After touring Walnut Canyon we headed northeast to Canyon de Chelly National Monument, (pronounced shae with a long a) on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation by the town of Chinle. We spent the night at the Cottonwood Campground and although we did not take a picture of the campground, it is apply named.
Tuesday the 13th: We did not have enough time to take a Navajo tour into the valley so we drove the north rim and the south rim stopping at all the overlooks along the way. Next time we will take the valley tour to be able to get closer to the ruins. The only way touring is allowed in the canyon is to hire Navajo guided jeep or horseback rides.The earliest known people were called the Archaic and they inhabited the area from 2500 BC to 200 BC. Then came the Basketmaker people from 200 BC to 750 AD. The Pueblo were here from 750 AD to 1300 AD and built most of the ruins located here. Then it was the Hopi who inhabited the area from 1300 to 1600 AD. The Navajo entered the canyon around 1700 and have been in the area ever since.
There are 3 overlooks on the north rim and 7 overlooks on the south rim. The following pictures are from some of these overlooks.
Antelope house overlook.
The Running Antelope ruins are located in the right center of the picture, just out of the shadow. These ruins are named after the antelope drawings attributed to the Navajo artist Dibe Yazhi (Little Sheep) who lived there in the early 1800’s. Excavated in the 1970’s, the site has an unusual circular plaza built in the 1300’s.
Massacre Cave overlook. 115 Navajo were killed in the winter of 1805 by a Spanish military expedition.
Mummy cave in Canyon del Muerto. It is one of the largest ancestral Puebloan villages in the canyon and was occupied to about 1300.
Rock Canyon.
White House overlook.
As you can see the White House was appropriately named. It was built and occupied by ancestral Puebloans about 1,000 years ago.
Sliding House overlook.
The Sliding House Ruins are above the slide shown at the right side of the picture.
This almost looks like a model that someone made.
Face Rock Overlook.
Notice the difference in the rock structure above and below the ruins.
Spider Rock overlook.
Spider Rock is an 800 foot sandstone spire that rises from the canyon floor at the junction of Canyon de Chelly and Monument Canyon.
Once again weather changed our plans to drive east through southern Colorado through Cortez and Durango. Our route took us back down to east I-40 and the up on I-25 past Pikes Peak by Colorado Springs, Co. I drove up Pikes Peak back in the 80’s and I think next time I’ll take the trolley up.
We pulled into Sandy’s parents place on the 15th and the next morning we had our own South Dakota alarm clock sitting on a hay bale in the field next to us.
It was Sandy’s Mom’s 86th birthday on Sunday so Saturday we went out for dinner at Maverick’s to celebrate.
Dave, Erwin, Dalles, Sandy, Cindy and John.
We left SD on Sunday so we could get a day of rest on Monday before we hit the road on Tuesday for a 615 mile drive to White Pigeon, MI. We have an appointment at Quadra Manufacturing to have Big Foot levelers installed.
Until next time,
Dave and Sandy
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