Valley of the Gods - October 2013

Having enjoyed Monument Valley so much (getting there and rock formations), we decided to try for more views of unusual rock formations in Valley of the Gods. Even the drive to the place  in southeastern Utah was scenic - the highway winding through road cuts as it meandered southward.

Valley of the Gods is a seen from a loop drive (gravel road) through a BLM area. The road was in better shape than the one in Monument Valley! Some of the rock formations are named. Do you see the ‘Seven Sailors’ above? There are certainly seven of them - but I’m not sure about the sailor part. They look too chubby. Maybe 7 toddlers dressed up as sailors?

Some parts of the drive are very sandy rather than rocky. It is quite powdery and throws up plums behind vehicles; our black SUV is dusted with it almost immediately just as it was in Monument Valley.

Sometimes plants manage to hold on long enough to stabilize the sand. The floor of the valley is tenuously covered with vegetation.

There are some rock formations that take on the look of ruins - rocks with layers that take on the appearance of mortar. But these ruins have lasted much long than anything humans have made.

Even the debris from the erosion around the base of a ‘mitten-like’ rock formation has been their long enough to develop its own erosion pattern.

One formation was labeled with two names. We found out it all depends on your perspective. We saw the ‘Lady in a tub’ first (above) and then drove on a little further to see the ‘Balanced Rock’ (below).