From Gallup to Chinle

When we left Cibola NF, we drove into Gallup, NM, to top the gas tank in the rv. As always, Bob researched gas prices before going into anew state. Bob found that gas in New Mexico was a bit less expensive than we would find in northeast Arizona.

From Gallup we turned north on highway 264 and drove until we reached Ganado, Arizona.We wanted to tour Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site.

 It was an interesting tour and we learned quite a bit about trading posts on the Navajo Reservation. Navajos still bring their handcrafted items to the post and trade for items they need such as flour, ceremonial baskets, or Zuni salt
  Of course we also found the geocache located at the trading post.

From the trading post we continued to our destination for the next two nights--Chinle, Arizona and Canyon de Chelly. Bob and I were looking forward to hiking to the White House Ruin. It is the only ruin you can get close to without a Navajo guide.

 After we arrived and set up camp in the Cottonwood Campground, we set off to drive the north rim of the park.

From the overlooks we saw all the ruins. They reminded us of our visit to Mesa Verde in Colorado. We learned that some of the people of Mesa Verde had come to this area to live, also.

The next day we got up early to go to the overlook for White House Ruin and the trail head. We wanted to hike before it got too hot. We were both wondering how we would do hiking at elevation. We had been hiking about 4 miles a day for some time, but that was all at sea level or 1000 feet! Canyon de Chelly is 5500 feet high!

The hike down to the canyon floor is about 1 1/2 miles and the average time to complete the entire hike is 2 hours. Going down was a breeze!

The scenery was gorgeous and the trail was interesting. We walked behind several huge boulders and through one long tunnel. Once we got to the bottom, the ruin was fenced so we couldn't get very close.

 We took some pictures and then began the walk back to the top of the canyon. Did I mention that the trail had a 500 foot change in elevation? Well, it got to me on the way up. I had to stop and rest several times.

Later that afternoon, we drove the remainder of the south rim drive to visit the other overlooks.

One thing we noticed about the Chinle area, all the animals tend to roam the streets. Wherever we drove, we always saw horses roaming the streets, even in the center of town! As we were leaving, this dog was herding these sheep to the other side of the road. A goat turned and went the other way to avoid the dog! We even saw a pig by the side of the road, not a javelina, but a domesticated pig!

Next stop, one of our favorites--Goosenecks of the San Juan River State Park, Utah!