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A guide approved by the Navajo Nation is required to hike into Antelope Slot
Canyon, near Page, and ours took us into a magical world hundreds of feet below
the sagebrush desert. Intriguing abstract shapes are cast on the sheer red
sandstone walls by slivers of sunlight from above. I’ve never experienced such deafening quiet. At one point, when lagging behind my
group to take a photo, a hawk swooped through, and the flapping of his wings
echoed like a helicopter. It was an exquisite moment of solitude in nature I’ll never forget.
Film director John Ford immortalized Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in epic
Westerns like The Searchers, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and Cheyenne Autumn. After spending the day with a native guide
exploring it, his attraction was easy to understand. At sunset, we were
thrilled by our proximity to one of the most-photographed landscapes of the
American Southwest; the iconic rock formations The Mittens seemed close enough
to touch from private balconies at The VIEW Hotel, which is owned by a Navajo
family and is the only hotel ever built inside Monument Valley.
The cliffside dwellings of ancient Anasazi people who lived in Canyon de Chelly
between AD 700 and 1300 are one of the Navajo Nation’s holiest places. We rode through a portion of the 130-mile-long canyon with a
Navajo who has lived there his entire life.
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Using a tiny mirror to reflect points of sunlight on its immense sheer walls
that rise more than 800 feet, he showed us pictograph rock art left behind by
the Basketmakers, nomads dating back to the fourth century. Several hundred
Navajo families still return each spring to farm the land and spend the summer
on the canyon floor. When our open jeep stopped in front of the White House
Ruins—an entire ancient village built high in the cliffs—we met Navajo artists selling beautiful handmade jewelry and crafts to canyon
visitors.
When it was time to bid the Navajo Nation good-bye, I realized there was so
much more to see. The history, the vistas, and the people have a captivating
quality that draws you back. One day, I’ll return. 
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When the Arizona Biltmore opened in 1929, it was christened the Jewel of the
Desert; until the mid-1970s, guests needed an invitation to visit.
Arizona is undoubtedly best known for its magnificent Grand Canyon, the 1,900-square-mile cavern that receives more than five million
visitors annually and is one of the United States’ most treasured National Parks. But this southwestern state has an abundance of
natural wonders, from ancient Native American ruins to crystal-blue lakes and
rock formations hundreds of feet taller than the Washington Monument.
A great way to explore Arizona is to fly into Phoenix for a few luxurious days
in the area’s lavish hotels and spas (see “Luxurious Stops along the Way”). Then, take a relaxing drive to some of the world’s most scenic destinations within the Navajo Nation.
When President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the two-billion-year-old Grand
Canyon a national monument in 1908, he protected what he had called a few years
earlier “the one sight that every American ought to see.” It’s amazing to view the changing hues of Dragon Corridor in one of Maverick
Helicopters’ ECO-Star glass-bottomed aircraft—it took my breath away to see the Colorado River a mile beneath my feet. I
conversed with the pilot on my headset during the forty-five-minute flight,
which took us within arm’s reach of the canyon’s red rock cliffs. Video cameras recorded the flight, and I walked away with a
CD to relive my experience—proof that all the wonders of the Grand Canyon simply cannot be seen from the
edge.
More than two thousand miles of shoreline and pristine sandy beaches span
Arizona and Utah on Lake Powell, a 186-mile-long artificial lake near Page,
Arizona, created when the Glen Canyon Dam trapped the Colorado River. It’s famous for houseboat cruising—the $80 million Antelope Point Marina has a fleet of outstanding boats that can
be rented by the night or the week, each large enough to sleep a dozen guests.
They’re beautifully furnished with full baths, state-of-the-art kitchens, and very
comfy staterooms. I loved watching the sunrise from my top-deck hot tub and,
after breakfast, embarking upon a fifty-mile speedboat trip to explore a few of
the ninety-six spectacular canyons on the lake, some of which were literally
only a few inches wider than the hull of our boat!
Midday, my companions and I pulled into Dangling Rope Marina for a short hike on
a wildflower-filled trail into the Rainbow Bridge National Monument, a
breathtaking natural rock formation that arches 290 feet above the creek that
formed it eons ago, making it the largest natural span in the world. The
Navajos believe that a rainbow turned to stone. The bridge is sacred ground for
tribal members, and visitors are asked never to pass beneath it.
As featured in
Home By Design
Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
All measurements are approximate.
Copyright 2010 Network Communications Inc.
All rights reserved.
