We wake up to more rain than we have seen in quite some time, and it seems more than this part of the country has seen in quite some time also. Can’t complain, it is winter after all. We are planning a driving day anyway so off we go. We are in a place called Cortez, where the desert meets the mountains, heading into the desert. Moving through this part of Colorado it is dead flat boring, but still amazing and different, until we cross into Utah again, guess what, we magically hit the dramatic world of rock buttes, valleys and gorges again.
We are taking a route that snakes its way along beside the San Juan River and is just beautiful. We are actually in the area known as Four Corners, where four states, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado, meet. We are on the south side of the very influential Colorado Plateau now and heading for Monument Valley, not a designated National Park, but a part of the Navajo Reservation, the largest reservation in the US. This is the unique world that got away from Utah, the Navajo Tribal Park being just inside Arizona.
The rain has stopped but when we get to the valley it is completely shrouded in dense wet cloud. Though a sight well worth seeing with its haunting veil, we decide we still need to explore the area on a clear day so elect to stay on the Utah side of the road at Goulding Lodge. Harry Goulding and his wife “Mike” (real name Leone) purchased this property in 1921 and started trading with the Navajo people out of a tent, later building a brick trading post with their living quarters above. This building is still standing and is the Museum within the Lodge grounds for visitors to explore. When the depression hit both the Gouldings and the Navajo hard, Harry came up with the idea of approaching John Ford, the movie director, to get some money to the area. The rest is history as they say, John Ford fell in love with the area and shot the first of many Western Classics, “Stagecoach” starring John Wayne, here. That was the beginning of a long movie making history, the Monument Valley area giving the perfect backdrop to the ‘Western’ genre. The tradition continues with films like ‘Forrest Gump’, ‘Thelma and Louise”, ‘Mission Impossible’ and ‘Back to the Future III’ having shot scenes here.
This spectacular area has in fact been used in many genres of movie making, computer games, music videos, TV productions including cartoons and many advertisements. Harry started a lifetime of photography that has helped the area thrive. The Gouldings continued their association with the Navajo all their lives and even today the Lodge is a major contributor to the people. We are loving the atmosphere of this very comfortable and interesting place to spend the night. The complex is built beneath the towering rock cliff that one can look back across to the first buttes of the Valley from your balcony, a view we manage to catch at sunset when it is lit brightly, especially gorgeous with the cloud cover today. We enjoy a movie relating to the area in the theatre building and follow this with dinner served at the restaurant, yum.
Our day begins slowly but eventually we head out into the magnificent Navajo reservation area that is Monument Valley. We take the road down into the valley and start our self-guided tour to view the magnificent mesa,buttes and spires. It is truly beautiful with its colours ranging from sand to orange to deep reds. It is mainly dark red however and it is stunning. The recent rain seems to have made the valley green in only a day, it is somehow different from the day before. It is interesting to read the Navajo explanation of the different formations giving significant meaning to this spectacular landscape. Along the way we stop to meet some Navajo people and chat with a mother and daughter about their way of life living on the reservation without power and water and all the conveniences that come with it. They are selling jewellery that they have made from the local gemstones, predominantly turquoise and buffalo bone and juniper berries. It is interesting to get a small understanding of this life.
We finish our time in the valley all the more rich for the experience. We head back to the hotel and spend some time in the museum that was the original trading post and home of Harry and Mike Goulding. It is an excellent display mainly left in its original condition with the added bonus of movie memorabilia and Indian information. Once again we are richer for the experience. They even have John Wayne’s cabin that was used in his movies. Another day comes to an end. Our time is over in this truly amazing part of the country.
Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album MONUMENT VALLEY.
Here We Come World 