AZ, UT, NM Road Trip
(Day Three: July 29,2007 - Page 19)

Monument Valley (Pass), Arizona:
From Valley of the Gods, we stopped at a gas station/short order cook restaurant in Mexican Hat, AZ, and then continued Southwest back into Arizona for one of the places that I sought out to see during this trip. Monument Valley (also referred to as Monument Pass) is located in North Eastern Arizona in the Navajo Nation. Monument Valley, while you may not know the name, is one of the most famous Southwestern scene used in movies such as “Windtalkers” and many commercials; most commonly used for all terrain vehicle advertisements because of its remote aura. This area is probably located in the same relative geological area as the Valley of the Gods, as the Sandstone and Shale Butte structures rise up from a lower floor. At some point water from rivers must have started this erosion as the Colorado Plateau was lifted from Sea Level to its current Monument Pass elevation of 5209 feet above sea level. Wind erosion over millions of years have continued to process to create one of the most widely know Southwestern Desert Scenes. The Beauty of Nature at work!