To and From Monument Valley, UT

Today turned out to be a big driving day for us ... but it was a drive through some of the most impressive (and varied) landscapes I've ever witnessed. We begin at Canyon de Chelly, then took Highway 59 north towards Monument Valley. Highway 59 provides some outstanding desert views, and is a road you should definitely travel if you ever get the chance. We passed through it during scattered storms, which made for some amazing lighting contrasts:



Highway 59 also passes through numerous, interesting rock formations, such as these:







When we arrived at Monument Valley, we soon realized that we were in the middle of a sandstorm. The pelting wind and sand made walking around unpleasant, and we promptly nixed our idea of camping there. At first, I thought the haziness would compromise the magnificent scenery; but as we drove the trails, I realized that the sandstorm was making the valley look quite ethereal and beguiling ... and most unlike how it is normally represented on film. I've dedicated a Flickr set to the different photos I took. Below is just one of the photos, taken from John Ford's Point. (As with any photo on this blog, click on it to view a higher resolution version.)



Continuing our journey north on Highway 163, we passed through yet more spectacular desert vistas, including the magnificent Valley of the Gods and the amusingly named Mexican Hat Rock. As we left Utah and entered Colorado, heading for Cortez, the landscapes changed once again, becoming more lush, foresty and mountainous. All-in-all, it was one of the most memorable driving experiences I've ever had.

Canyon de Video Blog

Cranking the blog up a notch, here's our first video blog from the road. Lisa provides a guided tour of the hogan in which we slept in Spider Rock campground at Canyon de Chelly. I feared that the camera was becoming a tumor attached to my eye, so I decided not to take many shots of Canyon De Chelly. It's quite beautiful, however, as you can see here, here and here. One of the unexpected highlights of the trip so far!

Chance Coincidence

Driving from Flagstaff to Holbrook on September 18th, I took some photos of the road in an effort to capture a good shot of the heat mirages. Two days later, when I woke up at the campground in Canyon de Chelly, it struck me that our neighbor's car looked very familiar. I zoomed in on the full resolution version of a road photo I had taken, to inspect the license plate of a blue Cruiser I'd captured ... and it matched with the license plate of our neighbor's car! They were a friendly couple from Sedona, who had helped secure us the hogan we slept in, so I burned them a copy of my photo of their car. Funny coincidence ... although that kind of thing is likely to happen in a state that only has one area code.