What a beautiful sunrise at El Morro! Then, somehow I managed to fall out of the camper and onto my butt. Thankfully, I did not get badly hurt just bruised.
My mornings are never dull with these two!
While driving, I randomly thought about the woman that was injured driving down the Seward hwy on her way home from work. Large pieces of ice fell from the cliffs and landed on her car badly injuring her. I could not remember her name or when it actually happened but while at the gas station I checked Facebook and on my newsfeed there was a post from her page. Her name is Amanda and today is the two year anniversary of the crash that almost killed her but definitely changed her life forever. So today while I hiked I did it for her. I am not going to take for granted what I can do today. She commented on some things that she will never be able to do again and so for her I am going to enjoy what I can.
Beginning of White House Trail
Going below the rim!
Ella loves the view.
600 feet below and across the canyon is the ruin. So called White House because of the white color of the house on top. This publeon group grew crops on the canyon floor. The Anasazi people built the ruins in this canyon. The Navajo people came later and are descendants of the Athabascans. The Navajos build and live in hogans. I didn't get a photo of a hogan because you have to ask permission to take photos of their property.
They estimate that about 100 people lived here in the 60 rooms.
There are pictoglyphs on the rock wall. Some are etched in as well but most were made with paint. You can invision how high the bottom home reached by the location of the rock art.
I had to hold up the sign.
Return hike into the wind
Very dusty. Look at Ella's cute legs hanging out! We are getting our money's worth with the ergo.
She napped while we worked on climbing back up the 600 feet of canyon wall. The 2.5 mile trip took us an hour and it was a very beautiful hike.
In middle left of the photo is the ruin.
This is spider rock. Along the drive of the south rim there are several places to stop at and spot other ruins. Some look like the inhabitants dropped down from the rim to reach their homes and others climbed up from the canyon floor.
We are in Navajo Nation and the monument is within their land. They still work and live here. The White House Trail is the only trail you can hike on without a Navajo guide. The reservation, like many others we have driven through, is littered with plastic bags and trash. The only difference that I noted right away is the lack of a sparkling roadside. Then I read, alcohol sales are prohibited here. A ban on plastic bags would help clean up the reservation as well. We noticed this difference in South Africa. I was handed a pamphlet at the NPS visitor center that says on average 2 million dollars are spent every year to clean up illegal dumps. Can you imagine what that money would do if it was used differently? Maybe the illegal stuff would cease.
This is our third day without power and water hookups. It's been dropping into the 20s at night. This is our third day without a shower!!! I'm ready for a hot shower and for some warmer temps. We actually saw some snow flurries today while on the drive.
I was able to shop at Safeway today!! Yay! I'm tired of walmart but half the time that is all that is left.
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