May 20: SW Road Trip Day 11: Into the Canyon

After a relaxing night at the Holiday Inn, Chinle, we awake with anticipation of this morning's Jeep ride into the Canyon proper. As usual, we wake early. We have lots of time, so after getting ready for the drive, we visit the restaurant for breakfast.

After breakfast, we await the arrival of our Tour Guide. Richard arrives a few minutes before 9:00, apologizing for being late. I look at the console of the Jeep and discover that he has the clock on the radio set 15 minutes fast, so thinks he’s late when actually he is a bit early.

We have to get passes to enter the Canyon from the Stream, so we stop at the Tribal Office to pay our $4.00. While there, we meet a couple who have missed connection with their tour guide (from a different company than the one we booked). Richard wants them to have a good experience, so makes a few calls on his cell to connect them to their guide, who got his signals crossed about where to meet them. While he is doing this, four different groups cut in front of us in the line to get passes. I am a little concerned about this, as we have now lost about 15 minutes. I must still be in “city mode”, I should relax.

It’s all good and, registration paid, we hop in the Jeep and head up the stream.

Amy and Richard at the Jeep

As in the Grand Canyon, the feeling on the Rim is different from the feeling inside the Canyon where walls surround you on all sides. We drive up the stream, literally in the water as the splash churns on both sides of the Jeep. I am unsure how concerned I should be as Richard explains that there is quicksand in the stream and that he must choose the right path and not stop. He has only gotten stuck in the water a couple of times…

Inside Canyon de Chelly

Still, it is a lot of fun and Richard is a wealth of information. We stop every 5 minutes or so and he talks about some interesting tidbit shown on the wall, such as Petroglyphs:

Petroglyphs

Richard also tells us about several “trails” up the canyon walls. There are spots on the walls with holes set into the rock very close together. These were made by the ancient inhabitants and were used as handholds and footholds to go straight up the rock faces.

At the junction of the two canyons, we take the left branch, Canyon de Muertes, and head in for about 6 or 7 miles. After viewing some more ruins, we turn around and head back down for the other branch (Canyon de Chelly). As we head up this branch, we come across some wild Mustangs. Amy notes that they are quite calm with a Jeep driving by pretty close to them. They continue to graze undisturbed. I observe that they are on the other side of a gully that the Jeep cannot drive to (too many trees around); they must have done this before and noticed no vehicles on their side of the canyon.

We continue up Canyon de Chelly until we reach the White House ruins. The same vendors are here as when we hiked down to this point yesterday. Amy asks me how much cash I have, as she spies a blue pot that would look good on our Mantle. She buys it, but she bargains, and pays a little less than the asking price. I didn’t think to take a picture of it before it was wrapped in protective material. If you want to see it, ask about it the next time you visit our house after our trip!

As we head back down the stream, we again encounter the wild horses where we are trying to cross the stream (they are heading upstream, so cross right to left in front of us). We let them pass and as they do, we notice a pair of foals in the herd of about 8 or 10. I didn’t get the camera out in time, so we have to be content with the memory of these two gangly little horses frolicking with the family. There was something really majestic and serene about these animals. We leave the Canyon after a full 3 hours. We recommend this tour, with as small a group (ours was 2) as possible. It left us with a really fond memory:

Inside Canyon de Chelly

Richard returns us to the Holiday Inn. We are a little hungry and in need of some exercise, so we walk the two miles, all on sidewalks, back up the road toward the main highway to pick up a sandwich to share. We walk back to the Inn and eat by the side of the pool. It is lovely. The rest of the afternoon, we recover, then enjoy a meal in Inn's restaurant. Tomorrow, we head to Flagstaff.