# @roy.coffee.photography on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DasnOuXikcx
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/67728313-roycoffeephotography-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/8643d4642d.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-07-12T15:00:19.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Roy Coffee (@roy.coffee.photography) — https://gondola.cc/roy.coffee.photography

## Caption

18 hours on Hunts Mesa. Two chances for perfect light. The sky said no both times.

You can have the plan, the tour booked, the sunrise you've pictured a hundred times - but the weather answers to no one. And the view itself didn't disappoint. It never could - this is one of the most staggering overlooks in Monument Valley, full stop. But I'd imagined something more: the light hitting those buttes and turning them the color of fire, the sky doing something unforgettable. That's what would have made an already incredible view into something truly special.
On my Hunts Mesa Overnight Tour in March 2025, the desert had other ideas. Sunrise on the East Part was the one thing I'd been waiting for most - I spent the night praying for that perfect light. The prayers went unanswered. Thick clouds sat over the valley, only letting the sun break through for a brief moment before closing back in. The evening before on the West Part wasn't any kinder - clouds swallowed the sunset over Monument Valley before it really started, and the wind picked up, dragging dust across the valley and softening everything into haze. Then, right as the light was fading, the sky lit up anyway - just not the way I'd planned

The view was still one of the best I've ever stood in front of. The light just didn't show up to match it.

Has a place ever been enough on its own, even when everything else didn't go as planned? 

�Taken with Google Pixel 8 Pro, Arizona

#monumentvalley #visitarizona #arizona #nationalparkphotography #roadtripusa

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 8,204
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- **Comments:** 157

## Tags

roadtripusa, visitarizona, monumentvalley, nationalparkphotography, arizona

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