Hiking in Canyon De Chelly

The weather is perfect for hiking and yesterday we decided to do the "White House" trail here in Canyon De Chelly. It is a mile and a half hike down to the canyon floor. It also includes an elevation change of 600 feet, which was OK on the way down, a killer on the way back up. The path is excellent, very well maintained and they even cut steps into the rock to make the hike a little easier.

This is Indian land that we are on and every lookout along the route today had artists selling silver jewellery, pottery and rock paintings. Mary, being the artist in the family, was very impressed with the work and ended up buying a number of pieces. Here the artist explains the meaning of the symbols he used in his art.

Can you see a portion of the trail curving through the right side of the picture? We followed this path down onto the floor of the valley to see some Navajo ruins.

This is what we came to see; the "White House", named for the long wall in the upper dwelling that was covered with plaster by the first dwellers. This settlement was used over a 1,000 years ago and then abandoned because of drought and crop failures. Today, this whole valley is sacred to the Navajo people and much of the area is off limits to tourists. Most interesting is that the Navajo still inhabit the area, farming and raising sheep, cattle and horses, which roam freely throughout the canyon and the towns.