Camping at Monument Valley

Monument Valley is an amazing location. Monument Valley is a great location to camp at as the campground has one amazing view. Monument Valley in winter when you get snowed on is off the charts awesome.

Add it all together and to camp in Monument Valley in winter when it snows and you not only have the whole campground to yourself (ok one other person) but you are treated to one outstanding view.

As part of a winter trip to Arizona, I stayed two nights in Monument Valley. If you have seen John Ford movies or the many famous images taken here then you probably expected desert and red rocks. but in winter it take son a whole new look.

I arrived there just as the snow was starting to to lightly fall. I put my tent up and you see you have a view of the Mittens from camp.

I went about an evening of overcast sky photography. Normally I would have eaten in camp but since there are no picnic tables (you camp on what is really a few acres of just open ground) and the wind made me meet some folks up at the view cafe. After a hot meal of green chile with flatbread (pretty darn tasty) I headed back to camp and found the sky had somewhat cleared.

So I grabbed the tripod and made the second image. When I planned my Arizona trip I feared that I would have 8 days of clear blue sky and my tent in MV by night was one of the images I planned for such a situation.

Well I got lucky and was able to make the image.

And I was not to know that that was about the last clear sky I'd see in MV.

After fooling around with a few night exposures, I decided to get some sleep and to look forward to getting out in the morning.

Well when I did get out of the tent, the third image is what I found!

Talk about luck! Monument Valley in a light dusting of snow gives you both red rock and winter.

It was everything I was hoping for in a winter trip.

And it was only day one!!!