October 12-14, 2008, Canyon de Chelly, AZ
2 nights overnight on the Canyon Floor w/Navajo Guide
Pictures compliments of Kim Trieber
of Taos Saddle Club
Canyon de Chelly, consisting of almost 84,000 acres, in NE Arizona, (It's entrance is in Chinle, Arizona, 90 miles northwest of Gallup and Window Rock.) It is about 7 hours driving time from Taos with a 40 minute break for lunch. With a guide you can ride right into the mouth of the canyon and go up either of the two forks. Everyone who enters the canyon by horse or jeep canyon needs permission from the Visitors Center and everyone needs to have a Navaho guide. The guide's cost is about $10 to $15 per hour. The Park is very unique among National Parks, as it consists entirely of Navajo Tribal Trust Land that remains home to the canyon community. The only exception to enter without a Guide is the White House Ruin Trail. Most park visitors arrive by automobile and view Canyon de Chelly from the rim from the top, following both North Rim Drive and South Rim Drive. Ancient ruins and geologic structures are visible, but in the distance, from turnoffs on each of these routes. Tours of the canyon floor can be booked at the visitor center. There is no fee to see the canyon. The cost is for the Navajo guide (per hour) which is required when you access the Canyon floor by jeep or horse. (More info here . . .)
Scroll down, many pictures below . . .
Just one of hundreds of great shots, thanks to member, Kim Trieber-Thompson
Such a fabulous trip by all. Great scenery, horses,
Navajo guides, weather, & group fellowshipWhite House Anasazi Ruins
James, one of our Navajo guiides Nugget and Ringo relaxing at our campsite Another beautiful canyon Hunting Petroglyphs roaming Navajo pony Curious Wild Mustangs "Window Rock"
"Eagle Rock" Spider Rock, destination of our 28-mile
round trip rideJustin Tso, our Navaho (Dine) Organizer.
Dine is the Indian word of Navajo
Kimberly Casara "Eagle Rock" Dave and Marie Griffith & Sonny Canyon Floor, part of group and guide Pictoglyphs Picture 17 Kimberly in a Kodak Canter Moment
Gallup area on from highway
Canyon de Chelly is a spiritual place and why horseback riding is
one of the best ways to experience its splendor.For custom picture work or additional shots from this ride
contact our member: Kim Trieber-Thompson's
kat@laplaza.org 758-7840 home 613-6127 cell
Near the the Four Corners Monument Area. Some higher elevations have a dust of snow. Labeled natural features are the Chuska mountains (CM), the Carrizo Mountains (C), Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park (MV), Black Mesa, Arizona (B), Canyon de Chelly National Monument (CdC), and the Defiance Uplift (D). Labeled towns are Farmington, New Mexico (F), Gallup, New Mexico (G), Window Rock, Arizona (WR), and Kayenta, Arizona (K).A spectacular geologic feature is Spider Rock, a sandstone spire that rises 800 feet (240 m) from the canyon floor at the junction of Canyon de Chelly and Monument Canyon. Spider Rock can be seen from South Rim Drive. It has served as the scene of a number of television commercials.
Canyon de Chelly National Monument was established April 1, 1931, as a unit of the National Park Service and is located in northeastern Arizona within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation. The monument covers 131 square miles (339 km2) and encompasses the floors and rims of the three major canyons: de Chelly, del Muerto, and Monument. These canyons were cut by streams with headwaters in the Chuska mountains just to the east of the monument.
Its 83,840 acres (339 kmē), all Navajo Tribal Trust Land, preserves artifacts of the early indigenous tribes that lived in the area, including the Ancient Pueblo Peoples (also called Anasazi) and Navajo.
