A morning among petroglyphs and on to Chinle

Saturday morning, we all woke a bit tired, partly because of the one hour time difference, and partly because we'd had a late night the day before. We made ourselves good coffee, and I had a cinnamon bagel with cream cheese for breakfast - everything from the supermarket at Chinle. Kate and I went off to see about a tour, and discovered Vaughn Hadenfeldt of Far Out Expeditions (http://www.faroutexpeditions.com/). We thought we would do a short trek with Vaughn and then have him take the male adults on a longer trip, but that was before we realised his treks were for the local area around Bluff and not for the real Monument Valley, which is in the Navajo reservation where there are many restrictions on where you can go and where a guide is usually required. Kate and I set off for 2 hours and Vaughn took is on a wonderful trek down a small nearby canyon lined with rock art. It was a special two hours, as Vaughn having worked with many archaeological projects in the area, is extremely knowledgeable and quite well known in his own right for some of the projects he has undertaken. Originally from a ranch in Colorado, he now hates horses, is an expert rock climber and leads treks among other things to make a living.

When we got back to the Adams house, we gave the rest of the party a choice: do a trek with Vaughn or do Monument Valley. The popular choice was Monument Valley. We have all decided to come back to Bluff next year for a full week to do some day treks with Vaughn, if he is available, and to take another day going down the San Juan River (not white water rafting but a more gentle but very spectacular experience). So off we went, all packed up with the cool box full of hard boiled eggs and chicken sandwiches courtesy of Chidi. What can I say about Monument Valley: it was more gasps as the familiar iconic views unfolded before our eyes. Stormy clouds were boiling across the horizon and every now and then we ran into flurries of heavy rain, which we could see arriving from far away - it added an extra dimension to the vistas before us. We took the obligatory "I was there" photos and stopped and bought a few little things form a couple of Navaho Jewellery stores by the side of the road. Then we made for Chinle via Kayenta, arriving at Thunderbird Lodge, Chinle at the mouth of Canyon de Chelly at about 6:15. Before settling down, some of us went to meet the horse trek organisers in a little spread a bout half a mile up the road from our hotel. There we found a guy called Shorty who makes up for his lack of height with a long bushy beard that covers most of his face. He told us what trips were available on horseback and helped us connect with the Navajo manager, Justin, and he recommended Navajo guide "Terrell". Four of us will take a ride down the canyon tomorrow morning, and those with energy left will accompany Chidi (who does not want to ride) on a 3-4 hour trek probably getting back by moonlight in the early evening. We had to eat at Burger King as we couldn't find anything better. Hmm!