On our oar-powered rafts (we don't paddle) the river carries us past orange and black-streaked sandstone outcroppings. This was the home of the Anasazi, the ancient desert farming culture who lived in this area eight to twenty centuries ago. Evidence of their time here is all around us in the remains of their dwellings and the art they carved in the smooth sandstone walls rising around us.

The Butler Wash petroglyph panel is our first stop. Only a few feet from the river's edge, this broad panel is filled with mysterious images pecked by the early Anasazi, the Basketmakers some 1500 years ago.

Journeying a little further down river, we land again and make a quarter mile hike to "River House," a Pueblo III style cliff dwelling. This structure has a small round kiva and several adjoining rooms tucked into a rock alcove. It is estimated to be about 800 years old. After we finish exploring this site we continue down the river and find a shady spot to eat our lunch, under the canopy of cottonwoods.

When our journey continues, the rock formations begin to take prominence as the river enters the Monument Upwarp, a giant wrinkle in the skin of the earth. Then we pass through the Comb Ridge Monocline and the Lime Ridge Anticline. The river here narrows and cuts a deep canyon into Pennsylvanian limestone, and the current quickens as small rapids and riffles rock the boat. Near "8-Foot Rapid," the undulating pattern in the rock reveals the presence of "bioherms," porous mounds in an ancient shallow sea that act as reservoir rock, "capturing" oil which is found in abundance in this area.

If we're lucky, we may get a glimpse of several Desert Bighorn Sheep as they graze above us on narrow rock shelves or a beaver napping under a ledge. Mid-afternoon, we stop to look for fossils in the limestone.

As we near the end of our trip the river leaves the canyon and we pass beneath the balanced slab of "Mexican Hat" rock. Our next landing ends our river trip where Wild Rivers vans are waiting to transport us back to Bluff offering further opportunities to view the dramatic red rock of the Valley of the Gods and a very different passage through Comb ridge than our river trip allowed.

At Monument Valley we will get a guided tour from Navajo tour operators, who will take us down into the valley in jeeps for a narrated cruise through these mythical formations. We will experience a 15 mile valley drive route, with 5 - 6 photo stops in one of the most majestic - and most photographed - points on earth.  This great valley boasts sandstone masterpieces that tower at heights of 400 to 1,000 feet. framed by scenic clouds casting shadows that graciously roam the desert floor. The angle of the sun accents these graceful formations, providing scenery that is simply spellbinding.  The landscape overwhelms, not just by its beauty but also by its size.  The fragile pinnacles of rock are surrounded by miles of mesas and buttes, shrubs, trees and windblown sand, all comprising the magnificent colors of the valley.  All of this harmoniously combines to make Monument Valley a truly wondrous experience.