Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is a magical place. Regardless of being solely a couple of five-hour drive from my residence in Phoenix, it seems like one other planet totally. On the identical time, it has the vibe of a time-travel vacation spot: The landscapes seem straight out of an Nineteen Fifties cowboy movie from the Wild West. Add within the hospitality and tradition of the native Navajo individuals who reside there, and it turns into the type of place I want I may spend for a whole week or extra.

I took benefit of the window of time between Christmas and the New 12 months to make the trek for an in a single day go to to Monument Valley. As a lot enjoyable as it’s to journey with family and friends, all the vacation hustle and bustle had left me a little bit burned out on “individuals,” so I particularly deliberate this as a solo journey. The isolation and calmness of the desert southwest gives an ideal environment for retreat and meditation.

The primary leg of my journey concerned making the acquainted climb of greater than a vertical mile in elevation as I drove the 140 miles from Phoenix to Flagstaff through Interstate 17. My 1996 Acura SLX, initially marketed because the extra acquainted Isuzu Trooper, lumbered up the hill with relative ease, and shortly I noticed Mount Humphreys looming over Flagstaff. From there, the route traversed Freeway 89 north after which Freeway 160 towards the northeast. The panorama reworked to encompass me in buttes, mesas, valleys, and sagebrush.

Monument Valley straddles the Arizona-Utah state line close to 4 Corners (the place Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah intersect) and sits on the Colorado Plateau. The valley’s sandstone rock formations vary in top from 400 to 1,000 toes and are the product of tens of millions of years of abrasion.

The primary attraction on the park is a 17-mile dirt-road loop with a mixture of two-way and one-way site visitors that traverses a collection of noteworthy landmarks. Park entry prices $8 per particular person, and winter hours of operation are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with the final automotive entry allowed at 3:00 p.m. to permit for time to take the loop earlier than sunset. I arrived by 1:00 and had loads of time to get the tires on my SLX soiled.

Not lengthy after leaving the pavement, the 2 well-known “mitten-shaped” rocks had been on outstanding show, and a means down the street, the “three sisters” greeted me. I moved at my very own tempo and made it some extent to park the automobile and stroll round periodically to take in the surroundings and get some contemporary air.

By the point I had spent about two and a half hours touring the world, I had labored up an urge for food. As luck would have it, I took a side-road from one of many primary parking areas and got here throughout a roadside constructing with a vendor promoting Navajo tacos. The recipe features a piece of frybread because the flat “shell,” topped with chili beans or refried beans, together with tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese. The meal was $12 very nicely spent!

My lodging for the night had been at The View Resort – aptly named for its hillside perch which permits panoramic views from each room’s balcony or patio. The in-house eating facility provided an extended menu of choices, however I went with a salad since I had eaten simply a few hours prior. I strolled by the present store afterward to browse the pottery, arrowheads, jewellery, postcards, and handcrafted native artifacts of varied varieties. I ended up arising with just a few trinkets as souvenirs.

Timing for my journey labored out completely, since northern Arizona was hit with a snowstorm the day after I rolled by on the return leg. That’s a part of the chance of planning a street journey throughout the wintertime, but it surely was price rolling the cube since I had larger unrestricted (and un-crowded) entry to the park than I’d have had throughout different seasons.

There’s a Navajo saying that reads, “Be nonetheless and the earth will communicate to you.” The road of communication between earth and humankind is crystal clear in Monument Valley. I plan to get again to go to once more quickly, and subsequent time I’ll keep in mind my cowboy hat so I can actually teleport myself to a Wild West motion film.