NAVAJOS IN MONUMENT VALLEY

 July 14, 2013

We have left Monument Valley and we are now in Tucson.  But the last day we were in Monument Valley we took a tour back into areas of the valley we had not seen before.  We had a Navajo guide and we saw arches and rock formations not on the self-guided road access.  We also saw petroglyphs.


The picture on the left is a Navajo woman who was sitting in a tradition hogan demonstrating rug weaving and preparation of the wool into yarn for weaving the highly prized authentic Navajo rugs.  She spoke Navajo and it was translated by our guide.  The wool for the rugs is from the sheep they still raise on their land.

At the visitor's center we enjoyed watching a couple of dancers decked out in colorful ceremonial garb dancing to Navajo music.

The dancer's costumes had little metal pieces sewn into them and when they danced they create a jangle matching the beat of the music.  The beautiful background of monument valley, the dancers and traditional Navajo music, all helped create a very special sunset.


This last picture is taken at a placed called John Ford Point.  He was the director of the famous John Wayne westerns filmed in Monument Valley.  They say he would go out to the point every morning to sit and overlook the valley and think about the day ahead and how he would shoot the scenes for the movie that day.  Today there is almost always a Navajo man on a horse who goes out and sits on the point for photographs - $2.00 to take his picture.

We will be in Tucson for a week or so to visit with Scott and have some fine tuning done to our motor home.  It's a little warm here, but I like Tucson.  We're going to check out a photographic museum on the campus of U of A tomorrow.

MONUMENT VALLEY

July 7, 2013

We left Moab, Utah this morning and drove about 175 miles south to Monument Valley.  We're staying at the campground at Goulding in Monument Valley.  Goulding was established in the early 1920's as a trading post by Harry and Leone Goulding who conducted business with the local Navajo people.  The Gouldings were responsible for bringing "Hollywood" to Monument Valley when they convinced John Ford to use the beautiful setting for his film, Stagecoach, starring John Wayne.  Monument Valley has become an iconic setting for many other westerns since.  Even the current movie, "The Lone Ranger" was filmed in the area.  

We went to a popular overlook to take pictures of the sunset tonight.   The wind picked up suddenly and clouds blew in.  We could see rain sweeping across parts of the valley.  We didn't get rained on, but the wind blew in some great clouds for a nice sunset photograph.   

Sunset at Monument Valley

We're staying in this area for four days.

ARCHES AND CANYONS

July 5-6, 2013

July 5:  This is a picture of Landscape Arch in Arches National Park.  It may be hard to tell from the photograph, but the arch spans about 290 feet from end to end and is thought to be the longest rock arch in the world.  It was a nice hike up to the arch.  At one time the trail led right up under the arch.   But in 1991, some hikers were sitting close by when they heard a cracking and then what sounded like a thunder clap.  They were hearing the sound of a huge section of the arch breaking away (on the right side where it looks the thinnest).  The trail under the arch has been closed since then.  A photographer actually caught a photo the event and it is on display along the trail to the arch.

Landscape Arch, Arches National Park

July 6:  Today we drove into Canyonlands National Park.  This is a view down into an area of the canyons where you can drive down into it.  Notice the car driving on the dirt road in the photograph.  It is over 1600 feet down a sheer cliff if you don't pay attention and drive off the road.  (Not a good time to be text messaging.)  You can see the road at the bottom of the canyon as well.  We didn't take this road because our little car doesn't have four wheel drive or a very high clearance.

Scenic drive, Canyonlands National Park

This is a picture from a point where you can see the Green River that helped carve out this area of the park.  The Green River meets up with the Colorado River within the park and is a popular place for whitewater rating because at the confluence the rivers create a lot of turbulence.  You can see a dirt road along the white rim of the canyon.  The road stretches 100 miles along the rim and takes about 2-3 days to traverse.    The area is really awe inspiring because it is just so vast and extreme.

Green River Overlook,  Canyonlands National Park

Tomorrow we will leave the Moab area and travel south to Monument Valley.

4TH OF JULY

Parade participant

July 4, 2013



Yesterday was the 4th of July.  We're in the small town of Moab, Utah.  So we decided to take in the small town atmosphere and go to the local parade.  The parade circled around the little city park just off the main street.  It was a slice of Americana.  After the parade, there was a band playing patriotic marches in the gazebo while children played in the grass or ate snow cones and cotton candy.   There was a watermelon seed spitting contest, a dunk tank and pony rides.  

In the evening we went back to Arches National Park to hike up to a view point and see the show piece of the park, Delicate Arch.  It was 100 degrees during the day and it was still pretty warm for the hike up.  It was only a mile and a half, but it was a climb.  We made it there for sunset along with lots of other folks.  A photograph doesn't really do the scene justice because it's hard to get a perspective of how large the arch is or how precipitous its perch is on the edge of a sandstone cliff.  

