Honeymoon Day 6 - Mexican Hat, UT to Grand Canyon, AZ (16 November, 2005)

Following Goosenecks, we headed out for Canyon de Chelly. We had never heard of it, but a picture on the Internet was enough to make us give it a go - in my opinion it was the most fascinating part of the trip. A Navajo settlement now called 'The White House' was built into a crevice in the sheer granite wall approximately 30 feet above the ground. The hike down was unbelievable - the setting was very unusual and at the end of the path was a traditional Navajo house 'hogan' where an old woman who appeared to be 176 years old was chopping wood for the fire burning within.

We spoke to a Navajo man who was making jewelry and his niece whose father was the head park ranger for Canyon de Chelly.

We finished at Chelly at about 2:00pm and then made our way to the Grand Canyon by way of Tuba City. After all that hiking, the 3+ hour drive was VERY long, but we had a full moon and it was quite pleasant overall. In fact, we learned an interesting thing about Native American tribes in the region...the Hopi have cell phones!!

We were hungry for a little something as we got into Tuba City (still 90 minutes from the Grand Canyon) so we stopped off at McDonald's for a Hopi Meal.

The Grand Canyon by full moonlight is quite amazing. While you can't get the same spectrum of vistas that you can when the sun is out, the soft light is quite pleasant and surprisingly you can find details that are washed out by the brighter sun.

P.S. - the Maswik Lodge is HARD to find at night!!