Canyon de Chelly. 4 Corners. to Mesa Verde

We explored more of Canyon de Chelly today - the South Rim and Spider Rock, lots of ruins on cliffsides. I am continually baffled at how people even GOT to these dwellings, nevermind lived there for hundreds of years. Insane. We did an incredible hike into the canyon to get a close up view of the "White House" dwelling. The hike was just so beautiful, the rock formations are amazing and the colors are just great. These dwellings are actually on the canyon floor, but there is a second level that they must have used ladders to get to, as it was very high up.

There were Navajo people selling some neat stuff, but I don't usually bring money with me when I hike, so I set up a time and place to meet one of them so I could by some juniper seed jewelery. Juniper seeds are made into jewelery and used to prevent nightmares. They get them from the squirrells actually. When the seeds of the juniper tree turn purple, the squirrells pick them to eat the outside, as well as a small morsel inside the seed (they poke a hole to get this out). Then they toss them aside, and the Navajo Indians collect them off the ground and drill a hole on the other side to string them. Neat, huh?!


Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly

For more pictures of Canyon de Chelly, click here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.8sycxyq3&Uy=-v9ncwj&Ux=1

We then left Canyon do Chelly, avoiding the West Nile Virus carrying mosquitoes (warnings signs posted in the valleys), and headed through an amazing part of Arizon - seeing Los Gigantos Buttes and onto 4 Corners!

4 Corners is interesting. You pay $3.oo basically to take a picture of yourself standing in four states at once - which is sooo worth it if you ask me! They also sell all kinds of Indian jewelery and souvenirs too of course. By the way, Indian Flat Bread is just another way of saying "fried dough". :)

Then we continued on into Colorado and made it into Mesa Verde National Park and found a campsite before dark.