Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Monument Valley - spans both Arizona and Utah


The Navajos call it the valley of rocks, I call it spectacular!  


My iPhone definitely doesn’t do the view justice! 



Clusters of vast sandstone buttes with the largest reaching 1,000 feet above the valley floor.   This formation is called three Sisters. 



Another stop that we postponed last summer because monument valley lies within the Navajo reservation and was closed until July 2021. 



The buttes are stratified with three principal layers. The lowest layer is the Organ Rock Shale, the middle is de Chelly sandstone and the top layer is Moenkopi sandstone. The layers were formed when water/sea covered the area in the Permian to pre-Jurassic period. 




As water and ice runs through cracks in the butte, large pieces break off and sand forms at the base. 





The valley includes large stone structures this one is called "Eye of the Sun”



We stopped to see some horses trying hard to find something to eat! There sure isn’t much! The formation is the background is called the mitten. 



The “classic” view on HWY 163 towards Mexican Hat is “Forest Gump Hill.” Every tourist in the area stops to recreate the famous scene - hoping not to get run over by a semi! 



We had a prettier day!  



Another stop that was definitely worth the wait! 



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