We awoke to bright sun and temperatures right around freezing. Today was our big horseback excursion deep into the canyon! We had a wonderful breakfast in the cafeteria at the Lodge where we are staying, which included blue corn pancakes, a local specialty.
We then drove a short distance to Tso’s Horse Tours, where we had arranged horses and a guide for most of the day. Our guide, Christy, met us and took us over to a local office for a permit. All visitors (other than those hiking the White House trail) are required to have a Navajo escort and purchase a permit. Permit in hand, we returned to pack our lunch into our saddlebags and mount our horses and head into the canyon. Since we entered this time from the mouth, the ride was flat. Throughout the day, we crisscrossed the Chinle wash, which runs through (and created) the canyon.
Our mustangs were alert and sure-footed, very responsive to whatever we wanted them to do. Okay, the first thing mine did when we got to the water was take a long drink, but that is consistent with my record. Laura maintained that I never really had any control over him. I was on Pale, Sara was on JoJo and Laura rode Sundowner. The morning was bright and clear and the whole experience was wonderful.
Our ultimate destination for the day was Antelope House, which is about 8-9 miles from the mouth of the canyon, on the north branch of the Y. Between our starting point and Antelope House, we saw many ruins. Even before we reached the first set of ruins, Christy pointed out petroglyphs on the canyon walls that were created by Anasazi, Hopi and Navajo. These images are carved into the “desert varnish,” which is a coating of dark stain from minerals (magnesium) washed down the canyon walls by rainwater. The petroglyphs are symbols of things that were important to these inhabitants, such as the water and the animals. We also saw representations of hands and people, including Kokopeli, the leader of all the Anasazi people (like the president, was how Christy characterized it).
The ruins were all remarkable. It is amazing to me that they were continuously occupied for over a thousand years and that they still exist. The people who lived in Canyon de Chelly traded with other Native Americans, including the inhabitants of Mesa Verde, and swapped construction knowledge and techniques. Christy pointed out that some of the buildings have very rough walls with the blocks sticking out, whereas others are much smoother, the result of advances learned from the Mesa Verde people.
The Native Americans who lived and still live in this canyon were very matriarchal. Women were the builders of the cliff dwellings and managed everything domestic within them, including gathering and storage of food for the winter months, as well as cooking. Even today, Christy explained that the land is passed within a family from mother to oldest daughter. On our ride, we passed Christy’s grandmother’s home, which is a sheep farm, as well as her aunt’s farm. Although Christy is the oldest of seven children, because Christy’s mother is not the oldest daughter in her family, Christy will not inherit either of these farms. She told us about having spent her summers here all her life, playing in the wash in the shadow of these ancient cliff dwellings.
At one of the ruins along the way, we encountered a couple of Navajo women selling jewelry and ceramics that they had made. I bought a little ceramic bear, made of white clay into which had been mixed horsehair before it was formed and fired. When the horsehair burns during firing, it results in an abstract pattern of black lines throughout the piece that is very attractive. The figure of a bear is carved into the side of the bear. Bears symbolize strength, bravery and knowledge. The girls both got silver and beaded bracelets – Laura’s has turquoise stones and Sara’s has multicolored stones. Sara also got a little carved bear on a silver chain.
After about three and a half hours and stops at several other ruin sites, we reached Antelope House. There are numerous well-preserved pictographs of antelopes and other animals and figures on the walls nearby, giving it its name. These ruins are at the level of the canyon floor, so we were quite close to them for viewing from behind the protective fence. We tied up our horses (it felt good to get off!) and walked around and ate our lunch. It was a nice break. When I asked Christy whether she and the other kids would wander this far into the canyon when they were young, she told us they would come here to get candy from the snack stand! Since it is still off season, there was no activity (or candy) at the snack stand when we were there.
Soon, we climbed back on our ponies for the return trip. The first hour was fun. Our mustangs were eager to get home and wanted to move quickly. We let them canter a little, but had to control them or they would probably have run all the way back to the barn. After an hour or so, however, we all became increasingly aware of our aches and pains from so much time in the saddles. Our bottoms were very sore, our legs were tired and our backs and shoulders were feeling the strain. Every time our horses broke into a trot (which was frequent), the bouncing was punishing. Of course, the canyon was still beautiful and serene, but we were looking forward to the end of our ride. Eventually we got back to the paddock and climbed down. In my case, I nearly crumpled to the ground, my legs were so shot.
Hot showers have never felt as good as those we took back at the Lodge! We rested briefly, but then set out in the car for Spider Rock, the farthest viewpoint on the South Rim road above the canyon. Originally we had planned to stop at all the overlooks, but our horseback adventure had taken longer than we expected, so we headed straight to Spider Rock. Native legend holds that the Spider Woman, who was a revered deity who taught the Native Americans to weave, lived on top of this tall pinnacle. Disobedient and bad children were threatened that she would kidnap them and take them up to the top of Spider Rock and eat them.
After our visit to Spider Rock, we had dinner in our Lodge cafeteria, trying a couple of the Navajo entrees featured on the menu. They were delicious! We returned to our room and all went to bed hours earlier than usual, after our long day in the saddle.
Horseback Ride to Antelope House
Spider Rock
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