Touring the Navajo Nation,
by Jaimie Hall-Bruzenak
George and I are interested in the geology of
the Southwest as well as in the history and culture of the
ancestral Puebloans. The Four Corners area, just a few hours
from our home base, has a wealth of parks to satisfy those
interests. On a recent road trip, we focused on Navajo tribal
parks on a loop tour out of Flagstaff, Arizona.
Canyon de Chelly
About three hours from Flagstaff, Canyon
de Chelly is not a tribal park, but it sits on Navajo
Tribal Trust land; the park is administered by the National
Park Service as a national monument. The canyons are still
farmed seasonally by about 75 Navajo families. We wanted to
explore the two canyons-Canyon del Muerto and Canyon de Chelly-
so we booked a Navajo guide through Thunderbird
Lodge; without a guide, visitors are confined to the overlooks
and to one hiking path down into the canyon to White House
Ruins.
The guided tours are conducted from huge four-wheel-drive
trucks-actually converted "deuce and a half" military
vehicles, which can ford streams and make their way far into
the canyons. Benson, our guide, shared Navajo life and history
as we stopped at Anasazi ruins, petroglyphs and pictographs.
He also pointed out two geologic features important to the
Navajo. The first, Navajo Fortress, is a red sandstone butte
where a small band of Navajos held out against Kit Carson's
troops in 1864. The second, Spider Rock, an 800-foot spire,
is home to Spider Woman, who carries off children who disobey
their elders.
We spent a second day driving the North and South
Rim Drives along both canyons on our own, stopping at each
overlook. We also hiked to the White House Ruins.
Four Corners
Southeast of Canyon de Chelly, right on the Arizona-New
Mexico border is Window
Rock, a tribal park, but instead of backtracking, we continued
our loop tour north to Four Corners. We did take a short detour
into New Mexico to see Shiprock, an 1,800-foot volcanic plug
or vent that looks like an enormous clipper ship under sail
and is frequently mentioned in Tony Hillerman's detective
books. It was impressive!
At Four
Corners we paid an admission fee, then waited our turn
to get a photo of each of us crouching with a hand or a foot
in each of the four states: Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado
and Utah. A large concrete pad with state flags and a view
platform mark the only place in the U.S. where the borders
of four states meet. Dozens of booths with vendors selling
Navajo goods surrounded the monument. George ate Navajo fry
bread while I admired the jewelry.
Monument Valley
Our next destination was Monument
Valley, right on the border of Utah and Arizona. Approaching
Monument Valley from the north on U.S. Highway 163 you can
see the tall spires and buttes that are the backdrop for many
a western movie. You can drive your vehicle on the loop drive
and stop at key formations or book a tour with a Navajo guide
that includes the loop drive and a restricted area inside
the park.
On the restricted portion of the tour, we saw
many geologic windows and arches, a 96-year-old Navajo woman
weaving a rug on her loom in her hogan, and another perspective
of the valley. Other tours take you to Mystery Valley with
its Anasazi ruins, petroglyphs and arches. At full moon, special
night tours travel into the valley. Gouldings,
across Highway 163, offers lodging and tours.
Antelope Canyon
From Monument Valley we traveled west through
the reservation to Antelope
Canyon, near Page, in Arizona. Antelope Canyon has been
on my list of things to see for years for it is a photographer's
paradise. From the air, the canyon opening looks like just
a crack in the ground, but inside it's like being immersed
in a fantasy world, for the sandstone has been carved into
twisty, curved and scalloped formations by eons of flash flooding.
Light shining through openings in the crack illuminates the
multicolored sculpted sandstone in ever-changing patterns
that make for stunning shots.
Several companies in Page offer sightseeing and
photography tours in the canyon. The photography tours are
longer, and I recommend them. You can take more time getting
photos and really savor the beauty. Most photographers consider
late morning the best time for lighting, but whenever you
go, the guides will help you get good pictures. You can also
tour Lower Antelope Canyon, but getting there requires climbing
ladders, so it's more strenuous.
From Page, U.S. Highway 89 south takes you back
to Flagstaff through the Navajo reservation. Watch for the
Painted Desert, whose colorful hues begin south of The Gap
and continue almost to Cameron. For a side trip, visit the
Little
Colorado River Navajo Tribal Park, a short detour off
Highway 89. Reach the overlooks by driving 9.4 miles west
on State Route 64, the road to the Grand Canyon. The deep,
gray-walled gorge is quite unlike the Grand Canyon, and is
worth the trip.
We spent two days at Canyon de Chelly, about
an hour at Four Corners, and a day each touring Monument Valley
and Antelope Canyon. With travel time, you could complete
the entire loop in a week.
Jaimie
Hall-Bruzenak
6/27/08
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