Mystery and Monument Valley Tour Review by Henry

This is the second hole Dad couldn't go
through

I liked our guided tour through Mystery Valley and Monument Valley.  It looked like a pick-up truck wth rows of seats in the back.  We had a Navajo Indian guide.

When we went through Mystery Valley, the guide pointed out rock formations with names like Fred and Barney, the Alligator, Sleeping Teddy Bear, Dragon and others.  We drove off the main highway and onto dirt roads that only Navajo people can drive on.  It was bumpy and dusty, but it was fun.



This is the house we hiked to.



We took five hikes.  The first one was up to see an arch called Teardrop Arch.  We climbed up the rocks and around to the front of the formation where you could look through the arch and see Monument Valley.  But that wasn't it.  Then our guide took us on the other side of the boulders and we had to climb more boulders, jump down two big rocks, and walk on a narrow trail with a big drop-off on the side.  At the end of the climb was an Anasazi house built into the rock. 



This is the view from the
inside the Anasazi house



To get in the house, we had to go through two little holes.  Dad and I made it through the first hole, but only I could fit through the second because it was so small.  The Anasazi people lived two thousand years ago in this area but moved away.  They built their houses into cliffs and left petroglyphs behind.  Petroglyphs are pictures carved into rock.  Mom and Ruth only did the first part of the hike, and Dad said they made the right decision.

Then we drove some more and saw cows and horses grazing.  It is very sandy there with some sagebrush growing. 


On our second stop, first the guide showed us some Anasazi petroglyphs carved into the side of a rock formation.  Then, we walked around to another section of the rock and our guide walked us in a zig zag up to the top of this huge rock formation that was rounded on top. The rock there is not like the Rocky Mountains - it's red sandstone and is basically flat with some ridges in it.  Mom and Ruth stayed behind for this hike and watched us go up.  When we got to the top, we could see into another Anasazi house up in the cliff. We also could see Mom and Ruth from the top.  I took a picture going straight down before we climbed down so they could see what it was like.

The guide and me in an Anasazi
house up in the rocks

  

At the next stop, the tour guide showed us Indian carvings called petroglyphs and walked us around a rock to see another hike, this one steep also. Me and Dad again did this one. There were little pieces of natural rock that sticked out which helped a little. You had to climb sideways and up the rock at the same time. There were baby footprints and a Anazasi house up there. Ruth videoed us going down. 



The next hike we did was up into an arch.  You could either climb up into the arch or go around the side and climb up on top of it.  Dad and I climbed up on top and looked and Mom and Ruth through the arch.  They took our picture.  One kid climbed up on top of the arch and that freaked Dad out, so we climbed back down.



Petroglyphs of hands and feet
one a wall in a Anasazi house

The next stop was to a place called Skull Arch.  The rock looked like a skull and the arches looked like the eyes.  Dad and I climbed up this one too.



We had burgers for lunch, and then it rained on us.  After lunch, we hopped in the truck and went to our next target... Monument Valley.



I liked Monument Valley, especially all the names of the landmarks there.  My favorites were the two Mittens, the King on his Throne, the Castle, and and the Bear and the Rabbit.

Lots of movies were filmed here, like the Searchers, Billy the Kid, and Fort Apache.  John Wayne made movies here.    



This is the view from on top of our
second hike.



We didn't do any hikes in Monument Valley.  But we did get out to go in an Indian hogan to meet Susie, an old Indian woman.  I learned that the grandmother is the most important person in the Navajo family.  Her hairbrush was made out of buffalo grass, which was interesting.  The house had wood on the inside and clay on the outside.

It started to rain after that, and lots of water fell.  I didn't get too wet in the front seat.  When I looked at the road we drove in on, it looked like a river.  There was one road we had to cross and it was terrifying.  There was a littler car trying to cross too and he barely made it. 

 

I liked the tour and the guide.  This post has some of my pictures from the day and some Dad took of me.