The night passed at Hampton Inn in Kayenta slipped away nicely, even with the sand storm outside. This hotel shows elegance and at the same time the tradition of the southwest; excellent rooms, without the classical smell of American motels, and overall an internal grand restaurant gathered around a fireplace. Every time I return to Monument Valley I stop in this resort; after all I am on vacation? A delicious breakfast on the patio of the hotel, and then we take off for Canyon de Chelly. Today the weather is variable, maybe for the first time on this trip the wide clear sky changes frequently with the classical clouds of the southwest.
Crossing almost completely the Navajo territory; the scenery is incredible. It is extremely different from the one seen till now, because we are traveling on a high mass where the land is widely covered with a sheet of very green grass. Seams to be traveling back on time; the traffic is almost inexistent and the farms here and there make the scenery stile like the “conquest of the west” in the early 900. Far away you can see the powerless and also alarming spur of Agathla Peak; the time to reach an area to park and finally get to focus a part of the southwest that is just breath taking; Agathla Peak on the background and on the front floor Church Rock. It is a shame that who has passed before me has left mountains of garbage; it is like disfiguring an open sky museum. The road is a following of small farms one after the other and the constant feeling to want to stop is very strong, my intention is to take a nice tour with a native guide for Canyon de Chelly, fortunately the road from Kayenta is short , and with in a few hours we will arrive our destination.
The arrival to Chinle is not very enthusiastic; a very small town left on its destiny with huts all over and many signs in front of the only general store written it are forbidden to give charity. It is very difficult to understand; I observe and respect, it’s not my house. Taking the street should take me to my hotel; it is curious to see horses freely moving around. If I think that a day ago I was in Moab, where everything is precise, here it seems an other world. A few miles after our Best Western is the entrance for the visitors center and besides it the Thunderbird Lodge, were it is possible to book your tour for the canyon; we choose the longest stay possible, part of lunch time and all afternoon. Just the time to leave our luggage in the hotel and we are in front of the bus stop with tickets in our hand,sandwich in our pocket and snap sack on our shoulder. Waiting to leave for our tour, we see a couple of cars and an old open truck for the tour, its funny to imagine how the group will be formed. In order joining the group is a couple of sprightly elders from Ohio and have a hard time getting on the truck; and to finish a retired couple from Florida. Well time to let the show go on.
We travel towards the canyon wash, within a few minutes we reach the point where the park road divides in two directions: Muerto canyon on the north and de Chelly towards south. We start with the north section, shorter but emotionally intensive. Our guide, very professional, illustrates us the story of the canyon. Even thou it seams more like a narrow valley, with houses and cultivations a little all over. The nice thing about “De Chelly” is that it is inhabitant: the young during the winter go to school in Tube City, Kayenta or Window Rock and during the summer come back to help their parents in cultivation. Education and privacy are very important in the canyon; it’s not very nice having someone constantly taking pictures in houses. ”De Chelly is a constant petrography of new and ancient, and ingenious stonework on the canyon walls. The atmosphere is really suggestive while we bounce on the dry river bed and pick up every single noise the animals living their make. Suddenly the noise of our van scares a group of splendid horses, which freely start running away. A safari inside a museum! Remarkable the stop, in Muerto canyon, Ledge Ruin and overall Antelope House; a small built up area were the antic native population live. At the end of our tour of the north side (but not Muerto Canyon) the stop took under the Navajo Fortress was exiting, a small Mesa hanging in the canyon where the last Navajo barricade themselves, before being overwhelmed. It seams like all the death of those battles still eco between those cold rocky walls.
The tour of the south section of the National Monument is a lot longer and a lot richer of locations, the principal attraction is the White House Ruin. A beautiful and almost integral inhabit complex set in the wall so high and dropping that it is hard to see the end. It is the most characteristic part of the park and also the only trail that can be done alone without the tour. Who decides not to take the tour, has to leave the car at the mesa and go down in the canyon; real tuff deep descent and ascents, but overall what you miss seeing before you arrive there. The tour is really interesting for the locations seen and for its history explained from the guide. To see the best and take the best pictures, save money on something else but not on this guided tour. And it is always nice to meet people of other nationalities during the tour hours and to study their different habits and reactions on such special sights. We received an invitation for dinner in the motor home of a brilliant family from Florida; they remain surprised on how e knows more about the USA then those Americans!
Once concluded the tour there is just one more famous spot to admire of the park. You can only arrive their by car on the road south of the canyon, we detour for Spider Rock, two rock towers that emerge almost at the end of the south rim of the park. The show is spectacular, breath taking; seeing those two enormous natural towers guarding the east entrance of the canyon. The drop under us is enormous; an old Navajo legend narrows that a spider women lived on the tower and that the naughty little Indians were left to her. I realize it’s the same the whole world over, but the natives have much more fantasy then our dear old man in black. I can’t imagine what it would be like seeing the canyon and Spider rock under the Christmas snow. Mean while on the horizone the gray sky is starting to flash; a storm is arriving. It is late evening, and the strange thing is that we had the whole day with a clear sky. The lightning in the enormous prairies of the southwest are an emotional spectacular. The view of the tall mesa on the background start to fade away, dew to the fog from the rain, and the lightning strikes light up the cultivated lands as daytime. Now the wind is pushing strong, better get moving; the storm is quickly coming closer. Slowly we take our road for home and realize that without a guided tour the view is very limited, you can see a little or nothing; but most of all you don’t breath the magic atmosphere of the Chelly National Monument Canyon.
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