Bearing the Heat - Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona

We are camping at Cottonwood Campground, Canyon de Chelly National Monument near Chinle, AZ. The campground is near the Visitor's Center for the national monument, at the lower ends of Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. It is shaded by a wonderful grove of cottonwood trees, which makes the 100' temperatures tolerable. It is fairly remote, but is adjacent to the concessionaire-operated Thunderbird Lodge, which has free wireless Internet, which we can receive on our site. Geek heaven. Also, the campground is free. While it doesn't have water and electric at the campsites, it does have nice paved sites, new picnic tables, running water at the bathhouses and a dump station. The campground is as nice or nicer than most other NPS campgrounds, some of which charge as much as $15 and $20 per night. Go figure. Staying in the campground is a fellow from Phoenix driving a Safari TREK. When I talked with him I realized I had met him at a Safari TREK Fun Club Rally near Asheville last September. Small world.

Canyon de Chelly is a box canyon, up to 1000' deep occupied by the Navajo people, who still live and farm in the canyon. There are a number of Anasazi ("the Ancient Ones") ruins in the canyon, dating back as far as about 700 A.D. With the exception of a single trail, the trail to White House ruin, one must be accompanied by a Navajo guide to enter the canyon. However, many of the ruins can be viewed from the overlooks along the rim. Today we drove along the north and south rims, viewing from each of the overlooks. We also walked the 3-mile round trip to White House ruin.

We have been here for two nights and will leave in the morning. We will go at least as far as Page, AZ or Lee's Ferry. If we feel lucky we may go on to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, but tomorrow is the Friday beginning 4th of July week. When I checked for vacancies at the North Rim campground, the next opening was for a 15' site on July 2. I don't think we could even get the Honda into that site. Page, AZ is the location of the Glen Canyon dam and Lee's Ferry is the traditional put-in for most Grand Canyon float trips. Barry Goldwater, that GOP senator from AZ, said before his death that supporting the construction of the Glen Canyon dam was one of his biggest regrets. The Glen Canyon dam flooded the beautiful Glen Canyon and its tributaries. It also drastically changed the character of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. It has eliminated the natural flooding and increased the clarity of the water, significantly altering the flora, fauna and land forms in the canyon. Glen Canyon dam opponents have predicted the dam will eventually fail, and that nature will prevail in the end. I don't have a problem with that, but I would like to see the dam once while it is still here. If it ever does fail, I wouldn't want to ride that wave!

Myron