"The most sacred place on Earth"

Monday, July 28, 2008

Joseph Campbell said Canyon de Chelly was "the most sacred place on Earth." 

We decided to try the White House hike with the kids - It was 1 and 1/4 mile down and then 1 and 1/4 mile up. Daunting signs like this and the fact that it was a 800 foot drop (OK, sloping drop) made us reconsider our plan several times early on, but we went for it anyway!

Here is what we saw as we entered the canyon! You can see the river bed here and off to the right were fields of corn (There are parts of the canyon marked off because Navajos live here)
One of our many breaks in the rare shade.
Heading into the meadow
A scream from Eleni here! "Look guys! It's the meadow! Now we can see the donkey!"

Ok, here is where the faint of heart need to either skip the next photo or brave it...the answer to the question, "how did Eleni get down the canyon?" is featured in the next photo. Yes, donkey pooh!
Top right hand corner. I can't tell you how many deposits we counted to keep her going...
The canyon floor! We were feeling mighty proud of ourselves at this point (we had not yet considered the return trip). It took us about an hour to get here.

The White House - ancient Anasazi dwellings

On the route back, Eleni and I took cover in a cave. The hike up was long and arduous, but Alex and Eleni did it all by themselves! No help or "uppys!" (pick me up!) What helped us out...gum, of course!

We met some sheep on the way up!

Overall, one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of our journey. And while it did not touch any of us as particularly sacred (as Joseph Campbell's quote implies), but we were definitely in awe. This is a place I would like to return to someday.

We didn't eat here, but it's a pretty ironic sign to find in the middle of Chinle, Navajo Nation (the town next to the Canyon)
On our way home, we made one more stop to see Spider Rock.

Legend has it that Spider Rock is where Spider Woman originated - she taught many of the Native American tribes to weave.

This spot is very close to where the famous (or infamous depending on your point of view) Kit Carson forced the Navajos to surrender in 1864. The Navajos' raids on American settlers were seen as a threat and the Navajos were rounded up and forced to make "the Long Walk" as Prisoners of War to Fort Sumner in New Mexico. Finally, in 1868, after many complaints from the Navajos of the horrible conditions there, the Navajos were allowed to return to their homeland.

This is where we stayed for two nights - it's a large hogan with eight sides. It is the real thing - it belonged to the Navajo Grandparents of our campground owner, Howard. It's over 100 years old! The floor is just the red dirt you can see on the outside - we were covered in it each morning! But, we enjoyed it thoroughly and it certainly helped put our consumer society in perspective if this space housed a family!

Many Navajos (their real name is Dine) still live in these and you can see them clustered together along with trailers as many still live in their family groups. 

Can you see the CDC monkeys?

After our hike and our lunch, we returned to the campsite. Alex and Eleni's friends from California were waiting for them and the four had a good 5 hour romp! They created a store called the Beetle Boys and tried to sell art work and cacti pieces (that had already fallen off) to people at the campsite. I think they made 50 cents each (from parents...and one kindly neighbor). We toasted smores again and enjoyed the company of an adventurous California family.