Road Trip Out West; Exploring, Wandering and Photography; Part XI; Forrest Gump Point

Forrest Gump Point.  Hwy 163 south of Mexican Hat, Utah
OM-1 Mark II; 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens @ 61mm; 1/250th sec. @ f/7.1; ISO 250

You’ve all seen this scene.  I would guess most of you have, anyway.  It is an iconic scene found in many movies, television commercials and in magazines and printed advertisements.  It is called “Forrest Gump Point.”  Seriously.  I guess the movie made it infamous.  I didn’t know it was even a ‘thing.’  I thought it was just place on the road where one stops and makes this photo.

Like many of you I knew of this place but had no idea where it was located.  During my research for this road trip, I happened to see it referenced and saw it was near Monument Valley.  Well, that makes it a mandatory stop so I could make my own version of the iconic photographs we've seen.

As we drove from Zion National Park to our next destination, instead of making the turn at the roundabout to Monument Valley (yes, a roundabout in the middle of nowhere! Go figure?), we followed Route 163 straight toward Mexican Hat, Utah.  About 10 or so miles down the road, we reached Forrest Gump Point.

At first I didn't recognize it as we approached from the south which, referencing the photo above, is from the distance.  Only when we saw a lot of vehicles parked and then looked back from where we came, did we see this sight.

I was a bit surprised there were about 10 vehicles parked at various points near the top of the hill where I stood.  In trying to get the best photo, I had to wait for quite some time for a number of individuals to move out of the center of the roadway as they were having their photos made with this scene behind them.  Also, I waited until all but one the vehicles parked down the road also left.  That vehicle didn't seem to be going anywhere and spoiled my envisioned photo.  But that's what editing software is for.  I don't mind removing the vehicle in this case as this is my 'art' and not a documentary or photojournalistic copy of the landscape.

In all honesty, in the end, I did also have to remove a number of signs which indicated viewing points, speed limits and warnings to be careful.  All distractions to me.

We stayed for about 20-25 minutes, made a U-turn and headed to monument Valley.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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