usbackroads destination--Canyon De Chelly National Monument, Navajo Nation, Arizona
From Hubbell's Trading Post it was a hour drive to Canyon De Chelly. I had visions of the National Monument being out in the middle of nowhere. Instead it is JUST out of town. The distance to the visitor center is the same from the campground as it is from the Holiday Inn.
There are two campgrounds within the Monument. One is run by the Navajo Nation and the other is out by Spyder Rock on private land. Both are rather poor. No hook-ups at Cottonwood Campground that is run by the Navajo Nation. Spurs are short and rather haphazard in their design.
The worst part of the campground were all the noxious weeds growing in the campground. The carpeting in the Casita was soon totally covered by every seed found in the campground. AND there were many!
The dump station was fine if a little crowded for large RV's. All that said, you don't go to Canyon De Chelly for the campground.
It is a very scenic and special space. There is only ONE trail that you can take to get down to the valley floor. Otherwise, you must hire a Navajo guide or be escorted by a National Park Service ranger. So this is not your typical National Monument, but one managed by both the National Park Service and the Navajo Nation..
The canyon is spectacular and well worth seeing. For some reason, most of my pictures looked much better in black and white.
Ansel Adams did take a similar picture.
I do need to do a little more "darkroom" work on my version of the picture.
Here is the National Park Service link for the National Monument: http://www.nps.gov/cach/index.htm
1 comment:
One of my most favorite places ever.
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