Monument Valley is inside Navajo territory, and is thus not a national park. That presents both advantages and disadvantages to the visitor. On one hand, you get blessed relief from the continuous barrage of rules, warnings, cautions, admonishments, threats and other negative messages that litter every national park. (For example, the current trend at the big national parks is to put posters everywhere warning people not to damage the precious "cryptobiotic crust," a new politically correct term for dirt. I'm all in favor of preservation and conservation, but there are only so many voluminous warning about the fragile nature of soil that I care to read in one lifetime. One is enough already. I got it.) On the other hand, the Navajo restrict access to many of the most interesting sites to those partaking of their expensive guided tours. I certainly don't begrudge their wanting to limit traffic to sensitive areas, or the opportunity to earn a little tourist loot, but those of us on fixed retirement incomes really can't afford to blow a few hundred bucks each day. We generally avoid group tours anyway because they eliminate the best picture taking opportunities.
These pictures are arranged more or less chronologically. I managed to get a couple 4"X5" transparencies of the sunset on the monuments, and they might make some pretty terrific prints someday. One photographic problem here is that it's very difficult to convey the gigantic scale of the mesas and buttes. When possible, I left roads in the frame to help with that. The last three pictures are of a strange formation a few miles down the road called "Mexican Hat Rock." If you look closely, you may be able to pick out the couple climbing it. It appeared to be quite a difficult climb due to the overhangs.
