HIKE OF THE MONTH CANYON DE CHELLY

Tour the White House (Ruins)

THEY SAY WOMEN HAVE a way of knowing. However, they don't say what it is we're supposed to know. My search for knowing took me across the Navajo Nation, where I decided to take the steep 2.5mile round-trip trail that descends 600 feet into Canyon de Chelly to the ancient White House Ruins. But it wasn't the cliff dwelling that had captured my imagination. I wanted to walk in the footsteps of the women who had once used this trail to move sheep in and out of the canyon along this pathway, the name of which in Navajo means "Woman's Trail Up." I started the descent along the slippery sandstone. The rock rippled out like the ancient sea that laid down these layered sandstone beds more

than 200 million years ago. After a few feet of this slick, shallow descent, I came to the steeper trail into the canyon. Here and there, benches perched along the narrow curves offered a moment's respite from the moderately strenuous walk. Stunted junipers twisted out of the rock. Prickly pear, snakeweed, sumac, sagebrush and narrowleaf yucca thickened as I approached the canyon bottom. Soaring high on all sides, wide expanses of rippled red reached up to touch the cerulean sky. Off to the left, a fence protected a hogan surrounded with signs warning against unwanted photographs. The sandy path curved forward, hemmed in with thick brush, where pieces of white fleece from passing sheep dangled in the branches. I walked across a narrow wooden bridge spanning the water that helped to carve out the canyon and rounded one last curve to find myself faced with the majesty of a long-lost culture. With 60 rooms in the lower section and another 20 tucked away in the cliff, this ancestral Puebloan structure housed as many as 100 people between A.D. 1060 and 1275. I watched the sun cut deep shadows along the walls and mused at the pictograph fish swimming high overhead in a sandstone sea, before turning to retrace STONE SANDWICH With double-sided, flatstone walls sandwiching rubble filling, White House Ruins mimic a style first seen in New Mexico's Chaco Canyon Great Pueblos.

online Before you go on this hike, visit arizonahighways.com for other things to do and places to see in this area. You'll also find more hikes in our archive. when you go Location: 220 miles northeast of Flagstaff. Getting There: From Flagstaff, take Interstate 40 east to U.S. Route 191. Turn left (north) onto U.S. Route 191 and drive approximately 80 miles to Chinle. Turn right onto Indian Route 7 and drive 2 miles to the Canyon de Chelly Monument visitors center. Turn right and follow the South Rim Drive 5.9 miles to the White House Overlook. Travel Advisory: Spring and fall are the best seasons to hike the trail. Carry plenty of water. Additional Information: Canyon de Chelly National Monument, (928) 674-5500.

DEFENSIVE DEN

Dwarfed by the patina-streaked walls of Canyon de Chelly, the fortresslike ruins nestle in the security of its defensive position.

my path back up to the rim. The silent solitude brought me closer to my own nature as I began the ascent. I walked with my head down, caught in the reflection of the trip and nearly stumbled over a scruffy sheep dog sidestepping my path. I knew dogs weren't allowed on the trail and so looked up to warn the owner.

An elderly Navajo woman met my gaze. Her solemn dark brown eyes watched me from her wizened face as she picked her way past me. Red skirts swirled around bent limbs and a blue scarf covered her head from the afternoon sun. I struggled to say hello in Navajo, but the end result sounded like I was choking on ice chips. She chuckled, nodded and continued on. She'd already been up. Now it was my turn. Al