Goosenecks and Monument Valley - Part  3 of 11 of
2010 Tour of Fantastic Southwest USA
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夕陽美景, 金黃的光撒向大地,在廣袤無邊的天地間快意瀟灑,大漠
氣勢宏偉壯觀,很震撼的畫面, 心曠神怡,難得一見的景色。

Magnificent and exotic landscape with endless earth and infinite sky at Monument Valley in Navajo Indian
Reservation in northeast Arizona, USA. Incredible view of empty horizons that go from sunrise to sunset. The
shimmering red-rock buttes rising from the mile-high valley floor. This great valley boasts sandstone
masterpieces that tower at heights of 400 to 1,000 feet. The first look feeling is a mixture of joy, thrill, surprise,
humbleness, awe and many more. Another view can be seen
here.

We arrived at Monument Valley in late afternoon of June 5, 2010. The 17-mile dirt road loop for touring the
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is visible at the lower part of this photo near the shadow. Visitors must pay
an entrance fee to enter the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park and to enjoy the magnificent views and taking
the photos.
Some wave patterns on the rock cliff in the areas near Goosenecks State Park.

After touring the Goosenecks State Park and seeing the Mexican Hat, we drove south on US-163 to
Monument Valley in northeast Arizona, USA.
壯麗的丹霞地貌,夢幻黄昏美景,夕陽餘暉,金色恋曲,色彩鮮豔,
真是壯觀, 撼人心弦,日落格外壯麗, 拍到了夢寐以求的美景, 這
一趟真的是不虛此行!

During the sunset golden hour for photographers, the reflections of the low-angle golden sunlight from red
sandstones turn into amazing array of rich, intensive, brilliant, gorgeous, golden hues and glow as shown in this
and the following photos. It is the most beautiful time of day in the Monument Valley.

Detailed explanations of three special qualities of reflected light from the red sandstone that make these red
sandstone walls look so beautiful during sunset time can be found at the following website:

http://
www.naturephotographers.net/articles0310/ab0310-1.html
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is at the mile marker 13 on US-163 in northeast Arizona, USA near the
Valley Navajo Tribal Park at the border of Utah and Arizona. Its entrance is along US-163, 22-miles southwest
of Mexican Hat, Utah, and 24-miles north of Kayenta, Arizona. At mile marker 13 of US-163, turn east into
paved Monument Valley (Tribal Park) Road and go east about 3 miles to reach the Visitor Center and the
paved visitor parking lot. The park entrance is still in Utah, but the major part of the park is in Arizona. US-163
links Kayenta in Arizona with US-191 in Utah.

Map: Click here to see interactive Google Map showing location of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park


The View Hotel in Monument Valley Navajo Park is at junction of Indn Route 42 and Monument Valley Tribal
Park Road, Oljato-Monument Valley, UT, Phone: (435) 727-5555 ‎·

Map: Click here for interactive Google Map showing location of The View Hotel in Monument Valley Navajo
Park


Maps of the 17-mile dirt road loop in the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park can be seen at the following
websites:

http://
www.firetreeinn.com/mapmvw.html

http://www.americansouthwest.net/utah/monument_valley/valley-drive-map.html
A special rock formation known as Mexican Hat. It can be seen from Highway 163 in southeast Utah and is
only a few miles southeast from the Goosenecks State Park. A small village nearby is named Mexican Hat.

Map: Click here to see Google Map showing locations of Mexican Hat and Goosenecks State Park
日落時分,懸崖下的沙丘也多被染成了一片無窮炫麗的金黃。

Even the color of the sand dune under the rock cliff also turns into brilliant vivid golden color. Visitors can see
a  wide range of color as the sun light moves across the valley from sunrise to sunset.
Some visitors had to use handkerchief or mask to cover their noses while on such open tour truck because of
the sand and dust blowing into everything.

We were prepared for this rough road and drove a 4X4 4-Wheel Drive SUV with high clearance onto this rough
road on our own. Still it was a very rough ride.  With all the bumps and shakes, we felt that we could have been
thrown around inside the vehicle several times if not for the strong seat belts holding us down tight on the seat.
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Spectacular views of three side-by-side huge goosenecks of 1,000-foot-deep chasm carved by the winding
San Juan River which eventually flows into Colorado River/Lake Powell. This is in Goosenecks State Park in
southeast Utah near the border of Arizona, USA.

I also took a movie clip to scan this three side-by-side giant goosenecks as shown at the following YouTube
website. Please click on the small icon at the lower right corner of the YouTube video screen to see full screen
show to appreciate the immense size of these giant goosenecks.

http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ned8_Z02Bo

Map: Click here to see Google Map showing satellite view of these three giant goosenecks

A spectacular 360° Aerial Panorama of the three side-by-side giant goosenecks and their surrounding area can
be seen at the following website:

http://
www.airpano.ru/files/Goosenecks-Utah-USA/start_e.html

The middle gooseneck is pointing at opposite direction from the first and the third goosenecks. From the
parking lot and the viewing area, we only see the frontal views of the first and the third goosenecks and the
back side of the second.

Map: Click here to see Google Map showing location of Goosenecks State Park

We toured Goosenecks State Park in southeast Utah and Monument Valley in northeast Arizona on June 5,
2010. We thank our friends, Chih Kwan and Shan Cheng Chen, for their valuable information and experience in
touring these spectacular places in southeast USA. Their information plus the experience from our first trip in
2003 provide key inputs in the planning for our 10-day 2010 Tour of  fantastic Southwest USA.

