Canyon Tour of Canyon de Chelly

We decided to do a group tour into the canyon.  Remember, its Navajo land ... so the only way to tour the canyon is by either hiring a Navajo guide to ride in your vehicle with you  (that might be cool - but the water looks a little fast.) or going on a tour in a six wheeled jeep (sort of looks like a duck tour) with a Navajo guide.  So off we went.  There is only one way for vehicles to get into the canyon - the way the water goes.  So up the river we went.  The water was a little high because the weather has been warm and the snow is melting in the mountains.  In June the river dries right up.

The ride was an awesome adventure.  At one point we got stuck going up a bank and the guide had to use a winch to get us out.

The wildlife in the canyon - mule deer, turkeys, coyotes, mountain lions and black bears - Yikes.

The farms in the canyon are only used during the summer.  They also have a house on the top of the mesa and winter there.  Most families wait until the kids are out of school.  They grow peaches, apricots, apples and other vegetables along with goats and cattle.  Some of the farms use primitive methods and others have a John Deere tractor parked around back.  I think its mostly primitive farming though.  I never did see a tractor. 

Its crazy to see these farms amongst cliff dwellings and pictographs.

They are fenced off, so its hard to get a picture - the sun was not at the best angle either.  On the left you can see two indians on horses hunting an antelope.

There are little peck holes in the canyon walls - these are trails - hand and foot holes - that the Navajo used to climb up and down the canyon walls - totally CRAZY.  The kids still use them today.  The parents will send them down from the top for some fruit!!!!  The parents will be looking for them on the top and the kids sneak off to play in the water in the canyon....  Our guide told us that last year he saw a kid going up with a bucket of fruit.  I can't even imagine.

This ruin is called the White House - for the plaster on the top layer.

This pictograph was done at two different times.  The white are Anasazi - the brown antelope were added in later by Navajo.

This is Antelope House ruins - named for the pictographs in the previous picture.

The top of this huge rock is where the Navajo (men, women, children AND livestock) held out against the enemy for three months.  The men would make a human chain in parts and sneak down at night to get water when they ran out.

This is a farm that has a John Deere tractor around back.

We left Chinle after our tour and headed for Monument Valley in Utah - on the way we got another flat tire ... fortunately it was on a pretty flat section of road and the weather was good - Tom had it changed and we were on the road in half an hour.

Here's the view from the campground

... and our evening stroll ...

Tom is under the arch - and its not golden.

Check back tomorrow to see how the search for yet another spare goes ....