Canyon de Chelly

Another late start today. Eating dinner at 10pm meant I didn't fall asleep until 3am. I woke up around 9 and was on the road at 10. It was just a short drive (about 2hrs) from Kayenta to Chinle down 163 and 191. Russ had tipped me off to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced shay) and I didn't really know anything about it or what it looked like but Russ hasn't steered me wrong yet so I figured it'd be worth a look while I was in the neighborhood. It's a bit of an odd park. There are two rim drives, north and south, which are run by the national park service. The actual valley floor (and some property on the rim) are still Navajo Tribal land. To get to the valley floor you need a guide, except for one trail.
I decided to start at the south rim and that turned out to be the right choice. A few overlooks in is the White House Ruins overlook. This is the start of a 2.5 mile (round trip) hike down to the valley floor to the White House Ruins, this is the only way down on your own. I figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity and headed off. I remembered to bring water today but I forgot to put on sunscreen (clear blue sky, sun high overhead, no shade). The hike down took about 45 minutes (I think) with switchbacks down the side of the canyon wall, fairly narrow in places. The views on the way down are spectacular. As you descend the angles change and more of the valley floor becomes visible. Once down to the floor there's a short hike out to the ruins. They're tucked into caves at the base of this imposing sheer wall. There were some kids playing in the creek near the ruins and the splashing and laughter was echoing from the walls and sounded like they were coming from the ruins, it was a bit eerie.
After taking a bunch of pics and resting a bit I started back up the hill. I thought it had taken 45 minutes to come down (seemed about right for 1.25 miles) so I was expecting a long climb out. The first time I stopped for rest (gasping for air, this place is over 6k feet up) I had been walking up the trail for 10 minutes. I made it up a few more switchbacks and took another break, 17 minutes. Then I passed a spot that I thought I remembered seeing right at the beginning and sure enough a few more switchbacks up and I was back at the top. I'm not sure how I mixed up the times but it seemed like a much shorter walk out than the walk down. Temps at the top were pretty cool (80s) and there was a good breeze blowing so I took some time to cool off and catch my breath. My legs were so tired that I stalled the car backing out of the parking space :)
I continued down the path all the way to the Spider Rock Overlook which is the last spot on the south rim drive. There are two rock spires that stand in the middle of the valley floor next to a stream. In the distance is a volcanic core. I stopped at the Sliding Rock Overlook on the way back out and got the best dangling feet shot of the trip so far. That's 700ft straight down to a farm below and just an incredible view of the valley below.
It was almost 4pm by now and I had a 200 mile drive to Moab ahead of me so I left the park without visiting the north rim drive. Russ, thanks for the heads up, it was well worth the trip and I can't wait to get back! :)
It took about 3hrs to get up to Moab, a pretty nice town but more bike shops than restaurants. Tomorrow I'm off to Arches and maybe Capitol Reef. I'm already booked for a hotel at Capitol Reef so I can do that tomorrow or Thursday. Bryce and Zion are up after that.

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