Canyon de Chelly, AZ

motorcycle adventures 3 Minutes

First, I apologize for delays in releasing my blog post.  It is not due to a lack of effort.  It is due to technology.  I am on the Navajo Indian Reservation and the upload speed is 0.27 Mbps.  Web browsing works, but photos and videos load excruciatingly slowly or not at all.

To provide a feel for traveling by motorcycle in the Southwest, my trip from Window Rock, AZ to Canyon de Chelly (70 Miles) on Wednesday was in 50+ MPH winds and snow flurries.  Add passing trucks going 70 MPH and you have a very dangerous situation.  But, you slow down, white knuckle the bike and push on.  I love the open road.

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Canyon de Che) National Monument is a vast park in northeastern Arizona, on Navajo tribal lands.  It has been inhabited for millennium by the Anasazi, Hopi, and Navajo people.  The Canyon is known for towering cliffs, ancient Indian ruins and ancient rock carvings called petroglyphs.  It made my lists of destinations as my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Jim and Cynthia Bell highly recommended it.  And they were absolutely correct.  It is a site that inspires.

 

But, the experience would not have been the same without a bit of drama.  I was to spend the entire day in the Canyon.  But when I woke up, I was informed that the Canyon was closed due to high water in Chinle Creek, the creek that runs through the canyon.  My disappointment was huge.  So, the outfitter informed me that there was a morning rim tour that I could join and that I could check back in the afternoon and see if the Canyon was open.

So, drama turned to fortune as I did the rim tour in the morning, and the Canyon opened in the afternoon.  This gave me an opportunity to see the Canyon, with a Navajo guide, from the rim, and inside the Canyon.

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My morning guide – David (obviously not his Navajo name) giving me an overview.
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Looking into the Canyon – 800 ft High Cliff Walls
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Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly
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The temperature was 35º, wind blowing 20+ MPH and snow flurries – but, when the sun came out…
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David told me that in early AD thousands of Anasazi lived in the Canyon.  Today, 25 to 50 Navajo families still live in the Canyon and farm with no electricity or running water.  David’s grandfather passed away three years ago at the age of 97 and lived his entire life in the Canyon 

Canyon de Chelly has seen history from the Anasazi who existed here from approximately 100 to 1600 AD, the Hopi, and the Navajo.  It has seen the Spanish Conquistadors and their missionaries.  It stood witness to The Long Walk of the Navajo in 1864 where Navajos were forced to walk 400 miles from their Arizona home to eastern New Mexico.  And it stands today as a beautiful monument to nature and the Indian tribes who protect it.

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For the aftrernoon, we entered the Canyon in this impressive 6-wheel drive jeep.
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Our Canyon Guide Howard (not his Navajo name) was very dedicated and has worked with the Parks Department and archaeologists to better understand the meaning of the petroglyphs and ruins
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We crossed Chinle Creek dozens of times as we worked our way down the Canyon – Sometimes up to the floorboards.
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Our first sightings were petroglyphs high up on the canyon walls.  Each one had meaning from the hands that represented the clans to the snake that represented “the snake dance” or defiance.  The flute player, I was told, represented fertility.  There were many of these as we moved through the canyon.
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We started to see cliff dwellings very early – 100 feet in the air where the Anasazi built thousands of years ago.  The Hopi used cave dwellings to a degree and the Navajo did not.
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And the ruins became more elaborate with housing on the right and left and the Kiva (round) in the middle used for ritual rites.

Canyon de Chelly is a historic treasure and a site that inspires a love for the history of this area.  It is rugged and beautiful at the same time.  I cannot express the sense of history that the Canyon provides.

Today, I leave for Monument Valley and the four corners area.  I look forward to seeing the area that Director John Ford made famous in his John Wayne films and to continue my visit with the Navajo people.

Keep Wheeling!

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Published by Paul Kramer

Paul Kramer’s award-winning and distinguished career is characterized by a long track record of building high-performance sales and marketing communication organizations. He brings a high-energy, enthusiastic approach to marketing that is contagious and produces results. His expertise is a unique blend of creativity, technical marketing analysis, and a keen business sense for strategic positioning. He has worked with some of the world's greatest communication companies, including Grey Advertising, Bates Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi, D.L. Ryan Companies and Epsilon. He is skilled in all areas of marketing from both the agency and client side of the business. He is especially strong in strategic planning, global marketing, national brand & account management, marketing communications, licensing and business development. In addition, he has a solid thirty plus year management foundation with accomplishments in P&L management, intellectual property, forming and maintaining strategic alliances and building business. Mr. Kramer has documented successes in companies from $10 Million to $100 Million in size, with industries ranging from automotive, restaurant to consumer packaged goods and durable goods. He brings an unusually strong multi-product, multi-market background. The beneficiaries of his marketing acumen include Johnson & Johnson, M&M Mars, Cadbury, Toyota, The Stanley Works, Timex, Wal*Mart, Alcoa, Novartis and more. Mr. Kramer has received awards for his career accomplishments, including a Promotional Marketing Association Reggie for Global Marketing and a Promotional Marketing Association Reggie for Account Specific Marketing. Mr. Kramer is married to Catherine and has two beautiful daughters, Emma and Sarah, and his hobbies include tennis, motorcycling, and boating.

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8 thoughts on “Canyon de Chelly, AZ”

  2. Hey Paul. Not sure where you’re heading but you may want to stop at Mexican Hat Utah. River runs through it and you’re near Monument Valley. Great steak house … home of the Swinging Steak.

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    1. Damn, I missed it. It was 40 miles off my path and I almost went there because rumor had it that it was NOT dry. But 80 mile round trip for a drink seemed excessive. Even for me.

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