On an already windy day we were about to get a close up video of the Mexican Hat Rock in southern Utah when a strong dust devil threatened to take our flying camera away away!

A dust devil is a strong, well-formed, and relatively short-lived whirlwind, ranging from small to large. The primary vertical motion is upward. Dust devils are usually harmless, but can on rare occasions grow large enough to pose a threat to both people and property.

After passing the eroded mesas of Monument Valley, highway US 163 crosses 20 miles of rather flat landscape past scattered Navajo houses to Mexican Hat, a small settlement named after a curious formation nearby consisting of a large flat rock 60 feet in diameter perched precariously on a much smaller base at the top of a small hill.

Mexican Hat, Utah is a census-designated place on the San Juan River on the northern edge of the Navajo Nation's borders in south-central San Juan County, Utah, United States.