Canyon de Chelly I - Are We Nuts?

                                       

Since we planned on going to Canyon de Chelly with Monte & Eunice when we returned from Honduras, and, as they were heading home in a few days, we really had no choice but to go after only one day of rest from our jaunt through Central America. We slept in on Sunday, hit a late church, got a another good night's rest, loaded up the car, and pointed it east for another adventure. There was a road in Arizona I had not colored in yet, so out of Tuba City we traveled Highway 264 through the Hopi villages at First Mesa and Second Mesa to Burnside, then headed up Highway 191 to Chinle. The Hopi lands are entirely surrounded by the much larger Navajo Nation. The drive through the villages along 264 is essential, in my opinion. Not that there is any great scenic beauty, although there is some if you like that sort of thing. It is photogenic for sure, but what is so unique is that it seeps of tradition and age. A lot happened here over the centuries. Read about it then go see it. We stopped for a cold soda at Kearns Canyon and there was a small Hopi craft shop inside the store. Looking around, I commented to the clerk about the age of the homes up on First Mesa. I also mentioned the area at the end of the cliff that just sort of hangs in the air with dwellings that REALLY look old. You cannot drive there and must have a Hopi guide to enter the area. She said "I know all about it, I live there". The only thing I could say was "Oh, cool".

We finally arrived at Chinle around 3:30 in the afternoon after a VERY long day of driving. We debated what to do about seeing Canyon de Chelly. We decided that the light for taking photos would be best in the late afternoon, so headed up. It is just a short distance out of Chinle, and has a nice visitor's center. There are basically two ways to the see the CdC: 1) Hire a Navajo guide and tour the river bottom, or 2) Use the road system that skirts CdC on both sides and see it from above. The roads on each side dead end and you must backtrack to the park entrance. We chose #2 and the road along the south rim, mainly because it had more viewpoints and we thought the canyon light would be better. CdC is sacred to the Navajos, but also the location of some very sad events in their history. Things and events much too complex to fully describe in a blog posting.

We did get the right light and it is a spectacular place. Interestingly, the CdC deepens as you head upstream/east, so go as far as you can along the road. The views get better. The photos below are just a few of the hundreds we took that afternoon. There are some nice cliff ruins you can see in the distance from one of the viewpoints.

But Can He be Controlled?

We had dinner and found a room in Chinle. The indian fry bread was excellent! Chinle has several nice places to stay.