The first known human inhabitants of the area were the Anasazi Indians, who settled here in 1200 B.C.E. and created pictographs that are still visible today. The valley and monument area is now home to the Navajo Nation, one of the largest American Indian tribes.
Greeted with mighty clouds upon arrival.Ample room here to build your little cottage.Same dwellings, different photographer ;)Evening walk through the Goulding Canyon.The light gets less quickly in the evenings now October is almost ended.The next day started wonderful, the air was kinda chilly though, jackets and hats required.Once the sun was up and running, it got a bit warmer too.Entering the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park.Before human existence, the Park was once a lowland basin. For hundreds of millions of years, materials that eroded from the early Rock Mountains deposited layer upon layer of sediment which cemented a slow and gentle uplift, generated by ceaseless pressure from below the surface, elevating these horizontal strata quite uniformly one to three miles above sea level. What was once a basin became a plateau.Natural forces of wind and water that eroded the land spent the last 50 million years cutting into and peeling away at the surface of the plateau. The simple wearing down of altering layers of soft and hard rock slowly revealed the natural wonders of Monument Valley today.Mitten Butte.Merrick Butte.Driving the 30 km loop at 20 km/h takes a while and given you sign a permit at the entrance that allows you to stay for 2 hours, time flies!Mitchel Mesa and the three sisters.The Hub.GMC streetview.The real deal is less green (minus windshield) but also lacks the cool hood reflection.The famous Mittens make the picture.In the shop we meet the carved shamans.Best location up the hill :)Good Morning Valley!Afternoon hike to Goulding Arch, which is basically behind the house where we’re staying.A bit of climbing is involved.For very brave people it would even be possible to stroll over the arch, and we leave that to others.Almost an eye.Leaving the valley.
The famous Forrest Gump Point, located on Highway 163 Scenic Drive.
