Canyon De Chelly, AZ (Miles to Date: 17450)
Our route now takes us further west. Passing through Albuquerque we stop to leave our motor home for a quick tweak at a service centre and head into town for a bit of lunch. We had chosen to eat, most unusually, at a pharmacy, called the Model Pharmacy. Despite the fact this does not sound a promising eating establishment – this is no ordinary pharmacy and the food is excellent. We chose to sit at the counter to eat as the restaurant was empty (it was about 2pm), which turned out to be an excellent decision as the staff who talk to us we eat are as as delicious as the food. Jack the pharmacist is a charming man and has lots of wonderful local information for us ...and more too for our future ports of call! He is impressedwith the children who keep him amused with tales of all we have seen and done...and he is a perfect host in this eatery!He has a wonderful selection of English medicines...and genuine Smarties and Strepsils are hard to find! He promises to order in and to try Marmite for himself and we are very happy!
Our route now takes us further west. Passing through Albuquerque we stop to leave our motor home for a quick tweak at a service centre and head into town for a bit of lunch. We had chosen to eat, most unusually, at a pharmacy, called the Model Pharmacy. Despite the fact this does not sound a promising eating establishment – this is no ordinary pharmacy and the food is excellent. We chose to sit at the counter to eat as the restaurant was empty (it was about 2pm), which turned out to be an excellent decision as the staff who talk to us we eat are as as delicious as the food. Jack the pharmacist is a charming man and has lots of wonderful local information for us ...and more too for our future ports of call! He is impressedwith the children who keep him amused with tales of all we have seen and done...and he is a perfect host in this eatery!He has a wonderful selection of English medicines...and genuine Smarties and Strepsils are hard to find! He promises to order in and to try Marmite for himself and we are very happy!
All of us chose the special which was a beef & vegetable pie, with the most wonderful pastry. Even Emily who is the fussiest eater of all us tucked in. In general (with the exception of Emily) we are savoury rather than sweet people so we usually miss the desserts – but today they just looked too good not to eat. On offer was a peach cobbler which Jack ate with his mother’s help whist Mark succumbed to the bread pudding which others tried to share but were repelled with a short jab or two of the fork. Completely bloated we return to our motor home and continue on westwards.
Early evening we reach our base for the next few days, Holbrook, just over the border into Arizona. As is often the case with these campsites in the desert this is a little bleak, particularly this time of year when there is no one else there!
Arising the next day we are greeted by a horribly wet cold day – the sort where you just want to wrap up in a blanket and stay in bed. Deserts are inhospitable on a hot summer’s day, but are no more inviting when they are cold and wet. We chose to use this day to catch up on school work.
Today the rain has stopped but it is frigid here in the Arizona high desert. It might look flat but we are at about 6000 feet above sea level – it gets cold here in the winter. The previous day’s rain has turned our pitch into a place where pigs would quite happily wallow. Definitely a place to get out of for the day! So we head North towards the Canyon De Chelly (pronounced “Shay”) which had been recommended to us by a number of people including our great friend Sandi Lieb-Geiger. Coming off the I-10 we pass in to the Navajo Nation, and from this point the road climbs higher. As we reach the plateaus of the high desert what had fallen as rain in Holbrook had settled here as snow. It painted a very pretty picture, especially as the sun breaks through the clouds. Eventually we arrive at the Hubbell Trading Post, a National Historic Monument in Ganado on the Navajo Reservation. This trading post is the oldest continuously operated trading post on the Navajo Reservation and was purchased by John Lorenzo Hubbell in 1878, who established himself as one of the leading traders of his time. The trading post is still active, trading with members of the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni and other tribes operating it. There are general items on sale plus some very expensive tapestries and weaving produced by local tribes people – we just window shop and buy ourselves a squeegee to clean our RV windscreen (the last of the big spenders).
Then onwards to the Canyon De Chelly! The Canyon de Chelly National Monument encompasses a long, three-armed canyon on the northwest slope of the Defiance Uplift. The canyons have been carved by erosion from running streams, the Tsaile and Whiskey creeks, producing spectacular cliffs measuring in place 800 feet from rim to the canyon floor. Unlike the Grand Canyon, Canyon de Chelly is very accessible and has been the domicile for human beings for at least 1500 years; from the early pre-Columbians (such as the Anasazi and Pueblo) to the present day Navajo, who continue to use the canyon floor for farming. Evidence of this long history is captured in the park through ancient dwellings built in to the cliff walls and petroglyphs.
The accessibility of the canyon is one of the things that has drawn us here. There are Navajo guided tours of the canyon but today we are going to be our own guides. We begin by skirting the southern rim of the canyon, stopping every few miles each at the view points which provide stunning views of the canyon below. As well as places to admire the scenery there are numerous local Navajo traders selling their wares and it is too much for Karen and the children to resist so we pick up some jewellery and paintings on local stone – we actually have a long, and interesting chat with the artist himself about the symbology used in his artwork. At White House overlook you can take just about the only self-guided tour down into the canyon; a 3 mile or so round trip on a path that winds its weary way down the cliff sides from the rim. Of course we had to do this – and fortunately for us old ones this was not too arduous. As you descend you get splendid views .jpg)
of the undulating canyon walls that have been carved out through the millennia. It is also a chance to get close up views of the geological aspects of the canyons, the layers of sedimentary rock laid down when this area was part of huge inland sea. Being February today is quite cool but even so by the time we reach the bottom we have worked up quite the sweat( Glow!). Further down the path, and hidden from the rim above are the 1200 year old White House ruins – cleverly built into 500 foot high cliffs that provided shelter and defence for the inhabitants. Whilst the ruins were spectacular the toilets were not – and maintaining a level of decorum prevents us from giving further detail. But when a man / woman/ child has got to go then they have got to go – just hold your nose and close your eyes. Relieved we turn on our tails and beat a retreat back up the 600 foot climb – needless to say coming down was much easier!!
