Monument Valley (Part 1)

From Desert View, the eastside of Grand Canyon, we're riding on a vehcle to Monument Valley along the AZ-64. The road runs through the refreshment green field for a while.
I feel as if I were in a car advertisement TV spot.

This is the spot on the way of AZ-64, eastward from Desert View for about 15 minutes.
A spectacle scenery appears out of the blue such like this.
This canyon was made by the Little Colorado river that grind the plain.
I caught unexpected surprises here, because my guide books show me no informations about it.
But bewilderingly, this point has no official name for whatever reason. Is it because here is only a part of Grand Canyon ?
Mottainai*1... If such a scenery were located in Japan, it will be specified for a national park of the first class.

You shouldn't get irritated when you encounter a roadworks even if you are in a hurry in the U.S.A.
The lane is wholly closed for about 20 minutes until the oncoming vehicles passes.
After that, you can go through at a slow speed guided by the 'Follow-Me-Car' at last.
Anyway, I am very lucky guy to be stopped at the point of 'Little Colorado Canyon' vista.
But if I had knew that I 'll be stopped for such a long time here, I'll have got out of my car and went taking photographs.

Here is around Cameron, near at the point AZ-64 merges into US-89.
From the point of Little Colorado Canyon vista, we enter in Navajo Indian Reservation.
The green fields surrounding Grand Canyon suddenly turns to desolate land.
From now to the junction of US-160, we cruise on the extraordinary plateau that called 'Painted Desert', painted by different colors on every geological-formations.

This is a part of plateau that exposes the Painted Desert.
How colorful they are... white, orange-tan, ash, yellow, .and so on.
This is really uncanny feeling... It's just like the riding in the another planet.
I wonder how native Americans are living in such a place ?
When I look at the different world that the other end of my place and I never know, I can't help but be shocked as if I had been hammered down back of my head.
The pilgrim of Grand Circle teachs us things more than we can imagine.
Not only famous scenic spots, but also many places we don't know stick in memories.

The brief 15 miles from Cameron on US-89 to the junction of US-160, we can experience many different faces of the majestic space as we get on.
The milky surface suddenly turns to the red soils
And sometimes just like this pic, the object like an ant-tumulus come within my vision.
Are they kinds of wind ripples ? I don't know...

Here is at the junction of US-89 and US-160.
I took a rest here and changed my playlist of my iPod.
I decided to listen to the music of Robbie Robertson, he has the native American's blood.
When in sublime land, do as the native American's do.

''It's where the music took you. Otherwise you would never go to such a situation. Because of the music, it took us everywhere.
It took us to some strange places..... Physically, Spiritually. and Psychotically...''
/ Word by Robbie Robertson

The native American's dwelling are scattered here now that I look closer.
Once there were a tragedy, they had fought the war against cowboys and lost it. Then they are driven off to the West side of America that had said, here is not the land where man can lives.
Now we are going to drive on the US-160, head for Monument Valley, once the trail of tears.

Horizon far and away impress and makes me cry.
I am surely a lucky driver to go on such a wonderful scenery.
Even if this way doesn't end in where I wanna go, even so probably I'll be feel satisfaction.
I think so.

*1 Mottainai>> This is a Japanese word, means the situation that regret useful men, things and resources are not effectively made the best use or coarsely treated. The word was broadcasted and gradually be grown popular by Wangari Maathai. She is Kenya's deputy minister for environment, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.