After visiting the South Rim of the magnificent Grand Canyon, we headed northeast toward the Utah border and the great Monument Valley. This is the land of the Navajo nation, the largest Indian Reservation in the United States. It covers over 27,000 square miles in the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. This high desert country contains some of the strangest and most beautiful geological features in the USA.
Kayenta is near Monument Valley
The road to Kayenta was straight and flat across the land known as The Painted Desert. This landscape was shaded in pastel pinks, reds, browns, whites and grays offset with streaks of brilliant vermilion and black. Oddly shaped mounds of sandstone grew out of the desert floor and multihued cliffs framed the horizon. Along the roadside, we passed many small stands with local Indians selling jewelry, pottery, and hand-woven textiles.
Roadside Jewelry
Kayenta was a pleasant little town in the middle of this enchanted desert country. It offered a nice variety of accommodations, restaurants, and fast food establishments. Strange rocks spires, buttes and pinnacles rising out of the surrounding desert offered a prelude of what was to come.
Monument Valley is situated about 30 miles north of Kayenta where it straddles the Arizona Utah border. As you approach it on Route 163, the surrounding landscape becomes more and more spectacular. Gigantic pink and red sandstone buttes, mesas and spires of rock rise up to 1000 feet from the desert floor.
Kayenta is near Monument Valley
The road to Kayenta was straight and flat across the land known as The Painted Desert. This landscape was shaded in pastel pinks, reds, browns, whites and grays offset with streaks of brilliant vermilion and black. Oddly shaped mounds of sandstone grew out of the desert floor and multihued cliffs framed the horizon. Along the roadside, we passed many small stands with local Indians selling jewelry, pottery, and hand-woven textiles.
Roadside Jewelry
Kayenta was a pleasant little town in the middle of this enchanted desert country. It offered a nice variety of accommodations, restaurants, and fast food establishments. Strange rocks spires, buttes and pinnacles rising out of the surrounding desert offered a prelude of what was to come.
Monument Valley is situated about 30 miles north of Kayenta where it straddles the Arizona Utah border. As you approach it on Route 163, the surrounding landscape becomes more and more spectacular. Gigantic pink and red sandstone buttes, mesas and spires of rock rise up to 1000 feet from the desert floor.
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