Silence and serenity.
Canyon de Chelly
"With beauty all around me, I walk."
Navajo Night Chant
Valley of the Gods, Utah.
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Coyote Sunrise Visits Monument Valley, the Land of the Navajo, Canyon de Chelly, Valley of the Gods, and more... | |
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| March 4-8, 2000: On my sixth trip to the great American Southwest I ventured further into the landscape, this time visiting what is know as the Four Corners region (the area where New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado all meet). I flew from Providence RI to Albuquerque, NM and then drove 350 miles up to Monument Valley which I can now say is "350 miles from anywhere, 200 miles from remote." This is all on the Navajo reservation which means that the land is still open and pristine. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monument Valley - Arizona/Utah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| These few snap shots of Monument Valley were taken during my drive on the 17 mile-loop that tourists are allowed to do - Navajo guides are available to give tours off the main track, but I decided to just take the drive myself. The scenery here is simply stunning and fills you with a sense of awe. The picture to the right is of John Ford's point, named after the famous director who brought the Valley to the attention of the world with all the old John Wayne westerns that were filmed here such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, etc.. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The picture above is of me at one of the overlooks called Artist Point. As this was Artist Point I thought I would try and do a painting from here. I set up my easel, got the canvas ready, but the Spirits must have decided they didn't want to be painted, because all of a sudden it started snowing like crazy and not 10 minutes after this picture was taken, you couldn't even see the scene behind me!! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| This is the San Juan Inn, 20 miles north of Monument Valley in Mexican Hat, Utah. If you ever do plan a trip to the Valley I would highly recommend this place. It's right on the San Juan River and so it's quite scenic, and it has a nice lounge where you can get a good meal and a beer (something you can't get if you stay in Kayenta, as Mexican Hat is just off the Navajo reservation where liquor is not allowed). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Juan Inn, Mexican Hat, Utah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| One of my day trips brought me up north to check out the petroglyphs (ancient rock art) at Sand Island and I ventured into the town of Bluff, Utah. The towering rock formations to the right are know as Twins Peaks. Bluff is a tiny but pretty little town and I did stop in at the Rock Speaks Art Studio of Margaret LaBounty which is worth a visit. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Twin Peaks, Bluff, Utah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the trip for me was a drive through what is called the Valley of the Gods. This is an area about 8 miles north of Mexican Hat and is often referred to as a "little Monument Valley" only here for the nearly three hours I was there I saw only 2 other cars! I am convinced that this is indeed where the Gods live. I drove around in awe, giving names to the various formations - the above picture is just a small part of the area I call The Ampitheater of the Gods. Others included The Chess Game (an area of what looked to be about 50 miles across), the 4 Gods, Zues, and others. As with all the pictures here, snap shots simply do not do justice to the sheer magnitude and beauty of the place. At the bottom of this page is a painting I did on location at the Valley of the Gods. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The next day after my incredible day in Monument Valley and Valley of the Gods I headed south to Canyon de Chelly near the town of Chinle, Arizona. A series of sweeping overlooks on a paved road give you spectacular vistas of the valley below, where the Navajo continue to live and farm today as they have for hundreds of years. For the adventurous, you are allowed to make one descent into the valley without a guide, to visit the ancient White House Ruins. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Canyon de Chelly, Arizona | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The trail down the 600' cliffs into the valley is fairly easy (getting back up was a little tougher of course!) and once you get to the bottom it was just absolutely beautiful. The picture to the right shows the approach to the White House Ruins as you walk along a little babling brook, with sheep and a Navajo Hogan not far away. Silence and serenity. |
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| White House Ruins - one of the many "cliff dwellings" of the Anasazi (the Ancient Ones), in the region sitting at the base of a 600' cliff. After about a 45 minute walk, I got there and sat with a Navajo who was just sitting by a fire, hoping to sell some jewelry to the occasional adventurer who would happen to come by. Just sitting there at this incredible place and talking with this guy was truly a great experience. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| White House Ruins Canyon de Chelly |
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| Coyote Sunrise at White House Ruins at Canyon de Chelly, AZ, March 6, 2000. "With beauty all around me, I walk." Navajo Night Chant |
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| After hiking back up, I continued the ride along the top of the canyon, stopping to buy some beautiful pottery at Canyon de Chelly Hoogan Gallery. The ride ends with one of the most impressive views of all, this being the Sacred area of Spider Rocks. This is another area where you can truly just FEEL the beauty and strength and calm of the place and you can understand why for the Navajo, the land is what matters. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spider Rocks, Canyon de Chelly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| My last full day was spent first of all visiting the Hopi Village. I feel as though I can really not say much about this visit as it is their wish to be left in peace and one must respect their privacy. I will just say that my journey to the mesas of the Hopi tribe was amazing. From there, I was going to go to Chaco, but the weather, which did not cooperate much at all during my trip - snowy, rainy almost the whole time - resulted in the 30 mile dirt road being unpassable; this being the report from when I stopped at the Hubbel Trading Post. So instead I drove down to El Morro National Monument (at right) which was pretty neat, but the petroglyphs here are mostly of the Spanish and not the Anasazi, so it was kind of a disappointment.. Plus with the weather being so poor the dwellings at the top were closed. Still, a very pretty spot that could be well worth a day's visit, or more, in good weather. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| El Morro National Monument, south of Gallup, NM. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| From El Morro I continued cruising along the open roads and big skies all the way up to Santa Fe, New Mexico. It happened to be Mardi Gras and I spent my last night of the trip partying at the El Dorado with a wild and gorgeous group of revelers. A really fun time. My quick impressions of Santa Fe are that's it's beautiful, there are some real works of art there, and lots of money to go with the scenery. The next day after a quick morning drive around Santa Fe, I made my way back to Albuquerque, stopping to quickly see some more petroglyphs just outside of town. 1,375 miles in under 5 days and I still didn't begin to see all that I would have liked, but an incredible trip. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Painting I did on location, Valley of the Gods, Utah. |
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| To Return To My Home Page | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| To Read my Account with Pictures of my Visit to the Grand Canyon, Sedona and more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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