Home pageAttraction UT - Monument Valley

Monument Valley consist of big red stones

You should not even consider you do not visit Monument Valley, when you drive Mother Road - Route 66. Monument Valley is easily accessible from city of Flagstaff, AZ. Take the road number 89. This road goes through green forest with a lot of curves and super elevations. Then it comes! Cross road! Turn right to road number 160 and then you drive ahead. Looooong time. Arrive to Kayenta, AZ, where you turned to road number 163. This is probably the best passage you could enjoy on motorcycle. When you are getting near Monument Valley you can enjoy nice view on huge red rocks in horizon. We are talking about a day trip you have to travel cca 160 miles in both directions. Shit on it, Monument Valleyis really monumental! Must see it!

I had pretty bad luck. Or maybe good luck. Wherein I was good or bad luck? When we go to Monument Valley, air temperature was around 0° C, although blue sky. You can say Shiny sunny day if you look on the pictures, but it was really fucking cold! Shit! Cold as that of North Pole! Does not matter my wish warmed me to see what I have never seen before. Rock Peaks in Monument Valley were normally snowy! Yanks shuck out of their buses and loudly exult: "Wonderful! Beautiful! Grateful!". I just shake my head, saying: "Try to drive motorcycle in this weather you can see how it is 'Wonderful'!".

When you get the main gate at front of the entrance must to pay entrance fee. Do not worry! It is US$ 5 only. It is cheapest national park I visited in the USA. Behind entrance is large park place for tourist, hotel, and restaurant, gift shop included. You can see the View you have seen in American movies, postcards or pictures from terrace or view point.

BTW, do you know why Monument Valley is red? Monument Valley consists mainly from sedimentary stone called Siltstone. Fuck, all these huge rocks are strengthened dust only! On the scenic roads across Monument Valley you can see the dust on it while the rocks progressively turns onto dust according to erosion. Monument Valleyis red, because it contains relatively large volumes of Iron. Red tint is due to iron oxidation level, concretely ferrous kations... fuck it, who cares! I always hate chemistry!

Daytimes gradually warming up, but not too much! From 0° C to 7° C! We go on Monument Valley trip. You can choose from two or three options:

  • You can drive your motorcycle
  • You can drive your car
  • You can use local Indians "stage-coach’s"

If you decided to first or second option stated above, well it is included to entrance fee. Third option is not included to entrance fee, but I do not know how much is it, because I choose second option. Ride a motorcycle was not a good idea due to weather, because the snow turns onto what? Fuck, chemistry again! So, to water, you asshole! Mix water with dust, we have fucking shit on the clothes and motorcycle! That is way I choose car. Car will stand it... Sightseeing tour is lengths about 17 US miles. There are plenty of stops along the way, different views of the specifically named monuments, but I really do not remember name of each fucking big stone! Indians is waiting for you at each stop, where you can find tribal gift shops. I must own up I bought few things from them. This is one of those red-blue colored "American ties" with Route 66 logo, hanging on buffalo leather necklace. Yanks call it BOLA. Indian guy, who sold it to me, swore on crucifix he make it himself and BOLA made of stones, which you can find in Monument Valley only! Trust Monument Valley carries forward... Original price US$ 35 was beat down to US$ 25 by me.

Navajo Indians, who can live inside Monument Valley are supported by United States Government, are really crappers. They are breeding the horses as an attraction, but horses looks very neglected. They look scabby and depressed. At one stop is shop owned by some Indian and behind it horse stands. If you want, you can ride this horse to peak near by and make some picture. Horse is available for soft fee of course. Concretely is for "2 bucks". However, if you take panorama photo of rocks and you'll shoot it over the horse so that "fucking Redman" comes to you and wants his fee! He says: "You took a picture with my horse, give me money!". What? Fuck you! I would rather delete a picture than I give you some money for nothing!

Horses are behind big red rock, where is shadow almost whole day. If you have seen movie directed by John Woo distributed under the name Broken Arrow with John Travolta in the lead role, so this is the place, where John and park outguard come to drop down nuclear bomb 2 000 feet below the ground. But I have not seen far and wide a river into which they slipped in the film. Well fiction...

After sightseeing trip that takes you cca one and half hour depending on how long you stay at each stop, go out the same way as you drove into Monument Valley, well to tourist park place. There is tribal Navajo dwelling under park place.

When we returned, we stopped near by Monument Valley in Kayenta, AZ village, because we were hungry. Navajos called the village as Tó Dinéeshzhee. I went into local pub calls Blue Coffee Pot Restaurant. Pub is owned and operated by Indians, service included, so I expect it was not any good. I was wrong! They were very willing and had great food! However, it is more exception than rule...

What to do ofunfinished afternoon? We return to base camp Flagstaff, AZ.

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