Last April while on a business trip, I, along with two colleagues, visited Canyon de Chelly in north eastern Arizona. One of the highlights of any visit is a trip to the White House ruins. But to get there you need to cross this stream. We had no problem crossing the stream on the way in. We had a big problem on the way out. We had thought we had rented a 4WD SUV. We had not. And it took eight (!) tries to get across the stream and up the bank. The bank is much steeper than it appears in this image and is all soft sand. Our driver, and the guy who rented the SUV, tried six times. Then our guide, all trips inside the canyon require a Navajo guide, took over. This shot is of his second and ultimately successful attempt to get across.
We would later get stuck in the sand and need to get towed out. Fortunately there are Navajo living in the canyon, and our guide happened to know a fellow with a pickup truck and a chain who was passing by.
We were supposed to have a different guide, but the hotel screwed up and over booked trips for the day. So they had to scramble to find us a guide. Lucky for us they found the one they did. And in a curious coincidence, I had visited the canyon on September 2006 on a family trip. My brother arranged the trip into the canyon. And we had the same guide.
1 comment:
What an ordeal! I've heard Canyon de Chelly is fascinating. Hope to see more from your trip...
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