Monument Valley

Friday, October 20, 2023, day 20

This morning we didn't move on, but stayed at our campground. Instead, we rented a jeep and drove to Monument Valley. This Jeep was a real monster, with huge tires, which we desperately needed, as it turned out later.

So we drove this jeep to the Sacred Indian Territory and drove along an off-road track between the bizarre rock formations. These rock formations are called “buttes” and are geomorphologically tough rocks, i.e. rocks that stand alone, are rugged, are flat on top and look like table mountains. The Spanish called them mesas, i.e. tables. The buttes have proper names, like Three Sisters, or Totem Pole or Thumb

The Indians opened up the paths where we were allowed to drive cars, but left them natural so that they were sand tracks with incredibly deep potholes and rough grooves. The Jeep swallowed everything. I kicked it and didn't miss a pothole. Every now and then I asked myself what was more fun: driving through Monument Valley or torturing the Jeep off-road. Of course I didn't switch on the 4 wheel drive, otherwise the rear wheels wouldn't have spun when I accelerated. But spinning the rear tires was an added pleasure, especially since it kicked up a lot of dust.

We incredibly enjoyed the rock formations in Monument Valley, it was bizarre, it was unique, it was connected to nature, it was a wonderful atmosphere. We are grateful that we took this extra day, which ended up being something of a rest day for us and was good for us. In the afternoon we did the laundry, read, called a friend in Iowa, and had a good time.