USA - Canada - Mexico 2016 - Day 35

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Monday, 10 October 2016 - Page, Arizona - Bluff, Utah

Today is all about rocks, and monuments and monumental rocks.

We left Page in warmer weather with the temperature around 18 degrees C expecting a maximum of around 25. All in all a pleasant day for a ride. Heading south-east for the first hour then north-east to Kayenta, Arizona for a fuel stop before heading north to Monument Valley. Monument Valley is not a National Park but is on Navajo Indian land and is known as the Navajo Tribal Park. We went to the Visitor Center which advertised the availability of information but seemed to have a surprising lack of same. After wandering around the Center and finding the souvenir shop with almost the same stuff as you would in any souvenir shop in the area, we found the Information Office unmanned and the Administration Office less than helpful. Motorcycles were not permitted to use the unsealed road through the main part of the valley, apparently in case of damaging the road. No worries about taking your 5 ton RV up to 20 feet long through though! Venturing further afield, we located a little hut to find out about tours. No worries, $75 each for a 1.5 hour, 17 mile Jeep ride or $85 each for a 2.5 hour ride. Being disappointed in what I could see from the viewing area and not being able to use my own vehicle left me failing to see why I would pay $150 or more to see what I would have been able to see if I had been in a car.

Leaving the Navajo Tribal Park we went further up Monument Valley to another resort area where there was a completely different scenic outlook and we were able to ride past some of the massive rock formations close to the sealed road. From there we stopped at the Navajo Welcome Center for a look at some of the history and to visit some of the local artisans and purchase genuine souvenirs directly from the people who make them. How do we know, Therese had a set of earrings made while we were there.

I've included a lot of photos in an effort to show you the sheer scope of the area, the different rock formations to be found here and the way in which the sunlight, cloud and shadow can change the effects of what you see. I have included the names of the formations in the Navajo Tribal Park and on others, included some comments on our thoughts when we saw them. I hope you enjoy them.

From Monument Valley we headed further north to Mexican Hat then on to Bluff where we are tonight.

Tomorrow we start the trek to Bryce Canyon.

314 klms today, total to date 13,284 klms.