August 30-September 1:

Photos will look better if viewed on a computer screen.

Monument Valley consists of red sandstone monoliths in very large sizes that are well recognized icons in the northeast corner of Arizona and the Utah border. Monument Valley is in the Navajo reservation and all aspects of the park are controlled by them. There are still many Navajo families that live inside of the park without electricity or local source of water. Accommodations are at the View, a hotel at the visitor center or across the road at Gouldings Lodge. Tourists can drive their vehicles on a rough 17 mile circuit road inside of the park. However, many tourists hire an open “truck” tour which will take them to areas not open to the public, but only Navajo guides. I have been to Monument Valley six or seven times over the years as it is a very awesome magical place.

I arrived late Friday afternoon at Gouldings Campground and then went to see the sunset at the visitors center. The most iconic monuments seen from the visitor center are the right and left Mittens looking east. There were few clouds, but I captured the last sunlight glow and the blue glow after the sunset.

On Saturday morning I took the 3 hr deluxe truck tour from Gouldings. A little distance into the park we come to the Three Sisters rock formation. Near this area is also John Ford point which is named after the director who made western movies in the 1940’s starring John Wayne and others in the Valley. Some movies still use the Valley as a backdrop. You can see the people walking out on the point. Sometimes you can get a good shot of a Navajo on a horse here.

As we travel to parts of the Valley where only the guides can go, we found a series of “windows” or arches in the rock formations. The first is Big Hogan and the second is Moccasin.

The next arch is called the Ear of the Wind, which may not look large but is 50-100 feet tall.

The next two photos are from a photo trip in 2014 with Susie Yassie and her sheep.

As we continue on the trip there was one more window, Suns Eye.

We stopped at a Navajo hogan. The hogan is made from logs using no nails or other fasteners and covered with mud. The doorway always faces east and there is a smoke hole in the roof that is always open. A Navajo woman gave a demonstration of winding wool into thread used in making rugs. Many larger rugs take years to make and do not follow a pattern but only what the rug makers envision. Some very large rugs may sell for $30-50,000.

The next photo is of the Totem poles rock formation which you can see from the public road. I will have more photos of these later and this concludes the truck trip.

At 5:00 PM Saturday I finally met up with the Phoenix Camera club and this starts the Navajo guided tour. We went to Teardrop Arch and met up with a Navajo family. The man, Winsor, is a champion hoop dancer and flute player. He brought along has son and daughter for dancing.

The boy is just learning to do the hoop dancing.

Then we had the main event with Winsor hoop dancing to the beat of the drum and singer.

Finally, Winsor, played the flute.

The next morning, Sunday, we got under way at 6:00 AM and were treated to a sliver of a moon rising.

We then drove close to the totem poles and hiked a bit in deep loose sand to find the photographic sand ripples in the early morning light. The low light provides good definition with the shadows in the ripples. Again this is an iconic sunrise or sunset location.

After this we went to Gouldings for breakfast and a nap. We were on the road again at 2:00 PM to Hunts Mesa which has views of the backside of Monument Valley. However the road is filled with deep sand and rocky outcrops requiring 4 wheel drive in the Suburbans that the Navajo guides drove for close to two hours to reach the top of Hunts Mesa. Only photographers make this arduous trip and many times camp out at night. But what a sight once we arrived – this was actually my second trip.

One of the drivers wore a nice outfit and acted as a model.

As the sun got lower near sunset the rocks really lit up. This is why it is such a draw for photographers.

By now it is dark and we have to drive the long road back down the Mesa in the dark. The driver was very good and knew the way. About halfway down we made one final stop, by this time it is 9 PM. After a 1/4 mile slog through loose sand, I am almost exhausted, but there is one more photographic sight to behold. We come to a triple arch complex. The slick rock to get up to it are at a 45 degree and I was advised not to try it. But I have a view of two of the arches from the bottom anyway. The other guys put down some light cubes to light the inside of the arch. In the end I think that I had the better view since I have the arch and the sky on the outside of it.

This is the grand view with the Milky Way off slightly to the right. One window is in partial view on the right. These photos are straight from an iPhone 15 on a tripod with 30 second exposure with no enhancements. Back to the truck through more loose sand, and I got back to the campground by 12:30 AM, really exhausted after getting up a 5 AM. It was a good trip photographically and I have another 500 photos.