In our 2003 trip, we saw another Gooseneck, 800-foot-deep, carved by the winding Sulphur Creek in Capital
Reef National Park in south central Utah. That Gooseneck Overlook can be reached by a short unpaved road
on the south side of Highway 24, and about 2.7 miles west of the Visitors Center and 0.4 miles east of the
Chimney Rock Trailhead. It was a very scary experience for me to stand on that Gooseneck Overlook above
the 800-foot deep cliff on a very windy day.

Another giant Gooseneck carved by the winding Colorado River is in Canyonland National Park and can be
viewed from the Dead Horse Point Overlook in the nearby Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah. Spectacular
photo of this Gooseneck 2,000 feet below Dead Horse Point Overlook can be seen on my Travelogue web
page at:

http://
www.shltrip.com/Canyonlands_and_Dead_Horse_Point.html

And yet another giant gooseneck carved by the winding Colorado River is known as Horseshoe Bend and is
located a few miles south of Page in north central Arizona. Photos of Horseshoe Bend are on Part 5 at the
following web page:

http://
www.shltrip.com/Grand_Canyon.html
落日為雲彩鑲上金邊,灼灼閃光, 霞光四射,晚霞美景如夢似幻,天
空千變萬化的霞光雲彩, 互相輝映, 爭奇鬥艷,夕陽無限好,讓人目
不暇給, 不斷地在變化, 真是壯觀,實在太漂亮了!!!

We also enjoyed the breathtaking golden sunset views from the Monument Valley Park.
The unpaved rocky and bumpy 17-mile drive in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is the most challenging
unpaved rough road that I have experienced. It has all kinds of big pot holes, ruts, ridges, soft sands, etc. that
you can imagine. We saw a regular car with low clearance (probably Mustang) that  got stuck on this rough
road. Most visitors do not drive their cars with low clearance on such rough dirt road and, instead, get on the
4X4 4-Wheel Drive tour truck as shown on these two photos.
The Visitor Center and The View Hotel at the Navajo Tribal Park at Monument Valley.
Some visitors enjoying the fantastic views on the photography balcony of the restaurant of The View Hotel in
Monument Valley Park.
Location:

Goosenecks State Park
is located at the southwest end of the 2-mile long paved Highway 316 which is off
Utah Highway 261 in southeast Utah near the border of Arizona. It is 7 miles northwest of the small village of
Mexican Hat . It is about 4 miles west of junction of Highway 261 and Highway 163. Maps for the local area of
Goosenecks State Park can be seen at the following websites:

http://
static.stateparks.utah.gov/maps/gnspoverview.png

http://www.sangres.com/utah/stateparks/goosenecks.htm
Tall spires and thin buttes.
More information and photos of Gooseneck State Park and of Monument Valley are available at the websites
of my friend, Chih-Kwan and Shan Cheng Chen, at:

http://
www.shancheng.org/Photos/GoosenecksMexicanHat2009/GoosenecksMexicanHat.htm

http://www.shancheng.org/Photos/MonumentValley2009/MonumentValley.htm
Our 10-Day 2010 Tour Route of Southwest USA is a large loop starting and ending in Las Vegas in Nevada,
USA. The sequence of fantastic Point-Of-Interest (POIs) on this large loop is:

Las Vegas in Nevada -------->  Kolob Canyon in Zion National Park in Utah --------->  Cedar Break National
Monument in Utah -------->  Red Canyon State Park in Utah -------->  Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah
-------->  Scenic Byway 12 through beautiful Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument in Utah -------->  Scenic
Burr Trail and southern Part of Capital Reef National Park in Utah -------->   Goblin Valley State Park in Utah
-------->  Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah -------->   Canyonland National Park in Utah --------->  Arches
National Park in Utah -------->   Goosenecks State Park in Utah -------->  Monument Valley in Arizona -------->  
Antelope Canyons in Arizona -------->  Glen Canyon Dam and Bridge over Colorado River in Arizona -------->   
Horseshoe Bend of Colorado River in Arizona --------->  Navajo Bridge over Colorado River in Arizona --------->  
Scenic Highway 89-ALT from east to west along beautiful Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona
-------->   Grand Canyon - North Rim in Arizona -------->   Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada --------->  
Hemenway Park in Boulder City in Nevada ---------> Las Vegas in Nevada.


Part 4 of 11 of this tour about Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park is at:

http://
www.shltrip.com/Canyonlands_and_Dead_Horse_Point.html
Gooseneck #1 at the center of this photo.
有令人敬畏的尊嚴和美麗。

Goosenecks # 1 and # 2 in opposite directions.
Gooseneck # 3 in the center of this photo.
Gooseneck #2 and Gooseneck #3 in opposite directions again
夕陽照射下曲線分外美麗, 最具迷人色彩,令人流連忘返。

Well known for its cluster of vast red sandstone buttes standing with awesome dignity and beauty.
日將暮,赤壁丹崖,巍然聳立, 峭直壁立,如刀劈斧削,山映斜
陽,一片金黃璀燦, 粗獷豪邁,氣勢磅礴,壯麗絕美景色 。
赤壁丹崖, 金碧輝煌,黃昏時與落日相映生輝的景致, 讓人驚嘆。
太陽西沈時分,正是 Monument Valley 最為光彩奪目的時光。
讀萬卷書    行萬里路

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How I use information age technologies to enhance my enjoyment greatly of sightseeing large driving tour
loop of thousands of miles and of one to two weeks in duration covering many Points of Interest is described
on my web page at:

http://
www.shltrip.com/Sightseeing_in_Information_Age.html