It's About the (RV) Journey....: Canyon de Chelly...........

Since we are in the 4-corners area, we decided to visit Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Chinle, Arizona, which we heard so much about from fellow campers. For more information, click here. It is the sight of numerous ancestral Puebloan ruins in the canyon, and is now currently occupied by Navajo Native Americans. It is the longest continually occupied area in the U.S. We traveled about an hour and a half through the Navajo Nation to explore this National Monument. The drive was again, gorgeous. Must share some of the ride!

after a beautiful sunset here in Utah, we woke up to a sunny day

heading through the Navajo Nation

gorgeous drive

goats on the road (oh, are they angora?)

windy day-sand blowing everywhere

notice the Hogan on the property there

so windy...can understand how these rock formations formed

cool rocks and another Hogan (they are everywhere)

the road to Canyon de Chelly

just gorgeous

lots of horses in this area

nice

the drive was gorgeous

America the beautiful!

I'm speechless-impressive views everywhere

There is a Visitor Center at Canyon de Chelly, with an informative movie, which we saved for the end of the day. We were anxious to explore the north and south rims of the canyon, and wanted to be sure we had enough time. There are various scenic lookouts, which require a short (usually steep) hike to the overlook to view ruins from the parking area. (Let's just say that I logged 40 flights of stairs on the Fitbit over the course of the day just from the scenic overlooks). The binoculars enhanced our visit!

There are various ways to explore Canyon de Chelly. Horse tours and jeep tours are very popular, or you can drive yourself around the North and South Rims of the canyon. The canyon is the home to Navajo families, so unless you are on a guided tour, you cannot just walk down to the canyon and explore on your own. The only public hike is the White House Ruins, with a trail that descends 600 feet into the canyon.

does Jerry have relatives in the west? (Tom's former boss!)

exploring the south rim

woah...even the scenic overlooks are something!

the canyon floor is rich for farming-then and now

the environment is totally different in the canyon

very scenic!

The White House Ruins can be seen from the scenic overlook, but can also be accessed by the trail. We talked to the ranger about the trail description. There are two parts where the trail is not recommended for those with a fear of heights, where the narrow trail is slanted a bit, and is on the edge of the drop at those parts. The rest of the hike isn't bad, however it is 600 feet into the canyon, and you have to climb back out too. Maybe another time:)

the views were amazing...we looked for ruins in the rocks across the way

White House Ruins

White House Ruins Overlook

you can take a jeep or hike down to the ruins (back left of photo)

see the hiker there

a view of part of the trail down to White House Ruins

there's a guy getting to one of the dicey parts

the hike goes down 600 feet

park rangers on patrol...

The canyon itself is just beautiful. You can see how verdant it is, with 2 different rivers running through it. The ancients farmed there, and it is still farmed today. It is a little paradise in the middle of the desert like area at the top of the canyon.

cactus in bloom

they aren't kidding! The drop offs are wicked!

part of the path to the overlook

wouldn't want to do this at night

"potholes" everywhere....are these like tidepools when it rains?

another set of ruins-amazing! They are everywhere here in the canyon

look at that trail (visible on the right-middle of picture)-yikes!

even without the ruins, the canyon is just gorgeous

Ruins are visible at just about each stop. We had fun looking for them within the rock "walls". The binoculars definitely made our searching a little easier. The pictures just cannot capture the detail we were able to see with the binoculars. The only way to get closer to any of the ruins, with the exception of the White House Ruins that you can hike to, is to take a guided jeep tour.

another overlook

see the "pothole"?

the amazing view

see the ruins?

see them now?

can you spot the ruins here?

spot them now?

here's one set

and the other

not sure what the circles are

well he's not afraid of heights! (Not sure if he can read either ;/ )

not sure why people ignore warnings and go off the trail...

isn't this just beautiful?

like a painting

wish some of these railings were a bit higher

what a view

the canyon floor is so green and hospitable

beautiful view

how did they build those dwellings and get "home" everyday after farming?

another amazing view of the same area

ruins on the ledge of those spires in the previous pic!

a little help from the park service!

oh yes, I see these too!

the ruins we just looked at are in the middle of the picture..in the crease of the canyon wall

more ruins in the "half caves" across the way

see them?

After lunch, we drove back to the Visitor Center to begin the North Rim drive. There were two very large ruins that we were thrilled to see! The afternoon got a bit windy though, so we were walking along the top of the canyons with quite impressive gusts of wind! No worries, we didn't get close enough to the edge for it to be an issue. At one of the overlooks, however, I did hit the deck during a particularly strong burst of a wind gust because the wall at the overlook was pretty short! (Tom was further back, but he wasn't laughing at me and even told me to stay down)!

its a bit windy here!

the views are amazing

heading down to the overlook

spot the ruin?

way better view with the binoculars

this was on the North Rim...large community!

check that out!

would have been fun to take a jeep tour to that!

speaking of

see the white petroglyphs all across that dark line? This is Antelope ruins

glyphs go half way up the wall...how did they do that?

better view I think

its so windy here...be careful!

"cheese"

look how green the canyon floor is!

lots of ruins down there....we didn't see the big house at first. Do you?

right side - cave

left side cave and part of the house

the big house in the middle!

so glad we came here!

this is on the North Rim...the largest ruin we saw today

We made one last stop at the Visitor Center to watch the informative movie. We spent the entire day at this location, and thoroughly enjoyed it. As we drove home with the sun going down over the horizon, the red rocks and monuments had that glow again...had to snap a few more pics! All I can say is - we live in a beautiful country!!