Page, Monument Valley
Monument Valley.
The next day, we got up early. We didn’t even go for breakfast at the hotel, especially since they served food that my kids don’t eat. We quickly grabbed a bite with what we had and set off to Monument Valley. It was a two-hour drive from Page. It’s also a well-known tourist route. Surely, many have seen Monument Valley in pictures or cowboy films, though this place has nothing to do with cowboys. This elevated plain is located on the Colorado Plateau, on the very border of Arizona and Utah, within the Navajo reservation. In Utah, the time zone during the winter is different from Arizona’s, and even the clock on your phone changes depending on crossing state lines.
Monument Valley is a flat desert surface with huge, uniquely shaped red rock formations rising in some places. Each one resembles something and has its own name. There are the Stone Owl, Stone Boot, Eastern Mittens, Western Mittens, Stone Elephant, Three Sisters, etc.
Here they are, the very monuments 🙂
The road to them is the only one
and the road is not very comfortable
that’s the hotel right there, a few shops and a museum
Native American national clothing in the museum
Native American national clothing in the museum
All the rocks are sacred to the Navajo, and you cannot approach them without a Navajo guide. There is a small park “Monument Valley” run by the Navajo, and tours are organized to the rock formations. In the park, there is a viewpoint where you can photograph various vistas, a small museum, and a shop selling Native American souvenirs and various Native American jewelry. Native American jewelry is sold in many booths along the route, but anything decent is expensive, while the less expensive items look rough or are only suitable for teenage girls.
During our trip, in the canyons, along the road, we frequently encountered Native American settlements consisting of one or two dilapidated houses. The houses were scattered over quite a large distance from each other, but interestingly, there were several cars around these houses. Another noticeable feature: school buses were often seen on the road, transporting children to settlements in these canyons.
Hanging Garden Hike
Our trip was supposed to end on Saturday, April 22. Initially, we planned to hike in the mountains around the city that day and return home in the evening to have a day of rest before the workweek. The hotel was paid for three days, and we were supposed to check out at 12:00 on the 22nd. But how could we leave without visiting Antelope Canyon? However, tickets for this tour were only available for 5 PM on the 22nd. So we decided to stay another day to avoid driving home at night. We had to switch to a different hotel for one night since our room was already booked by someone else.
Not far from Page is a short and easy trail up to the Hanging Gardens. This trail is only one mile (1.6 km) long. That’s the one we chose. We climbed up the hill. From there, there were excellent views of the dam, the reservoir, and the city itself. Then we followed the trail to the grotto. In this natural grotto, condensation from the mountain created a humid microclimate, thanks to which the grotto walls are covered with ivy-like plants. Of course, it’s not the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but it was nice to see such plants among the bare mountains, where only dry bushes and cacti are found. Seeing such plants was quite a treat.
