Farmington, NM to Monument Valley, UT 156 miles

 M&Ms, not the candy, but the ride today. Mountains, Mesas, Monoliths, Mars??

Overload of different sights. I hadn’t even left town before I saw a strange formation:

The first of countless different types of things the land had been twisted into. At times, I really could imagine riding across Mars. Because of the fires (yes, the west coast fires), there was a red/orange tint in the air. At times, there were rock formations which reminded me of the “fudge lava” formations in Hawaii, only red colored.

Then came the iconic Shiprock formation:

My photo, not so sharp, because it was taken a ways away from the formation.

Not my photo, taken much closer when access was permitted. 

Shiprock is Hardened basalt from the center of a old volcano. You can see it 20-40 miles away,  depending upon the weather. It is on native Navajo lands and about 1500 feet tall. Access is to the area is restricted and there is absolutely no climbing allowed. One reason for the climbing restrictions is that a guy fell trying to climb Shiprock and died. His death, and how it happened, spawned the slang term “flying the Shiprock“.

Then there were sections of the land that looked like they had been upended sideways:

Of course, you then had the “noodles”:

And another kind of formation:

And finally, the goal for the day, Monument Valley! This is the view from my room:

The scene of countless movies like Easy Rider, Forest Gump, and lots of John Ford productions. I have always wanted to visit the Valley, but it never fit into my schedule. Amazing. Because the Valley is on Navajo lands, much of the access is currently closed due to Covid. I’m taking a tour in the morning, hosted by the hotel I’m staying at, which will cover some of the areas in the Valley. Hopefully, the stars will be out tonight and it clears up. You can see the haze in the picture I took.

View of the hotel:

One interesting fact. There evidently is a scene in Forest Gump where Gump stands in the middle of one of the roads that go near the formations. People have tried to take pictures standing in the same place, and have been hit by cars. Thus, there is a warning not to “get Gumped” and stay off the roads!