In this picture I used a wide-angle lens so you can see the people around the arch and get an idea of how large the arch is.  One day, this arch will fall as wind and rain continue to erode the sandstone.  There are many other arches in the park in various stages of development and deterioration.

Tomorrow evening we'll go back to Arches and explore the "Devil's Garden" area of the park.

SUNRISE AND SUNSET ON THE ROCKS

July 3, 2013

We have now moved from the cool, green mountains and valleys of Teton National Park, to the high desert of south eastern Utah.  We're staying in Moab, Utah for 5 nights.  Moab is situated on the Colorado River.  The area around Moab is popular with off-roaders, mountain bikers and river rafters. Arches National Park and Canyon Lands National Park are within a few miles.  The massive red sandstone rock formations are dramatic here.  There are many natural stone arches, tall rock fins and monoliths carved by the winds, water erosion and time.   It's beautiful to go out at sunrise and sunset to see the play of light and shadows against the rocks and open desert.  

Sunrise at Arches National Park

Canyon Lands National Park is known as "Utah's Grand Canyon."  This picture was taken at a famous location known as Dead Horse Point.  Legend has it that cowboys back in the 1800's used the point to catch wild horses.  With sheer cliffs on all sides and an access on 30 yards wide, it was a perfect place to herd wild horses.  The drop from the top of the cliff where we were standing, to the bottom is 2,000 feet.  At the bottom you can see the Colorado River as it turns the bend.  It was a beautiful place to watch the sunset last night.

Sunset at Dead Horse Point, Canyon Lands National Park

CREATURES BIG AND SMALL

June 29-30, 2013

Yesterday we went to the Menor's Ferry area of Teton National Park.  The settlement was built by one man in 1894 for the purpose of establishing a ferry to allow people traveling west to cross the Snake River.  The original cabin he built along with a general store he added later are still standing.   We were there early and since there were no other visitors when we got there, we spent quite a while just talking with the docent guide.  Turns out he spends the winters in Yuma and the summers in Teton.   

After visiting there, we took another drive along the northern loop within the park.  As you can see from the pictures, spring brought an abundance of babies to the wildlife living there.  In addition to seeing lots of baby buffalo, we were lucky to catch a glimpse of a mother moose and her baby in the shade by the river.  

Mom and baby bison

Mom and baby moose

There are lots of buffalo in Teton and they go wherever they want.  But there were areas where there were fences and we were wondering how they were able to get around the fences and cross the roads as we had seen them do.  Well, we figured it out when we saw several of them just jumping over the fences.  They don't seem all that nimble until you see them do something like this.  We also saw one running full speed across a field one day toward the road.  We were wondering if he was going to run straight across the road.  There were cars coming and it looked like it would be hit.  But he actually was charging at a couple of women who were walking into the field to take pictures of the baby buffalo.    The women started running and then he stopped.  But he got within 15 feet or so of them.  So, it may look like these big guys can't move, but they can move fast when given a reason.  I took my pictures from a distance with a zoom lens.

Don't fence me in

Today is Sunday, June 30th.  We left Teton this morning to head south.  We just pulled into our campground in Heber, Utah.  This area is famous for fly fishing in the summer and snow skiing in the winter.  Not sure what we'll do here.  We will be here for two nights and then head to Moab, Utah.

SUNRISE IN THE TETONS

June 28, 2013

We started the day off with a beautiful sunrise at a very scenic point on the Snake River.  There was mist rising up from the river and the sound of birds chirping made for an almost ethereal feeling as we watched the sun come up over the majestic Grand Tetons.  

Sunrise at Oxbow Bend, Grand Teton National Park

After the sunrise we took a short drive through the meadow just past the point in the bend of the river in the scene above.  We saw another photographer pulled off on the side of the road and that always means there's something special to see.  We weren't disappointed when we saw two bears just a few yards from the road.  One bear ambled off into the brush, but this one was concentrating on digging something out of the ground.  He looked up casually to see we were there, but didn't seem concerned until several other cars stopped to take a look.  He then scrambled off to the woods.  I don't know what kind of bear this was - but it wasn't a grizzly, although there are in the park.

Bear encounter

In the afternoon we took a drive into Jackson Hole to check out the old town square.  It reminds me a lot of the square in Sante Fe.  We had lunch at an outdoor restaurant overlooking the square.  The town is a bit crowded and touristy, but I guess this is the height of the tourist season.

Tomorrow we're going to check out an historic area where settlers established a ferry to cross the river. There are historic buildings there and the guides dress in period costumes.