On Sunday we hit the road again for our drive out to Monument Valley. Today’s drive took us 260 miles/418 kms out of Arizona and into Utah. We had organised a Sunset Jeep tour for the afternoon, so by the time we got there, had a wander and some food, it was time for the tour.
The tour took us down in to the valley where we got to see the various monuments up close and from different angles. Our guide was a native of the area and we also visited a traditional home, where they showed us how they do the traditional rug weaving and I was chosen to get my hair put into a traditional bun using wool (I say chosen loosely - it was by default - I was the only one with long hair as everyone else on the tour was old)!! We spent a couple of hours on the valley floor, our guide sang some traditional songs for us in one of the rock areas that had great acoustics, and we watched the sunset around the various rock formations. It was a really good tour, but a very cold and dusty drive back to the hotel after it was over!
Tonight’s dinner was at the hotel’s restaurant (again, by default as it was the only place to choose from - the next closest thing was a decent drive away), but it was pretty good. The hotel we were staying at is the only one that is situated right above the valley and our room had an amazing view. It was a really clear sky that night and you could see stars forever! We got up early too, to watch the sunrise, which was pretty amazing (we have uploaded a time lapse video to show the sunrise too).
We hit the road again pretty well as soon as the sun was up, and our next stop was Page, Arizona which was 125 miles/201 kms away. In Page we took a tour of the Lower Antelope Canyon - which was amazing. It was an almost 2 hour trek through the canyons, but well worth it as the rock formations were amazing - the photos pretty well speak for themselves. It was a great tour and our guide was really knowledgeable and we were really glad we decided to do this tour.
Next stop in the area was Horseshoe Bend, where we walked the 1.2km hike out to the cliff edge (I wouldn’t let Wade too close to the edge, and the GoPro on the pole came in handy here!!) to see the point where the Colorado River does a complete turn. It was pretty amazing, although we were there during the middle of the day, and it would probably be more amazing at sunrise & sunset but our time didn’t allow for this. The hike back was a killer though very soft sand and mostly uphill - definitely got a work out!
It was back on the road then, for the next part of the trip! We drove 280 miles/450 kms from Page to Las Vegas, but we did this via Zion National Park. By this stage it was late afternoon, so we didn’t have a lot of time to spend here unfortunately, but the drive through the park was pretty amazing, and we had a quick stop at the visitor centre for a wander around, before hitting the road to Las Vegas.
Here are some photos from these few days
Monument Valley from our Hotel
Monument Valley Sunset Jeep Tour
This Rock formation looks like a bird
The same rock formation from a different angle looks like a horse!
Stars from our room
Sunrise in Monument Valley
Sunrise Time Lapse
Lower Antelope Canyon
Horseshoe Bend
Zion National Park
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