Monument Valley, the most recognizable landscape in the world !

Here is how it was billed on our trip sign up site:

John Wayne, John Ford, Sam Peckinpaw. Some of the most powerful and recognizable names in classic and epic westerns. Stagecoach, Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Searchers, Rio Grande, Cheyenne Autumn, Sgt Rutledge, The Eiger Sanction, Back to the Future and many others have all made Monument Valley, easily one of the most recognizable landscapes in the world !

Set off on a memorable and once in a lifetime trip with our Jeep group Sept 8 & 9, 2007 when the average temps are 56 at night and 82 in the day to the historic heart of the southwest. We will hire native Navajo Guides to take us places most people will never seen in an unforgettable trip thru Monument Valley. Our tour will be almost entirely off-road in the sandy desert and we will camp one night under the stars, just like our old movie heroes, cavalry soldiers in the 1800s and countless Indian braves and ancient peoples of days long past.

This great valley boasts sandstone masterpieces that tower at heights of 400 to 1,000 feet. framed by scenic clouds casting shadows that graciously roam the desert floor. The angle of the sun accents these graceful formations, providing scenery that is simply spellbinding.

The landscape overwhelms, not just by its beauty but also by its size. The fragile pinnacles of rock are surrounded by miles of mesas and buttes, shrubs, trees and windblown sand, all comprising the magnificent colors of the valley. All of this harmoniously combines to make Monument Valley a truly wondrous experience. See why Monument Valley has been called one of America’s “Top 4×4 Destinations”

AND……………..It lived up to the hype ! If you were looking for a challenging trail, Saturday, you would have been disappointed, but, we plan most of our trips with even the stock Jeep in mind with a novice driver. However, read on as Sunday became as one person put it “a Moabish experience” and there was excitement with both the trail and the views !

Saturday we met at the Visitors Center for our 11am scheduled departure time. Well 11am turned into 11:30 and then going on noon as we waited for a few late arrivals but we did get on our way before noon……sort of. As the main part of the group was leaving behind our Navajo guides, 3 of us held back for people still in the “potty”.

Well as it was we lost sight of the main group as our guide was driving like the whole US Cavalry was after him ! I assumed (yep it’s never safe to assume anything) that they took the main trail into Monument Valley…….wrong ! Not sure where the Hams were but no answer on the Ham radios and the CBs were just pretty much worthless. Anyway, we be bopped down the main trail and ended up going in the opposite direction we should have. Oh well nothing lost yet, we got to take lots of pictures and we stirred up enough dust to make someone think there was a stampede heading their way.

We finally decided that our group did not go that way after maybe 9 or 10 miles on the trail and decided to turn back. Almost back to the visitors center, we got a faint CB signal from George Z. The main group realizing we were not with them sent back a search party. Meeting up with the “search party” minutes later, we hooked up with the main group and hit the trail to Miracle Canyon.

The Miracle Canyon trail was pretty much a narrow dirt road with some bumpy spots, some deep ruts, a little mud (very little) and pretty much just a walk in the park for the average Jeep. The scenery was, well it was just beautiful.

Along the trail we stopped at one set of ruins in the cliffs and our guides got out and disappeared into the brush. Within minutes an eerie melody was coming from the ruins via the guides flutes. It was unexpected and really cool ! There were other sets of ruins that we saw along with petroglyphs and several “arches” in the rock formations.

As the afternoon passed we ended up back at the visitors center where we proceeded to take the trail that some of us had already taken earlier in the day. The good news is that the lighting was much different because of the position of the sun so we took more pictures of the same stuff we already photographed that morning. The usual and more famous features of Monument Valley were all along the trail and even more impressive the closer we got to them.

Our base camp for the night was the north side of Rain God Mesa. Several hundred feet tall and longer than it was wide, the red rocks were alive with color in the afternoon sun. As we pulled into the “primitive” campsite which is available only for guided tours, I was impressed. Picnic tables, BBQ pits, fire pits and a row of Porta Johns ! Just when we thought we were roughing it, we were going to camp civilized.

Everyone scouted out their campsites. I picked the most central location right below the 500 foot cliffs, next to the triple length picnic table and a nice area for both the Chuckwagon and the night time campfire.

A couple of us set up the Chuckwagon and began to work on dinner. The menu was 1/3 lb Angus chuck burgers, hot dogs, all the fixin’s, fresh home made coleslaw, Bush’s baked beans and canned fruit. While the grilling was going on our guide came over and asked us if we wanted any Navajo Tacos as they had enough for about 20 left over from the group that came in next to us. Sure, we don’t turn down food so we accepted. Wow, they were big and tasty too. A sure appetite killer but I still had room for a burger that a few people claimed was one of the best burgers they ever had. Well they were tasty for sure. They must have been, our Navajo guide Harold ate 3 of them !

