ADVENTURE IN NAKAI CANYON

Howdy, Pardner— Just wanted to drop a few lines to thank you folks for your hospitality. We had a great time while visiting you, even if we did stir up a minor hornet's nest. And, we Say, bet some of you didn't even know we were around at that, your place is so big. Maybe we'd better explain what this is all about. “We” made up that bunch of Explorer scouts from Des Moines, Iowa; the outfit that spent a week in Nakai canyon, around Kayenta and Betatakin. (We also came to be better known, unfortunately, as “that gang of Iowans who lost a couple of kids in some of the most rugged territory in North America.”) We won't argue that point: it WAS rough territory, and we're sorry our expedition gained 95 percent of its publicity because two of us turned up missing for four days. We're only grateful the two boys were found safe and well, and we certainly owe a poncho-full of thanks to the Navajos and your Civil Air Patrol. But we also agreed you folks well can boast of the sheer beauty of northern Arizona. And, inasmuch as we understand much of that part of the state still is looked upon as unexplored, we thought perhaps some of you “natives” might like to learn how it impressed us foreigners from the midwest. (Inci-dentally, because of the many news stories broadcast and published in Des Moines about our trip, stemming from the search for our two lost scouts, Nakai canyon became as well known around Iowa as our own cornfields.) We're still not sure just how big Nakai is; we've been told it's anywhere from 30 to 40 miles long. But we stood at the south end and couldn't see the north end; and, suffice to say, we didn't try to cover the entire canyon. At places, we found it comparatively narrow; at other points, it wid ened out into a vast stretch of sand and sagebrush many miles from side to side. (For boys from the cornbelt, it was quite an experience setting out for what appeared to be a cliff a couple of miles away, only to walk a swelteringly long ways and discover we didn't appear any closer.) But not all of the canyon was desolate. Those of us not too familiar with Arizona expected to find nothing but rocks and sand. We found plenty of that, of course, but the spot we picked for our base camp was liberally dotted with trees, more than enough for firewood. There was an ample water supply in a creek trickling nearby. (Hardly deep enough to more than wet the bottom of an upright canteen, and so narrow it didn't take much effort to straddle it, but we didn't go begging for water.)