Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley

Horseshoe Bend. Next on our agenda was to head north towards Monument Valley. We stopped to view Horseshoe Bend, just outside of Page. This was quite a busy dirt carpark with people sprawling over the small hill along a sandy trail in the burning hot sun. It was hard to imagine something pretty was out here but yes, after a short 800m walk, there was this beautiful bend in the Colorado River. I’ll come back to that river in a minute. So Horseshoe Bend is literally a bend in the river that is quite pretty. The photos I’ve seen show stunning colours but ours were not as impressive. Regardless, it was good to see as everything on this trip is about the landscape.

Now, that Colorado River, it’s been following us everywhere. So I had to google it….it is one of the principal rivers of the southwestern US and north Mexico. It is 2330km (1450 mile) long and encompasses parts of seven US states and two Mexican states. 

It starts way up in the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado, flows generally southwest across Colorado, through the Grand Canyon before reaching Lake Mead on the Arizona-Nevada border where it turns south towards Mexico. So it flows through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, New Mexico and Wyoming. I’m not sure how it gets to New Mexico and Wyoming – maybe smaller shoots of it go there. Anyway, it’s a big source of water and no doubt we’ll see more it along our journey.

Be sure to watch the short movie at the bottom to see the beauty of Lower Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley. But here's a short explanation of these beautiful sites.

Lower Antelope Canyon. After Horseshoe Bend, we had a short drive to see Antelope Canyon. We were all unsure what to expect aside from some gorgeous photos. Once again, Deb’s research paid off because Antelope Canyon was a hidden treasure that is increasing in popularity thanks to social media. A friend at work had also recommended it so many thanks to you Terri B – will send some lamingtons to you as a thank you. So it’s a slot canyon which is a narrow canyon formed by the wear of water rushing through rock. It is significantly deeper than it is wide. This was on Navajo land and we visited the Lower Antelope Canyon. There is also an Upper. It was formed by erosion of sandstone, primarilty due to flash flooding and also due to sub-aerial processes. Rainwater, especially in the monsoon season runs into the extensive basin above the slot canyone sections, picking up speed and sand as it rushes into the narrow passageways. Over time, the passageways eroded away, making the deep corridoors and smoothing hard edges in such a way to form characteristic flowing shapes in the rocks. (courtesy of wiki). Flooding in the canyon still occurs. A flood occurred on October 30, 2006, that lasted 36 hours, and caused the Tribal Park Authorities to close Lower Antelope Canyon for five months.

It was pretty busy here with small groups going through every half an hour. It was much cooler down underground (albeit it was open at the top through gaps). I was a little nervous about the steep steps down as I’m not great in confined spaces. But it was better when on the bottom and the colours were extraordinary. Like all the rock features we’ve seen, there were lots of shapes to be made from the rock formations. Check out the movie below to see if you can spot the lions head (like Scar from the Lion King), the lady with long hair blowing in the wind and there was one that is called the Rocky Mountains. There was a million ways to take a photo by taking the shot from any angle. It really was a beautiful experience and I would recommend visiting this underground canyon. One of the funny memories of this visit was watching some Asian ladies come out of the pit-drop toilets. Yes, they were quite foul and offensive but what pit-drop toilet isn’t. We watched two of the ladies come out and dry reach for 5 minutes. It was quite funny to watch and even their tour companions got a good giggle also.

Monument Valley. We ended our trip in a small town called Kayenta. It was very small – like a one road place. But it did have a McDonalds and a Burger King. The Hampton Inn was lovely and the restaurant had wonderful food. We initially thought it would be Big Macs for dinner but not so as we enjoyed a lovely meal at this restaurant. We were only a small distance from the Arizona-Utah border and our phones were switching to Utah time which was an hour ahead. Made for a confusing day that’s for sure. Unfortunately, the hour difference made for a very early start the next morning for our sunrise tour on Monument Valley which was just across the border in Utah. We had to be up at 3.30am for a 6am tour (Utah time). It was half an hour drive away but it was totally worth it. I think it’s been one of the best things so far. Monument Valley is a cluster of vast sandstone buttes (hill with steep sides). The largest is about 300m above the valley floor. It is located on Navajo Nation Reservation and has been featured in many movies, especially the old Western cowboy movies and even Indiana Jones for the famous snake pit scene. This was another great tour pick by Deb after much research and while the early start was painful, the reward at the end was priceless. 

We had a brilliant tour guide named Don. A elder Navajo man who had been here for 30 years but was well educated and knowledgeable about the Navajo history and the valley. He is a retired Navajo Culture and Language Teacher. Our tour started in the dark and incredibly, we were joined by two other Aussies from Canberra – what’s the odds of that !! We crawled into a well used 4WD and we headed to a good sunrise spot. This was seriously a fabulous tour and Don was a big highlight.

Don was excellent. He was a quiet man, his sense of humour was great and he shared so much history on the Navajo people and also his personal family insights from his grandfather. He drews signs in the sand to show us how family and tribal movement was explained and talked to us about his trip to Syberia to learn of the connection to Navajo people. He totally made this tour fantastic and showed us some of best views of Monument Valley. I will not forget his demonstration in the sand to show us how one of the sand structures was formed. He made a little sandcastle, poured water on it, poked a hole in it and turned it on it's side. Far out, it was captivating and made it easy to understand what mother nature had done over thousands of years. Hopefully our photos have captured a little of this wonderful morning tour. It was well worth the very early start and again, I thoroughly recommend this tour and definitely ask for Don. Check out Navajo Spirit Tours here.....

Navajo Spirit Tours

Four Corners. This is the point where four states intersect – Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado. Initially the corner was defined in 1861 only by North/South lines which was unusual. Wiki tells me that by defining one boundary as starting at the corner of another Congress ensured the eventual creation of four states meeting at a point, regardless of the inevitable errors of boundary surveying. The area was first surveyed by the U.S. Government in 1868 as part of an effort to make Colorado Territory into a state, the first of the Four Corners states formed. The first marker was placed at the spot in 1912. The first Navajo tribal government was established in 1923 to regulate an increasing number of oil exploration activities on Navajo land.

We have not ticked off New Mexico and while we literally put a foot in the state, I can only really in good conscience claim this as a 0.1. So, I declare our state tally as 29.1 in our 50 shades adventure.

 

X marks the corner spot

 

And finally, here's the short movie of the great pics of Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley. Enjoy the peaceful easy feeling.