Monday, September 30, 2024
The monuments are formations called buttes.
This viewpoint is known as Forrest Gump Point.
This Hoodoo is called Mexican Hat.
The Cliff Dwelling at Navajo National Monument.
Piñon pines are abundant in this area and their cones are harvested for pine nuts.
Juniper berries.
Monument Valley is the quintessential landscape of the Wild West, and when I saw it in 2015 it was all wrong. Back then there had been a lot of rain and the desert was green with plants. I also didn't realise that to see the iconic view you have to visit a visitor centre.
This time we saw it properly and it was really cool. The red colour of the ground is so distinctive and is only really present around the valley.
We started the day back at Navajo National Monument a few hours to the west. NNM is a free park and also has free camping which was a nice surprise. The main focus of the park is a large cliff dwelling on the edge of a picturesque valley.