Navajo Nation

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*Critters we’ve seen on our 2015 trip so far: elk, mule, mule deer

*Birds we’ve seen on our 2015 trip so far: California condor, Brewer’s blackbird, American kestrel

*National Parks/Monuments visited on 2015 trip so far: 2
 

Our next destination was going to be near the northeastern edge of AZ in the Navajo Nation passing by some amazing landscapes including the Painted Desert and this rock formation known as Elephant Feet along Hwy. 160 (a road we’d never traveled before). Layers of rock
     created and carved by millions of years of sedimentation, the rise and fall of the oceans, uplift, volcanoes, earthquakes, and erosion make for some incredible scenery.

 

Navajo Nation is the largest reservation in the U.S. at 27,425 square miles overlapping into three states…AZ, UT, and NM.  It’s for this reason that there are two time zones in AZ since the state is one of two (the other being Hawaii)
        that does not follow Daylight Savings Time.  So in the summer while most of AZ is on west coast time, the Navajo Nation is on Mountain time.

 

  Rock formations and amazing vistas are not the only things to see.  Near Cow Springs, AZ, we passed an abandoned Standard Oil Products building covered with graffiti, and about 25 miles further we drove under a coal slurry pipeline as we traveled along Hwy. 160.  Most of Navajo Nation is open range which means you’ll find livestock roaming freely or just hanging out by the side of the road.

 

We stopped in Kayenta, AZ, at probably the best Burger King we've ever been in for a quick lunch to go.  It was extremely clean and organized with excellent, super friendly customer service plus there was a nice display inside about the WWII Navajo Code Talkers (I’d left the camera in the RV).  From the parking lot, we could see some of Monument Valley which can be seen from various spots along the highway and a place we visited back in 2011.

 

Canyon de Chelly National Monument (www.nps.gov/cach) was where we were planning to spend the next few days. Pronounced canyon d’SHAY, this place is unique within the National Park Service in that it is entirely located and owned by the Navajo
     Tribal Trust Land within the Navajo Nation.  Established in 1931, it preserves the ruins of the Ancestral Puebloan people (also called Anasazi) as well as the Navajo along three major canyons which can be viewed as you drive along
   the canyon rims.  The monument covers 83,840 acres and about 40 Navajo families live in the park, raising livestock and farming some of which can be seen from the canyon rim and some you pass along the way.

 

We had only stopped at the visitor center when we passed through a few years ago, but this time decided to stay a couple of nights at the Cottonwood Campground located within the monument.  Though I neglected to get a photo of our campsite, I did manage to get one of an American kestrel situated high atop a nearby tree.

 

The next day we started at the visitor center which is small and had not changed since our last visit.  The gentleman pictured at right is a volunteer who makes custom jewelry at a booth right in the visitor center, and he told us that he was raised in the canyon near the Sliding House ruins.

 

Similar to the Grand Canyon, Canyon de Chelly has north and south rims, and we opted for the 37 mile roundtrip South Rim Drive.  There are panoramic views of the canyon along with ancient cliff dwelling ruins and spectacular geologic formations.  One of the most distinctive of the geologic formations is Spider Rock, an 800 foot tall freestanding sandstone spire rising from the canyon floor at the junction of Canyon de Chelly and Monument Canyon.  Access to the canyon floor is restricted unless accompanied by a park ranger or Navajo guide (one  
exception is the 2-1/2 mile roundtrip White House Ruins Trail) so all viewing is from the many overlooks.  At every one of them (except two) there are Navajo vendors selling their wares.  They aren’t pushy and are very friendly but still seems a little odd.