Camping at Canyon de Chelly

We headed out on a camping trip this past weekend to Canyon de Chelly, in eastern Arizona, with our friends Mike and Dimid. We hadn't been camping in probably 3 years, which was way too long. Canyon de Chelly is about a 5 hour drive from Santa Fe so we drove out there after work on Thursday. Mike and Dimid were already in our reserved campsite so all we had to do was unload some stuff from our car and then we crashed in the back (a 1990 Toyota Land Cruiser).

The next morning we headed out to some overlooks of the canyon from the drives on the rim-


and then we went and found a letterbox in a nearby town. We headed back to the South Rim of the Canyon and John and Dimid hiked down the only public trail down into the canyon, which goes to White House Ruin. Here's a view from the trail, of a Navajo hogan-


and here's the famous White House Ruin-


And here's Dimid with their new pup Gigi, who we all fell in love with-


That evening, at sunset, we all piled into the car and drove over to the Spider Rock overlook. It was great to be there at sunset.


The next day, we had scheduled a private guided tour into the canyon with a Navajo guide. (The only ways into the canyon are via the one public trail or with a guide.) His name was Leander, and his dad had started the first Navajo owned and operated tour company in the canyon. We went to see several ruins in Canyon de Chelly and in the adjoining Canyon del Muerte.

Most tours last 3 hours but we had hired Leander for longer, so we got to go farther up into the canyon and see things that most people don't see on tours. Our last stop was at a cave with incredible pictographs (paintings) depicting a battle. It was a little ways from the car - and the walk to get there was through fields of wild sunflowers that are at their peak in the southwest right now.


There was a dirt track that we followed, but we still had to brush the sunflowers aside to get through (they were about 6 feet tall). It was a lovely spot.


And here are some paintings in the cave-



That was the end of our day with Leander. It was so interesting to hear him talk, as a young Navajo, about how their traditions are impacted by modern life. For example, he talked about how everyone had 4 clan affiliations - one from your mother's mother's side of the family, one from your mother's father's side of the family, etc. In the past, you would ask someone who you were interested in dating what their clan affiliations were. You were not supposed to marry anyone who had any of your 4 clan affiliations because that would be intermarrying. Nowadays, he says that asking that kind of information is awkward. So, many young people now post it on their facebook profile. It saves others from having to ask about it.

One of the interesting things about Canyon de Chelly is that, although it is a national monument, the US government does not own the land. Leander said they maintain and stabilize the ruins and the access roads, and provide some basic tourist facilities, but the Navajo reservation owns the land. So, you still find people living in the canyon who farm or herd sheep. It is all very quaint and culturally a world away.

It was a great get-away. A few days without cell service and internet access. Ahhhhhh.....