Following Sunrise, we had a breakfast at the main restaurant of the hotel and then I took a quick trip down the road for a better picture the Forrest Gump point. The lobby of the main hotel has some great artwork.
I caught up with our group. They all decided to point out on my shirt that we are family.
Merrick Butte is almost square in appearance. It is over 1000 feet high and the tallest butte in the valley.
As we continue around East mitten Butte I see it from different vantage points
Sentinel Mesa is longer and rectangular shaped. You look at the left side some people say they see a rhinoceros.
In the distance are spires named Big Indian, the King on his Throne, and Castle Rock.
I have reached another side view of the mitten Butte. The sun is just behind it, giving it a halo.
Following our hike, we met for our Valley guided tour.
Hogans are Native Navajo homes.
The male hogan is the longer the female hogan is the rounded the small one is a sweat lodge. They are still used to this day.
Elephant Mesa
The three sister spires also known as the three nuns
The next interesting Mesa appears to be snoopy lying on his back. It is actually named camel Mesa because of the view on its opposite side.
Our tour guide stopped for a quick break and I grabbed some traditional Navajo fry bread
Looking at the backside of the snoopy Mesa, we can now see the camel
Rain God, Mesa has large black streaks running down its face. This is from the oxidation of the minerals.
The hand resembles a thumb and four fingers rising from the ground.
Far in the distance are tall spires. The single tallest one is known as The totem pole and to its right the rain god dancers are see close by, later we will have a few with them apart.
Thunderbird Mesa. The outline of the Thunderbird is traced and the second photo.
The dragon is the next Mesa. It appears to be laying down with its head on the ground.
There are holes in the side of the rock forming a path. Up on top of the Mesa are depressions that can hold water some as big as a swimming pool. The path was used to get to the top. the larger holes are natural and are caused by sandstorms over overtime
We now have another view of the totem pole sitting by itself. Next to it again are the rain dancers.
Large arches have formed in the rocks. They are named the hogans due to their resemblance in shape to the mud huts we saw earlier.
When we sit inside of the arch and do a piano picture we can see the outline of a birds beak, and I highlighted it on one of the photos
Our next Rock over has a couple of good authentic Pitrographs it is believe these are from the 500 to 1270s. It is unknown what happened to those who however, their artifacts are found all throughout this valley they were known as the cliff dwellers
The rock with the picturegraphs has its own hole in its side as well. Just outside the cave is a small pond that Gaide had a take reflective photos in.
The next rock formation, we travel to is known as the ear in the wind. When you stand to look at it at the correct angle, the hole within the rock face appears to reasonable a human ear
Immediately after finishing our Monument Valley tour, we loaded up the cars for a one and a quarter hour drive to our next location Valley de Chelly. We checked in our hotel and loaded up again for a quick drive along the southern rim to spider rock overlook for a sunset. On the way, we did stop at the Tunnel Canyon overlook.
Spider rock is named after a female Navajo deity who was said to live on top of the rock. It stands 800 feet tall from the valley floor.
The valley surrounding Spider Rock is amazing as well. It is tall and wide with amazing colors.
While we waited for an amazing sunset we passed the time with some group pictures and selfies with beautiful valley backgrounds
The sunset did not disappoint
