Monument Valley in 48 hours

shaunaaguirre — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 18:41:49 +0000

Our 48 Hour adventure in Monument valley. It’s iconic landscape of sandstone towers, buttes, mesas and dunes provide a view that is unparalleled. You could easily just spend a few hours here and see the landmark sites but there is so much to do and see here that you should spend at least 48 hours in Monument Valley. History of Monument Valley Diné – The People This land is the land of the Diné. They believe that their people journeyed through three worlds in various forms before emerging from Mother Earth into this word, the Sparkling World. Anthropologists hypothesize that the Diné Split off from the Southern Athabaskan and began migrating into the Southwest around 200AD. They developed a rich and complex culture that still survives today. For more info on the Navajo Nation and Dine people visit www.navajopeople.com Modern History Prior to the 1920´s this valley was virtually unknown except by the Native Americans who migrated thru here. In the early 1920´s Harry and Leone Goulding bought a substantial piece of land near the monuments and set up a camp ground & trading post. During the Great Depression which hit this tribal community hard, the Gouldings, looking for a way to help bolster the local economy reached out to director John Ford to pitch the idea of making movies in The Valley. The idea stuck and production came quickly. Over the years, this valley has become the backdrop for dozens of movies. For more of this history visit www.Goulding’s.com Room with a view We stayed at The View which has a hotel, cabins and camping/Rv (dry) hook ups. The first night we stayed at the hotel. Every guest room has a balcony facing The Valley. The top floor has a recessed roof for star gazing. At night they project some of the old movies that were made in the area on the side of the restaurant with seating on the terrace. Sitting amongst the monuments and watching them on the huge screen simultaneously was a unique experience. We stumbled upon it and thought it was pretty cool (BYOB.) The second night we stayed in a cabin, and the view from there was even better. These cabins are small but have everything you need. We loved the feeling of seclusion they had and loved experiencing both places in our 48 hours in Monument Valley. Best ways to experience the Valley We have never been much for organized or guided tours but in the case of this site it is a necessity. Monument Valley is within the Navajo Nations Reservation so any exploration of the geological, historical and cultural landmarks must be done with a Navajo guide. Rest assured this experience is going to blow away your expectations and be far more fulfilling on so many levels, than you could have ever imagined. These tours made sure we got the most out of our 48 hours in Monument Valley. Explore the Valley floor by Horseback Our first morning there we took a 2 hour guided horse ride with “Sacred Monument Tours. Our guide Lauren was born, raised and lives in The Valley. He left for a few years to attend college and learn a trade and then returned. This is his home. The Diné guides have an intimate relationship with this land. They were very generous in sharing all of their stories with us. He told us that his Auntie lives under the 3 sisters butte and many of his relatives live within and under the buttes and mesas. He took the time to stop at picturesque locations to take our photos! They have riding tours for all experience levels and are a short walk from The View. Check them out at www.sacredmonumenttours.com Driving Tour In the evening we did a 3 hour sunset tour. We had driven the 17 mile loop the day before to check it out but doing it with a guide was a completely different experience. Our guíde Sharon took us to sites like the Sun’s Eye arch and ancient petroglyphs (rock art), the Ear of the Wind arch, the famous Totem Pole and Yei bi chei rock formations, John Fords Point and many more. We visited a traditional Navajo Hogan. A Diné woman demonstrated how they make yarn out of the sheep wool and told us beautiful stories about their culture. After talking to her more we discovered she was Loreńs (our horse ride guide) Auntie. She was so excited when we told her we had ridden with him in the morning. The tour wrapped with precise timing at a lookout spot just as the sun was setting. https://www.monumentvalleytribaltours.com A couple things to bring: Insider tips: Check out our other blogs on Arizona, New Mexico and more at https://48houradventures.com/category/arizona-southwest/

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Eastern Sierras ~ The US 395, camping & day trips

shaunaaguirre — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 07:00:23 +0000

We love exploring the Eastern Sierras. This area starts at Lone Pine in the South and extends to the Nevada state line in the North. There are so many things to see that include the surreal Mono lake, the eerie ghost town of Bodie, so many lakes and and streams and much more. There are tons of places to fish, hike, camp, bike and ski. Just relaxing in what is known as the Ansel Adams wilderness and enjoying the scenery is an amazing time. Our first stop on our trip is always Bass Pro Shops in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca. It’s a great place to pick up last minute camping and fishing supplies. However, be sure to give yourself a time limit because this place is easy to get stuck in for hours. Our destination is of our favorite places to camp, Bishop creek. This camping area is just west of the town of Bishop, Ca. Bishop is a sweet old-fashioned mountain town and makes a great base camp for exploring the Eastern Sierras. It’s a 6 hour drive from San Diego or San Francisco and a 4 hour drive from Los Angeles. Lone Pine ~ The US 395 to the Eastern Sierras From San Diego, we take the historic 395, there is so much to see on this route. We always plan our trip so we can spend a night in Lone Pine, the jumping off spot for hikers going to Mt Whitney and the southern entrance to the Eastern Sierras. Mount Whitney is the highest peak in the lower 48 @ 14,500 feet. We love waking up in the shadow of Whitney and taking a drive up Whitney Portal road. This 13 mile drive west of Lone Pine, takes you half way up the mountain to the trail head. There’s an awesome breakfast/burger joint called the The Whitney Portal store with amazing pancakes. You’ll find a campground here and lots of trails to explore. There are plenty of HOTEL options in Lone Pine and rates are reasonable. Camping in Bishop, Ca. We like to get an early start out of Lone Pine and make our way to Bishop. If we are tent camping, we always go to the Bishop Park campground. Most of the sites are next to the rushing Bishop creek. Take the 168 for 16 miles and you’ll find it at Middle Fork at about 8300ft in elevation. The campsites are first come-first serve so the earlier you get there the better. Each campsite has a picnic table, a fire ring and a bear box. There are several other camp grounds in this area as well. On the way up, you have to stop at the Burger Barn. It is one of our “Top 5 favorite” burgers ever! If it’s too cold for a tent (for me, it’s never “”too cold” for Bryan) we like to stay at Parchers Resort. They have nice 1 and 2 bedroom cabins with decks and full amenities. Once we have our base camp set up, it’s time to plan our day-excursions. There are so many places to go from here. We will be fishing, hiking and exploring for the next few days. Check out our blogs on the Eastern Sierra’s. Get the low down on epic bucket-list day trips to Mono Lake, Mammoth lake, June lake & the ghost town of Bodie!

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Monument Valley in 48 hours

Eastern Sierras ~ The US 395, camping & day trips