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The final stop on our tour is the Spider Rock overlook. Here the canyon is at its deepest and is where an 800 foot high sandstone spire stands majestic – posing for all the passing tourists and professional photographers. We have risen again in altitude so there is snow on the ground again, but this only adds to drama of the spectacle. As we stand there admiring the formation, we get into conversation with two ladies from Vermont, who decided one day to pack up their jobs and go on a 12 month tour together. We obviously had a lot in common and stories to share, so we spent some time just recounting our experiences of life, the universe and motor homes. As we departed Emily astutely asked whether the ladies were “married” and we said they probably were.
Canyon de Chelly is a wonderful place and we recommend it highly to anyone visiting Arizona or the Four Corners. We took away some more fantastic memories.
Early evening we reach our base for the next few days, Holbrook, just over the border into Arizona. As is often the case with these campsites in the desert this is a little bleak, particularly this time of year when there is no one else there!
Arising the next day we are greeted by a horribly wet cold day – the sort where you just want to wrap up in a blanket and stay in bed. Deserts are inhospitable on a hot summer’s day, but are no more inviting when they are cold and wet. We chose to use this day to catch up on school work.
Today the rain has stopped but it is frigid here in the Arizona high desert. It might look flat but we are at about 6000 feet above sea level – it gets cold here in the winter. The previous day’s rain has turned our pitch into a place where pigs would quite happily wallow. Definitely a place to get out of for the day! So we head North towards the Canyon De Chelly (pronounced “Shay”) which had been recommended to us by a number of people including our great friend Sandi Lieb-Geiger. Coming off the I-10 we pass in to the Navajo Nation, and from this point the road climbs higher. As we reach the plateaus of the high desert what had fallen as rain in Holbrook had settled here as snow. It painted a very pretty picture, especially as the sun breaks through the clouds. Eventually we arrive at the Hubbell Trading Post, a National Historic Monument in Ganado on the Navajo Reservation. This trading post is the oldest continuously operated trading post on the Navajo Reservation and was purchased by John Lorenzo Hubbell in 1878, who established himself as one of the leading traders of his time. The trading post is still active, trading with members of the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni and other tribes operating it. There are general items on sale plus some very expensive tapestries and weaving produced by local tribes people – we just window shop and buy ourselves a squeegee to clean our RV windscreen (the last of the big spenders).
Then onwards to the Canyon De Chelly! The Canyon de Chelly National Monument encompasses a long, three-armed canyon on the northwest slope of the Defiance Uplift. The canyons have been carved by erosion from running streams, the Tsaile and Whiskey creeks, producing spectacular cliffs measuring in place 800 feet from rim to the canyon floor. Unlike the Grand Canyon, Canyon de Chelly is very accessible and has been the domicile for human beings for at least 1500 years; from the early pre-Columbians (such as the Anasazi and Pueblo) to the present day Navajo, who continue to use the canyon floor for farming. Evidence of this long history is captured in the park through ancient dwellings built in to the cliff walls and petroglyphs.
The accessibility of the canyon is one of the things that has drawn us here. There are Navajo guided tours of the canyon but today we are going to be our own guides. We begin by skirting the southern rim of the canyon, stopping every few miles each at the view points which provide stunning views of the canyon below. As well as places to admire the scenery there are numerous local Navajo traders selling their wares and it is too much for Karen and the children to resist so we pick up some jewellery and paintings on local stone – we actually have a long, and interesting chat with the artist himself about the symbology used in his artwork. At White House overlook you can take just about the only self-guided tour down into the canyon; a 3 mile or so round trip on a path that winds its weary way down the cliff sides from the rim. Of course we had to do this – and fortunately for us old ones this was not too arduous. As you descend you get splendid views .jpg)
of the undulating canyon walls that have been carved out through the millennia. It is also a chance to get close up views of the geological aspects of the canyons, the layers of sedimentary rock laid down when this area was part of huge inland sea. Being February today is quite cool but even so by the time we reach the bottom we have worked up quite the sweat( Glow!). Further down the path, and hidden from the rim above are the 1200 year old White House ruins – cleverly built into 500 foot high cliffs that provided shelter and defence for the inhabitants. Whilst the ruins were spectacular the toilets were not – and maintaining a level of decorum prevents us from giving further detail. But when a man / woman/ child has got to go then they have got to go – just hold your nose and close your eyes. Relieved we turn on our tails and beat a retreat back up the 600 foot climb – needless to say coming down was much easier!!.jpg)
The final stop on our tour is the Spider Rock overlook. Here the canyon is at its deepest and is where an 800 foot high sandstone spire stands majestic – posing for all the passing tourists and professional photographers. We have risen again in altitude so there is snow on the ground again, but this only adds to drama of the spectacle. As we stand there admiring the formation, we get into conversation with two ladies from Vermont, who decided one day to pack up their jobs and go on a 12 month tour together. We obviously had a lot in common and stories to share, so we spent some time just recounting our experiences of life, the universe and motor homes. As we departed Emily astutely asked whether the ladies were “married” and we said they probably were.Canyon de Chelly is a wonderful place and we recommend it highly to anyone visiting Arizona or the Four Corners. We took away some more fantastic memories.
1 comment:
Glad to see you finally posted this visit! Spider Rock is, to the Navajo, the historic home of Grandmother Spider, who steals away all the children who don't listen to mom and dad! No problem in the Hobbs household, I'm sure! Keep up the blogging - I'm living vicariously through you! - Sandi :)
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