Friday May 5, 2023 - Lyman Lake to Canyon de Chelly

 

Spider Rock

We got up early with a nice clear blue sky. No more rigs had pulled in last night so only 3 of us total on the beach. Not much to pack up, so turn the key (actually push the button) and drive away.

Next town with the possibility of breakfast was St Johns where we had two choices, the Village Cafe or El Cupido. El Cupido had more trucks parked outside so it was Milo’s obvious choice. In retrospect, the other might have been the wiser choice, but tasty omelet and hash browns.

Small restaurant tacked onto a convenience store. You had to buy your coffee at the convenience store.

We stopped at the Dollar General next door to find milk and soon realized there was a full blown grocery store across the street disguised as a hardware store. Sugar and some cocoa mix.

Back on RT 191 and the desert is definitely changing to grassland.

Hubbell Trading Post

We saw a sign for the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site in the town of Ganado. Looked kind of sleepy but it was actually a great stop. The Park Service and the Navajo have some kind of relationship which lets the U.S. Government put these things on the reservation. It all works but the tour guide said on a couple occasions “this is YOUR park, not ours”. Hubbell ran the trading post and was very successful because he was a decent guy. He spoke Navajo and gained the respect of the locals. The Navajo ranger was very fun. He was very excited to show us the two Great Horned Owls that had moved into the big cottonwood tree outside of the building. They were huge. The lighter fluffy one was the fledgling, although it seemed to be the same size as its full grown mother. There is still a working store that sells dry goods (flour, sugar, spam, etc) as well as gifts.

The ranger offered to show us Hubbell’s house which was preserved from when people lived there in the 1930’s. Amazing paintings and drawings, especially the “redheads” done by E.A. Burbank. The ranger’s last Anglo name was Burbank so as the ranger said, maybe E.A. left more than paintings here in Ganado..

A good stop but now back on RT 191. We soon arrived at Canyon de Chelly National Monument and found there was lots of space at the Cottonwood Campground (the park campground). Self register, $20. Next stop was the visitor center where we got the latest info and closures, etc.

The North Rim is the drive most people do in the morning, and the South Rim is usually done in the evening so you get the nice sun pictures. We did the North Rim first and stopped at every overlook. Amazing that people lived in these stone houses tucked up on the side walls. We were also surprised to see lots of green grass and trees down in the canyon floor. Navajos still farm down there. They grow what looks like hay and there are sheep, beef cows, and horses grazing. You can’t go down there without a Navajo guide and because of high water, all the tours are closed anyway.

Back to the campground where we made a quick supper and then drove the 37 miles round trip on the South Rim. This is a surprisingly nice park that is free and easy to visit. We caught the last overlook, Spider Rock, just as the sun dropped and got probably the best pictures of the day.

Back to the campground and right to bed. Another good day.

Odo = 5550