I've been to
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park twice: once in
summer and once in winter. Contrary to all the other places in the South-West–which I find prettier and more interesting during winter–I found Monument Valley more scenic during
summer.
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| Monument Valley in Summer |
I think there are two reasons for that. First, Monument Valley doesn't get enough snow during winter and, therefore, it isn't uniformly covered by it. To me, the patches of snow make the Valley appear more "messy" and less "monumental." Second, contrary to the summer skies, during winter skies are usually clear and cloudless, which translates to less dramatic views and less original photos.
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| Monument Valley in Winter |
Still, we found the 17-mile
Scenic Drive through the Valley very enjoyable and we would recommend it to anybody passing through that part of the world, no matter what time of the year you're there.
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| Scenic Drive through Monument Valley |
The drive took us close to many interesting rock structures, like the two "mittens"–East and West Mitten Buttes–pictured on the photo below.
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| Yours truly with East and West Mitten Buttes |
To some, the rock on the photo below resembles a camel and, therefore, it got named Camel Butte.
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| Camel Butte |
Here are the Yei Bi Chei-Navajo spiritual gods–and Totem Pole.
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| The Yei Bi Chei and Totem Pole |
Look how small our car is compared to the nearby rocks.
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| My Love and his red toy in the Monument Valley |
Looking back at some of the photos I took during my recent visit to the Monument Valley, makes me see how the Valley got its name. It does look quite Monumental in places.
