" brochure.

buttes and monuments in a long line
The stretch of view upon entering Monument Valley.

mesas and buttes
Mesas and canyons in some areas.

monuments and spires
Monuments and spires in other areas.

road and monuments
Plenty of others stopping, too.


monuments and snow
Those spires from another angle further down the road.




©2019 Valerie Norton
Written 9 Dec 2019
location: US-163 Scenic, Oljato-Monument Valley, UT 84536, USA

Liked this? Interesting? Click the three bars at the top left for the menu to read more or subscribe!


Comments

Post a Comment

follow by email

popular posts:

Jennie Lakes: Belle Canyon and Rowell Meadow

Image
Kings Canyon National Park Sequoia National Forest Giant Sequoia National Monument Click for map. DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4 It was another mild night, but the mosquitoes very nearly vanished early on into it. The sun comes quickly here and the morning golden hour is really quite something. I enjoy it with breakfast and happily the mosquitoes seem to be slow to wake up. Our northerly view from near camp: the morning sun as it hits Ball Dome. Morning over Ranger Lake. We head out to the trail again and wander gently downward, still high above the valley bottom. The air seems a lot clearer today and the snow on the far mountains is much more defined. The snowy distances.
read more »

Lost Coast: Cooskie Creek Route

Image
King Range National Conservation Area, Arcata BLM (purple line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6  |  DAY 7 I looked around at how soaked everything was from the dew and decided I had enough water to cook breakfast right there (well, on a rock under the Douglas fir) while waiting for everything to dry out a little. My windbreak trees became morning shade trees, but they were still blocking some strong gusts most excellently, so I wouldn't want to trade them. Good soggy morning! So I headed out on the faint old road to join a much better road until getting pointed off to the left at a gate. Trail gets really faint there, but it's all much easier to follow on the second pass than it was on the first. A bit sunnier, but most spots aren't much drier than they were. After the short road section, follow near the fence on the faint track. If truly desperate for water and it has rained well recently, there might be a tiny
read more »

Mount Lassic

Image
Six Rivers National Forest ( map link ) Mount Lassic actually has a trail up it, I just didn't know where. It was built (possibly by California Department of Fish and Wildlife, but still official and maintained) but not drawn on a map nor described except that its purpose is to move feet away from the rare lupine that grows over less than 4 acres in the whole world. All but a garden sized plot is on this mountain. I wanted to visit it, but not to stomp across its whole territory. (Also, I made really certain that my shoes were completely purged of any seed before arriving in the area. After Clover Gulch, that was a challenge, but worthy.) I decided to start off on a small trail I found by my parking. It was minimally flagged and marked and probably not the one meant for the public. There's a faint trail just to the left of the smaller tree here where the road drains its water. Weather seemed to be forming over the Lassics, as it had the last few days, but then roam
read more »

If the Map's Wrong, Fix It!

Image
OpenTopoMap (an OpenStreetMap service) showing my GPS track from backpacking in the Flat Tops Wilderness in 2016 . It is zoomed into the busiest entry point where one very excellent and well used trail is missing. The map in question is, of course, OpenStreetMap . While not explicitly setting out to do this, they've created the Wikipedia of maps and you probably use it even if you don't know it. It's on AllTrails and Strava and behind Gaia Topo and MapBuilder on Caltopo. If any of those have an error, you can fix it. There in the lower right hand corner on AllTrails is the attribution and an invitation to change and add to the map. It's not just on the internet. This is also the one electronic map I carry with me, offline , that I know it will cover the place I am. When I need a library, post office, grocery store, gas station, I can search and find it even if I haven't got any usable cell signal. The roads are (generally) there. The buildin
read more »