Monument Valley, where I feel the “Spirit of the Land”

I love to visit Monument Valley.  Maybe it is the stillness and tranquility, or the spirits of Navajo souls, or the unspoilt natural form of the landscape, or the shape and characters of the Monuments themselves, or the Mesas – but here I feel at one with the landscape.

I feel alive.

I fell the voices from the Navajo and Ancient Pueblos past.

I know the only way to see and experience and feel this place is on a guided back-road trip.

I always use the same guide, Richard Frank.  He grew up in Monument Valley, he works for his brother’s outfitting company “Monument Valley Simpson’s Trailhandler Tours” www.trailhandlertours.com They are fantastic.

My best visit (so far) was to spend the night on the top of Hunt’s Mesa in order to photograph the sunrise, of course we had to get there during daylight so I got to photograph the sunset from there as well!  Simpson’s really look after you.  The also do hiking tours, horseback tours and have a Hogan you can stay in.

At the end of my last visit Richard took us to a special place, told us to close our eyes, then sang a Navajo song and played his flute.  It was magical.  Later in the gift shop a guide from Texas with his party came and asked “where did you find your Navajo guide?” – they had been waiting to get to this special place and had witnessed the scene, the singing and the flute playing. The Texan said that over the years no other Navajo guide had done that.  I just said that I always use Richard!

If you go to Monument Valley call ahead to book Richard 1 (435)727-3362.

If you go to the Grand Canyon – and you really MUST – your trip is incomplete without seeing Monument Valley.

Click here for Totem Pole image

Click here to add Totem Pole image to shopping cart

Click here for Two Trees image

Click here to add Two Trees image to shopping cart

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 at 3:34 pm. It is filed under Black and White Images, Favourite Locations, Monument Valley, The American SouthWest and tagged with American SouthWest, black and white, fine art print, Hasselblad, Kodak TMX 100, Mesa, Monument Valley, Monuments, Navajo Nations, Totem Pole, USA, Yei Bi Chai. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.