Day 9: Monument Valley

On day 9, we left town after breakfast and headed east towards Kayenta and then north towards the Oljato-Monument Valley on the state border between Arizona and Utah. We drove through the middle of nowhere, and the “towns” were often just a small group of buildings spanning a block or two. We rolled into Monument Valley around lunch time and headed to the visitor’s center first. We learned some cool stuff about the area, such as the fact that Monument Valley is on Navajo land and is known for its towering buttes. The buttes were made famous in many John Ford western movies, and more modern movies such as Back to the Future III and Forest Gump! Look familiar?

The history of the area is very interesting. A couple, Harry and Leone ("Mike") Goulding, moved to the area in the early 1920s and set up a trading post on recently-sold Paiute land. They became very involved with the local Navajo and were very active in helping them during the Great Depression, getting them education, health aid, and more. It was they who traveled to Hollywood with photos of Monument Valley to persuade John Ford that he should film some movies in that area. According to the story, John Ford was very impressed by the photos and agreed to make a movie there. In the end, he filmed several movies and the area became famous. The film industry helped boost the economy, and even now, the Navajo benefit.

We actually stayed in Goulding’s Lodge, part of which is still the original trading post. They have a museum and every night, they play a John Wayne movie haha. There is not much else going on, as we discovered later that night.

As we had arrived around 12pm, we signed up for a 2pm tour of Monument Valley. We figured that this was one area that would be worth a guided tour even though it is possible to drive the 17-mile loop road by yourself. The tour would include a Navajo guide and take you through the loop AND through an additional area that is not open to the public. The restricted area would include a visit to a hogan, a traditional Navajo home, and include some demonstrations.

We were picked up in a 4WD jeep that, in warmer months, would have been open air. As it was winter, they had covered the walls with a plastic tarp, which made it difficult to take pictures. The back door was uncovered, so I quickly moved back there to take pictures. However, that meant I was sitting right where the dust entered, so I was quickly covered in a fine layer of red dust. As our guide mentioned, the area was in a bad drought, and the land was much dryer and dustier than it should be.

We had several stops to see the various buttes, including the Mittens (they look like the left and right hand of mittons), John Ford’s point (his favorite view of the whole valley, which included a “man on horse” posing for photos) and the 3 sisters (they look like 3 nuns). There many others with names derived from what they resembled. I asked our guide if the Navajo names were similar, and unsurprisingly, they were not. Thanks Hollywood!

We then visited a Hogan, which is the traditional home made of wood pillars and clay. Apparently some people still live in them today because they are very energy efficient and the clay keeps the inside cool during summer months and warm during winter months. The older Navajo woman got a young Australian teenager to let her put her hair up in the traditional knot that many women still wear. She also showed us how they card wool and wove a few minutes on the loom to make pretty tapestries. While I thought the info was nice, I felt like there was a bit of pressure to buy things or to tip the woman. I have mixed feelings about this practice, which is so common in small, often native, communities around the world. I understand the desire and need to make a profit, but I really prefer an “up front” cost and no pressure to look at goods I am not interested in buying.

The tour lasted 3.5 hours and honestly, I don’t think I could have done more. There are full day tours available, but the thought of sitting in that dust all day was a bit much. We did see several tour vans and closed jeeps, so that could be a better option. While we learned a lot more on the tour than we would have on our own, David and I were a bit disappointed. We had to ask lots of questions, and our guide did not have the most effusive personality. The restricted area mostly included natural arches, which were pretty, but not mind blowing. I knew going into it that the tours had mixed reviews: I think a lot of it depends on who your guide is. Ours skipped the last stop and then blew past the viewpoint for one of the most beautiful sunsets we had seen yet. That was a real bummer. So, I would probably give the tour a 3 out of 5 stars. Take that as you will.

After the tour, we were never so happy in our lives to take a shower and use a damp cloth to clean off our filmy jackets. Because there was literally nothing to do without driving into the nearest town 20 miles away, we ate a microwave dinner and watched a movie!

In short: Monument Valley is beautiful and geographically fascinating, but you could easily make it a stop-off on your way to a further location.