We awoke fairly early at the Holiday Inn – Chinle and went to breakfast at the Navajo restaurant at the hotel. We both had the pancakes from native blue corn. They were really good but both of us ate about half of our meal. We could have easily split one plate of cakes.
At 9 am, we met our native guide, Toole, for a trip into Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. Both areas are restricted to tours with approved guides. We were happy to be in the guide’s high clearance pickup since we were in the arroyo bottom most of the time and the terrain was very rough. Toole was very knowledgeable and pleasant. He took us to many locations with Anasazi and ancient Navajo cliff dwellings, rock art, kivas and granaries. Many of the ruins that we visited date back over 1000 years and are remarkably intact in the shelter of rock overhangs. We took a lot of photos in the canyon floor and enjoyed the trip a great deal. Mary bought a few things from local artists who were making them as we watched. She is very pleased with her purchases.
We got back to the lodge around 12:30 and ate the other half of last night’s dinner that we brought back in box. The sandwich was large and was very good. While we ate, we drive along the south rim of Canyon de Chelly to look down on many of the things that we saw from the canyon bottom. Then we drove back to the road fork and went along the north rim of Canyon del Muerto to see the site of the massacre of 115 Navajos by the Spaniards in 1805. There is also an area where ancient Anasazis built cliff houses that were abandoned around 1300 AD.
Since Chinle is very small and only has a Burger King, we ate at the local restaurant next to our hotel again this evening. Mary had a Navajo taco which is a fry bread with chili and lettuce. It was about the size of a medium pizza. I had a burger which was pretty normal and tasted very good.
We are both very tired and will likely turn in early to get a start driving to Kayenta, Arizona to tour Monument Valley nearby.
View Canyon de Chelly in a larger map
Sounds like a full and interesting day. The etchings on the rocks are really cool, however my Emilee did hand prints like those in preschool, so I hope they are not "fresh"......ha. I am SOOOO envious of you going to Monument Valley today. I LOVED that place. Hope you all have great weather and a great time. ***I can't believe you had a hamburger for dinner.
ReplyDeleteGlad you all are enjoying yourselves! Did you see any skinwalkers?
ReplyDeleteWatch out for skinwalkers!
ReplyDelete