I started my day waking up (a little late) and exploring the Anticline Overlook which faces north, and has views of Dead Horse Point State Park, the Colorado River, and Kane Creek Canyon.
The warm sun and cool wind were awesome and at first I had the whole overlook to myself. I took the quiet alone opportunity to get out my clippers, shave my face and change my clothes. After a few shots there I moved on to the Minor Overlook and then the Needles Overlook before connecting with the 191 South once again.
I drove through Monticello and stopped in Blanding outside of their library trying to upload the video but their internet connection wasn’t working so I kept going. As I came into Bluff Utah I stopped to shoot the great old truck and car outside of the Cow Canyon Trading Post and Gallery which seemed closed. Got some great shots of the old vehicles with the orange bluffs behind them. I also noticed that inside the closed gallery were a bunch of antique typewriters. I was wishing they were open so I could get some good shots of those but oh well, moving on.
I came upon Mexican Hat Rock and got some late afternoon shots before eventually heading down the long straight road into Monument Valley. I was stopping every mile as I saw shots that needed to be taken. Then as the sun was setting I saw the signs for the visitors center of the actual park and went in. As I pulled into the parking lot, the last of the sun was vanishing behind about 25 pro photographers standing on the lookout ledges all having gotten their shots of the setting sun on the majestic Monuments. I was initially disappointed that I didn’t get there in time, mainly because I didn’t know what I was looking for. Then I was soon overwhelmed by the extraordinary amounts of high end camera gear these other guys had. I briefly felt quite insignificant, thinking I had no business being on this trip with what I have if this is what I’m up against on any given day. That soon passed and I made my back to the main road and into Kayenta where I saw a small town fair going on. I stopped and wandered amongst the carnival rides and games booths, snapping a few shots of the lights on the spinning rides before heading to this mall parking lot where I’m writing, updating and trying to upload this damn video to Youtube. It’s taking forever and I’m not sure why, then because I’m using the McDonalds free Wi-Fi I just got booted and have now started over. I may be up all night just trying to get this uploaded.
Anyway, back to Monument Valley tomorrow and then I’m not sure where. I do know that sometime in the next while there’s a corner in Winslow, Arizona that needs me to stand on it, perhaps I’ll see a girl in a flatbed ford. 🙂
