From Durango we wandered down to Monument Valley (just south of Medicine Hat, UT). We stayed in an RV campground in the Gouldings area. This couple moved into the area back in the 1920's and tried to make a name for the place. Mr. Gouldings made a trip to Hollywood with photographs of the area and talked John Ford into checking out the place for a movie. It worked and John Ford made quite a few movies in the area over the years. They have built a motel and campground up one of the side canyons (he died in 1982 & she in 1991). Here was the view of our campsite. There were a lot of European tourists in the area. Probably a third of the RVs in the park were units rented by Europeans. There was even a sightseeing bus that stopped and dropped off about a dozen tent campers for the night.
We took part of the drive into the valley but didn't complete it. Our 4x4 pickup has about a half-inch suspension travel; that plus the 70 lb pressure in the tires means that we didn't like the road! This is a formation that, together, is called 'The Mittens'.
It's an amazing place. I can certainly recommend visiting if you have the time. It IS a long way from anywhere and I have to say that the views just from road are amazing. This photo of Medicine Hat Rock was taken from the side of the road. Not shabby!
As you can see from the photos, it was unusually overcast and it even rained a bit during our visit. It didn't really detract from the scenery and made it MUCH cooler than full summer. Not a bad deal for us 'locals'.
Have a good one!
1 comment:
What, no auto-adjust on the suspension from in the cab. Barbaric I tell you, simply barbaric.
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