ROAD TRIP: MONUMENT VALLEY

"I was astounded — the scale, it feels so vast and epic." 
                                            - Matt Smith, Doctor Who

Sunrise

There are places in this world, iconic natural wonders with a history and legend which have grown up around them, that are nearly every serious Traveler's bucket list. Ularu (Ayers Rock). Angel Falls. Norway's fjords. The Na Pali coast on Kauai. The Great Barrier Reef. Wadi Rum in Jordan.

All astounding and awe-inspiring sights, and all worthy of their reputations. There is a profoundness and a serenity in each of them which belies our frenetic human pace and requires that we just stop and admire the grandeur of nature.

In the American southwest are two world-class icons of nature: The Grand Canyon, and Monument Valley.

I've been to the Grand Canyon, but never, in 53 years, to Monument Valley. Last year, it was time.

Timing-wise, our arrival into the valley was particularly bad. It was dark. Pitch black as only a road through a truly rural place can be. The infrequent light -- from a  porch or overhead -- was the only illumination. Even the Moon had elected to hide. It being early December, there was a cold chill in the air which added to the mystery and mood.


We approached from the West, heading up highway 163 out of Kayenta for thirty or so miles into the darkness, trusting that the side road to our hotel  would somehow be labeled in a way we could actually find it. (It was.) We followed the instructions given and wound our way to The View Hotel, an aptly-named and wonderfully placed property with, what we would discover, has one of the best views in the world. But not at 9pm at night when we finally rolled in from the long drive from Las Vegas.



We checked in, disappointed that our arrival didn't have the amazing grandeur we'd hoped, but realized sunrise the next morning would be an amazing thing. We ate a late meal at the hotel's restaurant and sent our friends from Perth to their room while we found our own. My wife was feeling under the weather, which would result in a 2am trip to the Kayenta Indian Health Service clinic -- not a proscribed adventure -- where they took very good care of her, but which cost us hours of sleep before we returned to the hotel at the still-dark 6am...three times through the valley with nothing but blackness and the occasional loom of something huge in the dark.

The sunrise view from The View Hotel

My wife climbed into bed and was soon asleep, courtesy proper medications from the IHS (top marks for those folks, they really did a tremendous job), while I decided it was too close to sunrise for me to pack it in. Once I'm awake for a day I'm awake, even if I'm exhausted. So I read a bit and waited for sunrise. I wasn't disappointed. 

Agaltha Peak (El Capitan), just south of the park

At the earliest stages of dawn I planted myself -- warmly wrapped -- on the balcony to our room. As the light began to grow I realized just how wonderful the view from The View truly was, with the twin shapes of "The Mittens" and the Merrick Butte prominently front and center. There was no sound save a soft breeze. I found myself giddy with excitement. The Monument Valley has held a special place in my heart and list of must-does since childhood, when my mother would tell us stories  of when her family would make the two-day trek from Southern California to northeastern Arizona to visit. Stories of the vistas and the adventure and the one time a slightly intoxicated Native American tried to buy my mother from her family in order to marry her -- I'd guess this might be slightly exaggerated, but how do I know? -- to talk about how amazing the sights and sounds and smells of Monument Valley were in person.

The sun continued to climb, and every few minutes I would set up a shot -- using a couple of different cameras -- documenting the gently emerging morning over the buttes. In my lifetime it is one of two "best sunrises" I have seen, the other being the dawn on Mount Haleakala in Hawaii. But in this case, I was alone on the balcony of my hotel, with nobody else in sight.

Slowly the day unfolded, and I met our friends for breakfast, regaling them with the overnight expedition to Kayenta. (They demanded to know why we hadn't alerted them, but I let them know there seemed to be little need to disturb their rest as well as our own.) So, my wife rechecked and confirming she just wanted to sleep, we three headed out onto the road to explore the nearby countryside., the images here give you an idea of just how amazing the Valley is, reminding me, as a stated above, just how tremendous the natural world is, and just what our place is in the universe.

Quite an accomplishment for a bunch of rocks in the desert.

Highway 163 as it enters the park