Sunday 4/2

Up early and on my way to see the canyon. There is a road that goes up both sides of the canyon with 6 of 7 overlooks. Only one place to hike down and see some ruins fairly close. Any where else you need a Navajo guide. Now the canyon is still habited. You can see tracks but I saw no vehicles. I saw lots of horses.

Horses run free in Arizona….. or maybe the Navajo Nation? Lots of reservations. Most places have a OLD hogan and a house that looks like it was built in 70s and at least one trailer. Everything is worn.

Tons more litter and trash everywhere. Poor. Everyone has a nice sporty coupe tho. The rain has made the dirt roads impassable to sedans. They are all parked on the pavement. The trucks can negotiate the muck.

So off I go down to White House Ruin. Take a picture as I start down, never got another. Didn’t change battery! It was a great hike with beautiful views. First one down, no one else there for awhile but when they arrived it was a never ending trickle. Headed back up. Just switched backed up the canyon wall. A hard slog up.

I see a lot of people taking pictures of each other in these scenic spots. LOTS of phone cameras. Today a couple, same thing, I offer to take a picture of them. EVERYONE I have offered to help have been smiley. I take a decent picture, but I always have them check. I had a Asian couple come back 5 minutes later for a specific shot in Monument Valley. Done.

So did my hike and continued to the remaining overlooks. Bought some jewelry from Andrew at one of the overlooks. He had his portfolio with his picture & National Geo + Arizona Highways. I liked it, it was not very expensive. The girls will like it!

I ended up doing a 120 mile loop around Canyon de Chelly. Got back on US191 headed south and it is truly a road less traveled. High desert country 5-6 thousand feet. Overnighting in Lyman Lake State Park just outside St. John’s, AZ. Okay spot $33.00. THE most I’ve paid. Here’s the deal, I got electric, water and sewer! Bingo, I can drain my sanitized water and my holding tanks and fill with good water plus charge everything up! Fully operational come tomorrow. OH, oh they have showers here. Maybe I’ll take one.

There are some Petroglyphs walks right here that I want to do in the morning then headed for the Thatcher / Stafford area. I think it’s about 150 miles or so. The weather is warmer but another 150 south should clinch the deal. Good night.
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