It was getting dark and we piled the wood on the campfire and made sure we had a few pots of coffee ready. I can tell you that I had several people telling me that they cant wait until George K. gets back from his summer home in the mountains to make coffee again. Perhaps that was a hint that while I can cook pretty decent on the grill, my coffee was pretty bad.

With the fire burning high and the marshmallows a roasting, smores were being made by several people. And then, to our surprise, Harold showed up with a drum and started singing in Navajo ! He did drum songs, told stories, played Native melodies on his flute and then, his brother shows up in very colorful and traditional Navajo couture and began dancing.

Just when you didn’t expect anymore surprises, they started getting us up to dance. It must have looked like a Navajo “soul train” or bunny hop ! Everyone was having a great time and how excellent the entertainment was. I never checked my watch but I would guess that they danced and played for us at least 90 minutes or longer.

Well its going on 10pm, Harold wants to hit the trail to Hunts Mesa at 6am so everyone retired to their tents. There was not a cloud in the sky and stars were everywhere. We left the rain fly off of our tent and with the top being just screen, I fell asleep watching the sky and the dancing of the occasional shooting star.

4 am, Bugler, sound the charge, we’re under attack ! The sound sleep and quiet night was interrupted by the sound of Indian drums and wailing ! Irv called it Navajo Revilee. Others said it sounded like an attack in the movies. No one was ready to get up. It was pitch dark ! There was not even the glint of the sun coming up in the east. None of us ever packed up and broke camp in the pitch dark before but we were going to now.

6 am, we are packed up and on the trial……..the sky to the east is starting to light up, a little. We are heading out via headlights. As we got closer to the visitors center, the sun was coming up, the walls of the canyons and the “monuments” were lighting up and changing colors by the minute. As we passed by the visitors center and headed to the main road for the 15 mile drive to the Hunts Mesa trail head, we caught what we thought was our last glimpse of Monument Valley this trip. We would later find that again, you should assume nothing as some of our best views were yet to come.

The first 5 miles or so of the road to Hunts Mesa were typical 2 lane dirt roads. Fairly smooth and fairly dusty. Then we veered off drove a few more miles where we encountered some sand and the road now was little more than a well traveled path. Those of us that had trailers unhooked and dropped them for the days ride. We later found out it was a good idea.

Our 1st obstacle was a steep hill with deep soft sand. Our guides YJ got stuck, Lance got stuck, George made a rush up the hill from another angle (making a new trail perhaps) and helped the guides out. Lance finally got up the hill……..it was a labor but my 5000 lb brick made it up as did everyone else. The deep soft sand made it interesting for sure. Now we were encountering some Moab like trails. Ledges, slick rock, narrow winding rocky stuff.

While climbing up one of the hills with the valley several hundred feet below, someone radioed that Lance was puking oil. After some investigation and discussion, it was determined that it was the typical bad oil pressure sensor that goes bad all at once when you least expect it. Ok, now what to do. Kristopher had some liquid steel or something like that so they packed it into the sensor and let it harden for 10 min. Put the sensor back in and there you go. Instant and effective trail repair. We were back on our way.

The guide told us he has a special place in mind for lunch. Was it ever ! Hundreds of feet up where the group picture was taken, we had a panoramic view of the entire Monument Valley ! It was a photographers dream spot, the million dollar view. This is where George is seen looking down the cliff and where George found the makeshift toilet that looks over the valley. We had lunch, took more pictures and when it was time to leave it was tough saying good bye to such a sight.

We traveled on, more rocks, more bumps, more slick rock and then sandy trail at the top of the mesa. We were heading to the north east corner where we stopped at another impressive overlook again with breathtaking views !

Following the trail back we took a different fork down and got into more deep, soft sand, more “stuff” to make the drive more interesting and or course more scenic views. Driving thru sandy riverbeds at the bottom and visiting remote arches on some narrow and off camber trails everyone was commenting on how much they really liked this trail.

Well all good things must come to an end and so did this trip. We arrived back at the trailers and hitched up again. At the main road lots of the group tipped our guides and some aired up. Many of us headed to the gas pumps before heading back to Flag and then to Phx. Only one mishap on the way back to report. George and Diane hit an Elk with their TJ. The Elk won, but they are getting it all fixed up for the Kit Carson trip a month from now.