Monument Valley
I had been thinking about Southern Utah for a while. Zion and Bryce were some of my favorites that I had seen before. Zion several times. Last night I had camped near a unexpected hot spring. Welcomed. The area provides a lot of places to boondock and the van is feeling more like a portable condo. In fact, I am boondocking just outside of Bryce now and listening to the wind with intermittent snow showers. I am hoping to do a loop down into Bryce tomorrow morning. But that belongs in Southern Utah P2.
Dipping into the Canyonlands, Moab and Arches were finally places I was able to experience. The crowds however, for me, created a somewhat artificial experience. I was glad to experience the parks, but some of the other places like Natural Bridges National Monument had less people and it had some surprises such as native ruins and mud hand prints along a canyon wall. There were even ruins that took some local help to find. The pictograph and petroglyphs continue to wow me.
Southern Utah seemed to have a huge variety of amazing landforms and native history.
I going back, in fact I am back- starting the second half of Southern Utah P2- but I am getting ahead of myself… again.
The following images are a random sample of places. Finishing up with Monument Valley. A iconic landscape made famous when Harry Goulding finally convinced the director John Ford to consider the area for his movie backdrop, ultimately putting John Wayne on the map as well as help the indigenous population get through some of the country’s most difficult economic times. Other names and locations remain hard to find and that’s a good thing.