Picks and Pans – From Flagstaff to Canyon de Chelly

PICKS:
Petrified Forest National Park
Petrified Forest National Park is probably one of the coolest little national parks you’ve never heard of. We decided to stop off just because it happened to be on our way from Flagstaff to Canyon de Chelly, and weren’t really expecting much, especially given our previous encounter with petrified wood on this trip. What we found, however, justified a visit all on its own. From our first look, at Giant Logs Trail and through the Crystal Forest walk, we were amazed by the number, variety and surprisingly bright colors of the petrified wood. Also in the same park are geological formations that look like enormous red, white and purple tepees, a rock so covered in petroglyphs that it’s called Newspaper Rock and the Painted Desert (which does not overstate the nature of the place in its name). If you get the chance, definitely make this a stop on your journeys through the southwest.

Canyon de Chelly Campground
Canyon de Chelly Campground, like the rest of the park, is on Navajo land, and thanks to the tribe’s generosity, the campground is free on a first come, first served basis. It’s nothing fancy, but it does have flush toilets, plenty of water sources and is located right near the canyon.

Antelope House Overlook on Canyon de Chelly’s North Rim
Walking past the numerous Navajo artisans hawking their wares on our way out to the overlook, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but our first glimpse of Canyon de Chelly did not disappoint. Both nature and man have made their marks on the canyon, and as we hiked around the rocky rim, we marveled at the red and black mineral stains running down the rock walls into the valley where the Navajos still farm amongst the Anasazi ruins.

Canyon de Chelly South Rim Overlooks
The views from the South Rim’s overlooks were not as dramatic as at Antelope House, but we had a great time exploring the rock formations and canyon views beyond the official outlooks (shhh, don’t tell the rangers) at both Tseyi and Junction Overlooks. And from the looks of all the crushed Budweiser cans, the local teenagers appreciate these spots as well.

White House Hike
The hike that starts at the White House Overlook (on the South Rim) is the only hike down into the canyon that visitors are allowed to take without a Navajo guide (guides for the other hikes cost $15 per hour and will take groups with up to 15 people. Translation: it could be as cheap as $1 per hour if you’re with a big enough group). The hike starts at the canyon rim and, as you descend, new views of the canyon are around every switchback. Once on the valley floor, you can walk to an Anasazi ruin (The White House) that was built from the valley and up into the side of the canyon around 1050 A.D. Large petroglyphs are easily visible between the two levels of the ruins and there are Navajo canyon residents milling around willing to answer most questions. If you go to Canyon de Chelly, you should definitely make White House Trail a part of your visit.

PANS
Meteor Crater
I am sure that Meteor Crater is impressive and the employees at the ticket booth were more than willing to tell us all about the movie we could watch, the educational exhibits we could look at and the walk we could take around the meteor rim. They were also more than willing to take $15 from each of us to see it. Thirty dollars?! And no student discount? For a hole in the ground? I mean I thought that $20 to get into the MoMA was steep and the MoMA has some of my favorite art ever. Besides, we were more than slightly peeved that they obviously omit the price from the website and the radio infomercials broadcast for miles leading up to the crater just so they can suck you in… ERG. So, we didn’t see the crater. Although we did get a thorough viewing of the barbed wire and security cameras that completely surrounded it.