Las Vegas, NV - Hoover Dam, AZ - Grand Canyon N.P., AZ - Monument Valley, AZ - Archees N.P., UT -
Salt Lake City, UT - Moab, UT - Jackson Hole, WY - Grand Teton, N.P. & Yellowstone N.P., WY -
Missoula, MT - Seattle, WA - Mt. St. Helens, WA - Portland, OR - San Francisco, CA
the paved roads...very hot dry air made it almost impossible to stay outside the car for
more than several minutes just to snap some shots....
I am sad we only had nine days for the entire trip otherwise we`d had stayed much
longer around this area.
that special light you need to create something better that the ordinary. We spent here about 6 hours and it got really pretty just before sunset, you also get bus loads of people at the
more frequented overlooks. The ever present haze that sits over the canyon does not help. Will come back soon to make a hike down to the bottom to see the Colorado river.
the actual valley itself. It`s easy to miss during the rain storm. As we drove some 5
miles past suddenly the valley became better visible right behind us. So a short drive
back took us straight to the valley and its loop which I cannot recommend enough.
The whole time we were being followed by some French movie crew. They drove a
total of about ten Volkswagen Beetles, the old version.
They were just everywhere. But their luck quickly changed. It started to pour real
hard down on us and they quickly realized that driving this kind of car in this type of
very fast changing environment is not a good choice. They must have gotten stuck
down there in a dark red mud for hours.
spot is where this famous and often used picture is taken.
changes in lighting conditions
provide for some incredible
photographic opportunities. One
needs to be very careful for its
quite easy to underexpose or
overexpose the photograph. There
is a lot of shaded places and very
bright white fluffy cloud over head
most of the time as you can see in
the picture above. I believe the
scenery in the picture is called The
Seven Sisters if I am right. I would
like to mention that this part of the
US is my most favorite and I had a
hard time finding a place more
dramatic, perhaps except for
Yellowstone National Park which
is simply unbelievable as well.
way up north toward The Mexican Hat. Its shortly before sunset. Its great how neat
these roads are even in such remote regions of the United States. There are also no
hotels or motels in this immediate area of Monument Valley. Your best bet would be
to bring your tent and a sleeping bag and stay outside overnight.
That would be better than any hotel could offer. You just need to watch for ever
present thunderstorms in summer months.
beauty. The light and colors are changing almost every minute.
The red sand/dirt and blue sky with white clouds is unbeatable in this respect how I
learned two years later in the Hawaiian island of Kauai where the ground has the same
color as in the picture above. After spending a day in Monument Valley we kept on
driving to the San Juan State Park and the place called The Goosenecks that is within
the park. Its just four miles off Utah Highway 261.
You can look into a 1,000-foot-deep chasm carved through the Pennsylvanian
Hermosa Formation by the silt-laden San Juan River. A very pretty place. We did not
meet any people and the area is very peaceful and quiet. Camping here must be just
great since the camp site basically sits right on the rim and overlooks the Goosenecks.
There is a long drive north from here and the next stop is The Arches National Park
also in the state of Utah.
