Touring Northern Arizona

This past week was one of sight seeing and generally taking it easy.  The week started at Chinle, AZ where we toured Canyon De Chelly which is on the Navajo Reservation.  While there are a number of scenic viewpoints on both sides of the canyon, you truly get a different perspective from the bottom.  

As we drive, we love some of the signs we come across - like the one indicating the distance to a campground - 9.9 miles = 17.7 km - I love the math.  We went to each of the scenic overlooks and yes, they were definitely scenic.  

In order to tour through the canyon, one must take a guided tour.  After speaking to several people and checking out some of the different tours, we decided on one that was an open-air six-wheeled military vehicle and it turned out to be a great choice.  The ride was much smoother than some of the other vehicles plus you could see everything and take photos whenever your wished.

Throughout the canyon there were many ruins of the Anasazi and/or Hopi tribes as well as various petroglyphs and pictographs.  As we drove through the bottom of the canyon, one would wonder how these people could access the heights at which any ruins were built - first to be able to build them and second, to then live there.  It was obvious, however, that these locations provided protection from the climate - the overhang kept the sun off and the height gave protection from flash floods.  As well, the location also provided protection from predators.  While most that we saw seemed to be built on ledges partway up the cliff, some were also built on the valley floor.  These we were able to actual see the size of these buildings.

From here we went over to the area of Page, AZ and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  We didn't spend much time right at Page touring Lake Powell, but we did do a little touring west of there.  We took a drive to the Paria movie site.  As we drove to the site, the scenery was absolutely amazing as the contour and colouring of the cliffs was ever-changing.  And as you looked across the landscape, you could just imagine John Wayne riding across the land.  Unfortunately, the buildings from the movie site were all destroyed in a fire but the drive was terrific.

Then we went on a 1.6 mile hike to the Toadstools which are sandstone formations or hoodoos that are shaped like mushrooms.  Again, the  red sandstone against the white coloured stone provides an unbelievable backdrop.
 This fellow seemed to fill the back seat.  But he had to share it with another St .Bernard!

Two couples were touring around in this vehicle.  Have to love the designs.

And there are always the geckos - they seem to be so little here.

And the week comes to a close after a very relaxing week.  Tomorrow it is time to move on so until next week, I hope everyone has a terrific week.