Chinle, AZ - Canyon De Chelly

We left early for Canyon de Chelly (pronounced ‘shay’), sometimes called a smaller Grand Canyon. It is in the center of the Navajo reservation and in the center of their history. The trip was uneventful except for the bumpy roads which had me gripping a vertical bar by my seat for dear life. Sometime I tried to take pictures out of the front window but we rocked and rolled so much that when I didn’t cut off the tops of things, I cut off the bottom. Just a wee bit hard to steady the camera.

We arrived about 11:00, stopped for groceries and headed into the park. We had met a couple from British Columbia, Wendy and Barry, at out last campsite and planned to park next to them in the campground attached to the park. A beautiful campground with lots of cottonwood trees shading the area. As much as we would like to choose the shady sites in the summer, we deliberately chose sunny sites this time so we could warm our RV during the day and not have to use so much propane to heat at night.

There are no services here in this park so setting up was easy. We then joined Wendy and Barry on a trip to the Visitor Center where they actually had a Navajo artist creating jewelry. Then, since it was still early we decided to drive the south rim of the canyon for the views. We separated at this point since we all have different paces. The canyon has two roads which a tourist can travel to view the canyon but there is only one trail into the canyon that anyone can take. Because this is private property and a home to many, travel in the canyon is restricted to those with a Navajo guide.

The canyon is actually 3 canyons and the Navajo named it ’Tseyi’ which means ‘within the rocks.’ However, the Spanish pronunciation of ‘Shay’ has stuck. It is much smaller than the Grand Canyon which makes it much more intimate. Seeing the bottom of the canyon is actually possible and there are many Navajos who live and farm in the canyon bottom.

In 1864 Kit Carson, under orders to clean out the Navajo, swept in to the canyon with his troops, burned their homes, slaughtered their animals, destroyed their orchards and farmlands and forced them to walk 300 miles to Fort Sumner in New Mexico. Here they were herded into a small reservation with many other Indians from different tribes. Though the American government had promised food and water, this was in very short supply and many died. 3000 out of the 8000 Navajo died here.

3 years later, the government reversed its policy and let the Navajos return to their homeland but, of course, their homes, their fields and their animals were destroyed. It was a struggle but they survived.

We drove the South Rim drive and took every opportunity to look into the canyon. Sheer drop-offs and steep canyon walls combined with the multi-colored layers of the rocks and the greenery of the cottonwoods and fields to emphasize the beauty of the canyon.

On our journey we met a German couple with their kids who were taking a 10-day tour of the southwest. We all talked about places we were going and Winslow, Arizona came up on the list. They could sing the Eagles’ ‘Take it Easy’ without missing a note or a word.

One of the goals was to see the stunning Spider Rock, an 800’ tall sandstone spire, at sunset. What we forgot was that sunset in a canyon can come at 3:30. Shucks, we missed the sun shining fully on Spider Rock but did get half of the rock in the sun.

Back to the campground for dinner.