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VLA / Pie Town: [Day 1] [Day 2]
Grand Canyon N.P. (South Rim): [Day 3] [Day 4] [Day 5]
Grand Canyon N.P. (North Rim): [Day 6] [Day 7]
Zion N.P.: [Day 8] [Day 9] [Day 10]
Great Basin N.P.: [Day 11] [Day 12]
Zion N.P. (II): [Day 13] Bryce Canyon N.P.: [Day 14]
Arches N.P.: [Day 15] [Day 16] [Day 17]
Canyonlands N.P., Monument Valley, Mesa Verde N.P.: [Day 18] [Day 19]
Great Sand Dunes N.P.: [Day 20] [Day 21/22]
Day's Summary: SUMMARY
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Goosenecks State Park Filming in the morning. At 0:13 I zoom in to some Monument Valley buttes in the distance. From left to right in the first collection: Castle Butte (tall big chunk), Bear & Rabbit Butte (two thin parts), and Stagecoach Butte (longer). Proceeding right, King on His Throne Butte (v-shaped), and then a big butte known as Saddleback Butte. These are often the same buttes seen in the famous "Forrest Gump" picture of US-163. At 0:32 I zoom in to film the San Juan River. |
Goosenecks State Park I try to get an overview of the landscape, including an almost 360 degree pan. My shadow at 0:49. |
Goosenecks State Park Zoom to my car-camping location, and I show the toilet building again, some other campers...including around the rim to the southeast. |
US-163 To Monument Valley Coming up to an iconic road location: the famous "Forrest Gump stops jogging" location. |
US-163 To Monument Valley Filming the famous and very scenic location. |
Monument Valley It's hard to hear any narration because it's so windy! I show the "mitten" buttes and essentially show a panorama. At 0:49 I show part of "Valley Drive," the 17-mile dirt road that leads around all the scenic buttes. |
Monument Valley More filming of the parking lot and surroundings. It costs $5 admission to get in, and at 0:24 you see the entrance station. Worth it? |
US-160 Near Kayenta, AZ Very windy conditions on the drive from Monument Valley to Four Corners. I thought it was worth filming. |
Four Corners This is the view from the dirt parking lot into the monument. All in all, it wasn't all that bad, but it was $3.00 and windy. Worth it? Visiting it once, yes, but I don't know if I'd go back for a second visit. |
Four Corners Close-up of the cadastral survey marker and some of the states. (I took pictures of each one as well, so they don't all show up on video.) |
Four Corners I film the middle part where the four states come together. The outer rim of the middle part reads "Four States | Meet Here | In Freedom | Under God". At the end, an upside-down view of the cadastral survey marker. |
Four Corners Filming the flags. I'm guessing it's the four state flags and the United States flag? No absence of breeze, that's for sure. |
Mesa Verde National Park: Visitor's Center Near Cortez, CO, is Mesa Verde National Park. It focuses on preservation of ancient Pueblo cliff dwelling houses. The Anasazi inhabited this area from 600-1300 A.D. This is the Far View Visitor's Center, and getting to it involved walking through a tunnel under State Highway 10 from the parking lot and spiraling up a walkway to get to the Visitor's Center itself. At 0:20, I film the sign. At the end of the video, I approach the tunnel. The Far View Lodge very near here also provides accommodations. |
Mesa Verde National Park: Visitor's Center This video shows walking through the tunnel and up the ramp towards the parking lot. |
Mesa Verde National Park: Spruce Tree House Chapin Mesa is where a lot of the "stuff" is located in Mesa Verde, and Spruce Tree House is located under a cliff overhang. It's well-preserved and you can access the front of it via a self-guided tour. There are tours of other cliff dwellings, but some are not self-guided and you have to pay extra for them in advance. I would have done so, but I didn't have time. Had to make it to South Fork! This is Spruce Tree House from afar. |
Mesa Verde National Park: Spruce Tree House Spruce Tree House up close. Keep off walls, please. |