Four Corners, Monument Valley, Natural Bridges National Monument, Valley of the Gods, and Bear's Ear National Monument
Hello from The Four Corner's Region! This area of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, is rich in history. As we left Cortez and Mesa Verde, we adventured deeper into the high desert to embrace ourselves in the Native American culture, both past and present.
Four Cooks Four Corners
Managed by Navajo Nations Parks and Recreation Department, this is the only point in the United States shared by four states: Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. It is also the boundary between the Navajo Tribe and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.
Monument Valley
One of the most photographed places on Earth, where Forest Gump decided to stop running, John Wayne made famous, and Back to the Future III (the first was still the best) featured Monument Valley at the beginning.
Owned and operated by the Navajo Nations Parks and Recreation Department, the sand stone pinnacles of rock are surrounded by mesas and buttes. The best way to see the 91,696 acres park in Utah and Arizona, is to travel the marked roads or hiking trails, we opted for the 17 mile, all dirt, loop road.
The iconic pinnacles were formed from meandering rivers depositing silt. I am including some chemistry so Doug feels that he is included in this blog....The valley's red color comes from the iron oxide exposed in the weathered silt-stone and the darker, blue gray rocks get their color from manganese oxide.
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| Sunrise from campground |
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| Boys with the "Mitten" in the background |
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| Three Sisters |
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| Where's Brodey? |
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| Taken from Artist Point |
"I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now." ~ Forest Gump
Sunset at the campground.
Valley of the Gods
Found on Navajo Land and maintained by the Bureau of Land Management, Valley of the Gods is located near Mexican Hat, Utah. A smaller version of Monument Valley, we drove part of the way on the dirt road to see more pinnacles and buttes.
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| Mexican Hat |
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| 30 miles away, you can see where Forest Gump stopped running. |
Route 261
So, Why I am posting pictures of Route 261? Well, because this switch back road was just a crazy surprise. We never expected this while on our way to visit Natural Bridges National Monument.
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| View of the road we started on after leaving Valley of the Gods. |
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| Taken from about half way up. |
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| Going up.... |
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| View of one of the switch backs |
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| Road wrapping the Mesa. |
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| You can see many of the switch backs we came up. |
Natural Bridges National Monument (NPS)
In 1908, President Roosevelt proclaimed Natural Bridges a National Monument. According to the National Park System, " Natural bridges differ from arches in that bridges are formed by the erosive action of moving water, Arches are formed by other erosional forces- mainly frost action and seeping moisture."
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| Sipapu Natural Bridge located in the White Canyon |
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| Kachina Natural Bridge |
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| Owachomo Natural Bridge, the oldest in the park. |
Bears Ears National Monument
Bears Ears National Monument is the 12th national monument managed by the National Forest Service. President Barack Obama created the National Monument by presidential proclamation on December 28, 2016, to protect land held sacred by 5 Native American tribes. Originally 1.3 million acres, the size was reduced 85% by President Trump less than a year later, on December 4, 2017. The reduction is currently being challenged in the courts but that didn't stop the Utah government from opening it to gold, uranium, copper, and silver mining.
Being an Environmental Science teacher, I felt that this was one stop I had to make.
Bears Ears gets its name for a pair of buttes named by Native Americans that resemble a Bear's Ears. In their proposal to have Bears Ears become protected land, they described the land as sacred ancestral land dating back thousands of years.
Sophomore and Senior Pictures
Thus ended our time as desert dwellers. Another amazing area our country has to offer. This has truly been a monumental trip for us and we still have almost 3 more weeks to go.
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