Road Trip Report

After leaving St.Louis early on New years Eve day Sarah and I were at the Acoma Pueblo in time for an early afternoon tour. The Pueblo is about 40 miles west of Albuquerque on a mesa at almost 8,000 ft. The day was bright clear. A bitter cold wind was sweeping the mesa. We had momentary shelter in the church, built by Indians over 12 years under the heavy hand of the Spanish priests in the early 1600s. Hard packed earth floor, heavy pine roof beams, nine foot thick walls, it served as a fortress for resisting warriors when the Spanish retook the Pueblo after the Indian rebellion of 1680. We froze walking the the dusty streets, but it was quite amazing. (The first time time I've seen a mica window.) Those living on the mesa have no electricity, water or plumbing. According to our guide, water is the major problem. After warming up from our descent from the mesa, we pigged at the all you can eat steam trays troughs at the Sky City Casino and headed east and north for Chinle and Canyon de Chelly.

New Years day was clear and cold (about 10 degrees) early in the day. We found a Navajo guide, Ben Teller to take us into the Canyon. Ben is an old timer who has guided since 1957 and lives in the Canyon near Antelope House. As we hiked down from the rim along a snowy trail he filled us in on the doings of his 10 grandchildren, and the stories of life in the canyon passed down to him by his grandfather. His family memories go back to the time of the captivity at Fort Sumner.

We spent about 4 hours hiking the the Canyon bottom, occasionally passing hogans and small flocks of sheep. About 150 people live within the canyon in cabins and hogans. Ben told us his cabin is typical. He hauls water from the river and stores it in a cave to keep it from freezing in the winter. He has a small generator and uses a Coleman stove to cook.

We exited the canyon near the White House ruins. A fine day. PHOTO ALBUM