Travel with No Boundaries: Our last two stops

To catch up, we were supposed to move onto the Navajo reservation last Thursday. The weather for our tour day,rain and snow were predicted. So as not to impose more on our hosts Sharon and Kyle, we got a campsite nearby. And boy it is a good thing. It rained all day Friday at the lower elevations, but it snowed in a lot of places! I17 north through Flagstaff was closed, as we I40 east near Winslow. There was snow and rain on the tour on Friday. I am sure it was beautiful but....I am glad we waited.

The San Francisco peaks, Flagstaff, 12k'

Snow at 7,000'

We hiked a bit around the campground, went to Jerome, another old mining town on a hill (like Bisbee) and did a few other things. We left the Verde Valley on Sunday, a beautiful day.

The drive to Canyon De Chelly is north on I17 through Flagstaff, gaining about 2,500 feet, then back down to about 5,000' east in I40, then north again on some tribal roads. We were worried about how they would be, but it was fine.

This is a tribal campground we are in, called Cottonwood. It is located at the Thunderbird lodge. The Canyon is technically federal land. But since both it and Monument Valley are located completely within the Navajo reservation, the tribe runs everything. Lodges, tours, gift shops etc. Our guide Elton said the tribe owns and runs everything. The only thing the Park Service owns are the ruins, petroglyphs and pictographs.

Our tour started at 9am on Monday, a nice sunny day - not too hot, not too cold. There were 3 couples in the military vehicle Thunderbird Lodge uses for their tours.

The Canyon is huge - each arm is about 20 miles deep, box canyons. One way in, one way out. We took the shorter 4 hour tour. Because of all the rain and snow there was plenty of water in the canyon. We saw lots of pictographs, petroglyphs, and both cliff and pueblo dwellings. Some of the ruins are from BC600-800, some much "newer" 1500-ish. Our guide was very knowledgeable. He speaks his tribal language, and said he is the translator for his grandparents, who only speak Navajo. Excellent tour and totally worth it!

For those interested, the Res CG is $20/night no hookups. There is water. Bathrooms have cold water only, no showers. Fine for a few nights.

Kokopelli petroglyphs. Look at the hands, some are hands, some are negatives of hands. Some old, some really old.

Water in the canyon

Antelope and the infinity sign as calendar

Cliff dwellings

Pueblo ruins, ground level

Antelope petroglyphs

Cliff walls are 300-400' tall

Overhang

Canyon map. Our tour in black, a small portion of it

Today we drove 1.5 hours each way to Monument Valley. The drive through the reservation is hard to describe. The beauty of the landscape is breathtaking. The miles and miles of poverty all along the route is heartbreaking. I know we have poverty in NY. But not to the extent you see here. At every trailer, house, shack...there's a traditional Navajo Hogan or roundhouse. Some are 5, 6 or 8 sided. Some are traditional log and mud, but most are modern siding.

From the Canyon visitor Center

The road through monument valley is 17 dirt miles. Some of it VERY rough. Lots of pull offs for photos. I think we would have stopped more if we had not been down in Canyon de Chelly yesterday. Still, an interesting day. We had lunch in a little town called Kayenta, in a restaurant with 8 big sides. We were one of only 2 tables who were not native. It was great hearing native language all around us.