Vacation Photos--Canyon de Chelly and its "Other" Ruins

Ruins (whose name I don't remember) in Canyon de Chelly

  After we recovered a bit from our hike back up from the White House Ruins in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, we headed off to see the canyon's other sites.  Those are overlooks along the North and South Rims of Canyon de Chelly and one of its "connector" canyons, Canyon del Muerto (Canyon of Death). 

Then we heard it again!  That rattly vehicle!  Here it is with passengers . . .

We got to the point where we were searching all alcoves in the cliffs for possible ruins.  Those Ancient Ones were brave to put their homes in these nearly inaccessible alcoves!

The descriptive sign explained that the ruins to the right were from structures built earlier than the structures to the left.  The structures to the left were built in the Mesa Verde "style." 

You'll get to see plenty more Mesa Verde structures later!!

So, our culture is certainly not the first to move in and remodel or upgrade pre-existing housing.  Recycling, reusing, repurposing.  It's been around for a loonngg time. 

See the little structure in the little alcove? 

There were structures in all kinds of alcoves.  We peered into all alcoves we could see.  We used our binoculars to see if there were ruins in alcoves that caught our eye.  Ummm . . . and how did they get to it?  I'm not a fan of ladders or heights or boulders that hang out into nothing, so I would not have made it in this culture, I think. 

More sandstone abstraction.

Back in the car and down the road to visit more lands of the Ancient Ones. 

Vacation Photos--Canyon de Chelly's White House Ruins

View near the start of the White House Ruins Trail in Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona.

A small desert dweller on the sandstone next to the trail

The ancient people who lived in Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "shay") built homes in the canyon.  They used alcoves in the canyon walls for some of their structures.  The White House Ruins Trail takes you to one of these ruins.  This is the only trail that non-Navajos can take into the canyon without a guide.  It's about a mile and a quarter down into the canyon, but centuries back in time. 

Part of the trail is carved from the sandstone walls of the canyon

Before you know it, you're well down into the canyon.

Some Navajos live and farm down here in the canyon.  We passed a young Navajo couple leading a mare and her colt.

Once you work your way around a bend and cross the wash with water in it (foot bridges, thank goodness), you spot this amazing sight.

White House Ruins (photo taken by my man)

There is a structure at the base of the cliff alongside the wash.  There is also the structure in the alcove part way up the cliff.  The Ancient Puebloans lived in the canyon until the mid-1300's. 

After we looked at the ruins and took waayy more photos that I'm showing here, we picked a spot in the shade of some cottonwoods for our snack.  While we were sitting there enjoying the shady quiet, we heard a rattling vehicle approaching.  It's a vehicle used for tours in the canyon.  On this leg of its trip, it had no passengers.  You can see it has no shade.  It's called "Shake and Bake," referring to the "comfort" of its ride and its lack of shade. 

After our quiet time in the shade, we started our trip back up the trail to the canyon's rim.  As we stopped to catch our breath and to get a bit of a break from the hot sun, I took some abstract looking photographs of the canyon wall.  Here's one.

After a few switchbacks and a few more "photo" stops, we finally made it to the top of the rim!  There was a pleasant breeze that hadn't been able to make it down into the canyon.  We walked to the overlook and saw where we had been from a different perspective. 

Then we were off to the next chapter of our adventure.

Vacation Photos--Canyon de Chelly's Spider Rock at Sunset

Spider Rock at Canyon de Chelly, Arizona

What do you do when you've set up your camp in the campground, had your dinner, done your dishes, and there's still sunlight left at a beautiful canyon location?  Grab your camera and head for an overlook!

The setting is beautiful.  The light was wonderful.  It was just the two of us for most of the time.  There was another couple for a while.  The male half of the couple offered photography tips to me, clicked away, and then left!!  How could you not stay for this?! 

Turkey vulture near Spider Rock

There was another young man at the overlook.  He stayed the whole time we did.  However, he was braver than we were and climbed over the short wall and sat on the rocks that REALLY overlooked the canyon.  He enjoyed the entire spectacle in silence.  We saw him again the next day on the White House Ruins trail into the canyon. 

I'm warning you:  we took LOTS of pictures from this overlook.  I'll not share ALL of them with you, but it's such a special place . . .

According to the Navajos (Dine), Spider Rock is the home of Spider Woman, the savior of the Navajos from the monsters who were killing the people.  Spider Woman taught the ancestors of the Navajos how to weave on a loom.  Spider Woman also enforces obedience in children. 

Mother Nature cooperated beautifully.

My man took some fantastic photos!  He did some black and whites.

Then he switched to color.

What a way to start an adventure in a special part of the world . . .