1 October - Monument Valley

1 October – Monument Valley and Mystery Valley

Up early this morning to get the sunrise. What a beautiful sight it was with the sun coming up over the buttes and just stepping out onto the balcony to see it. I was so looking forward to coming here and it has exceeded all my expectations!!!

This afternoon, we booked onto the Mystery Valley Tour. Our guide was Harry Nez, a Navajo man. He said that only 1% of the people who come to Monument Valley do this tour. It was fantastic!!! We drove alongside the Mitchell Mesa, passed the Mitchell and Gray Whiskers Buttes and headed towards the Wetherill Mesa. The countryside was desert dunes and we went up and down dunes, climbed up then down the spurs of mesas. We visited some wonderful sites including Full Moon Arch, Lone Pine Arch (the lone pine just died), House of Many Hands ( several Anasazi cliff dwellings), Half Moon Arch, one that looked like a horseshoe, Honeymoon Arch before climbing up the butte for a wonderful panorama of the valley.

Harry then took us to a spot that had a waterhole that seems to always  have water in it. The pool reflected the scene and Harry played a tune on his flute. Then drove back to the Hotel by 4.30PM. He had a really dry sense of humour. First stop near some horses, he hopped out and said, “Horse!” and so it went on. I asked if the animal that had run across the road was a prairie dog and his reply was, “No. It is a Navajo Alvin – Didn’t you see his guitar?” (Alvin Chipmunk).

Tonight did a sunset shoot across this magnificent valley. Then at 7: 50 PM the harvest moon started rising over the mesas.