Monument Valley

We made an early start from Tusayan, heading away from Grand Canyon to the east, back the way we came.  But when we reached Cameron, we turned north to head into Utah to get to Monument Valley.  

Monument Valley is amazing.  It is no wonder that it serves as the backdrop to almost every Western movie ever made.

Do you really need a caption?

I really like the sage-coloured sand dunes in the mid-ground.

I just liked the colours here.

Million dollar views?  We got a million of them...

Height and distance...

Look up to the very top.  Do you see it? ...

...The crow with the best seat in the house.

A view so emotionally overwhelming ...

... that we did the English thing and made a cup of tea.

This is the advertising shot Ford should have used for this vehicle.

Elfrida thinks she's getting better composing pictures.  I agree.

This formation is called the Camel.  They left hand edge of it shows why.

A stunted tree, with the Mitten in the background.

Just a couple of mesas.  As seen from our hotel balcony!

The complete view from our hotel balcony:

The play of setting sunlight, viewed from our balcony with a drink, and a blanket for the falling temperature.

We hit the hotel restaurant for a wholesome if unexciting dinner, and then spent the evening combing through the hundreds of photos we had, between us, taken.  We picked the best for this blog; those of you unlucky enough to ask, or be related to us, will no doubt have to sit through them all.

We woke before dawn, and watched the sun rise behind the mesa.

Before we headed out in the morning, we did another run through the valley to take a few shots of formations that would benefit from lighting from the east.

The view from John Ford Point.

A memorial for a 32-year-old Navajo Guide unlucky enough to be struck by lightning at this spot.

The Three Sisters basking in morning sunshine.

Beautiful, nu?

From miles away, on our way to Chinle.  We had to stop and take this picture when we noticed the view in our rear-view mirror.