BACK ROAD ADVENTURE

back road adventure Amble through Giant Red Sand Dunes South of Red Lake on the Navajo Reservation

Sitting comfortably on a big rock and savoring a breathtaking view of two of the four sacred corners of the world - Humphreys Peak and Navajo Mountain - I puffed on my pipe like Gila Monster, the tobacco-loving figure of ancient Navajo tradition.My friend Gary Johnson and I had turned left off U.S. Route 160 just south of Red Lake onto Indian Route 213, jouncing, whirring, and bumping some 23 miles on the network of dirt roads that thread the yuccastudded Kaibito Plateau to the top of Preston Mesa. We had achieved these sweeping views 100 miles in every direction at the approximate midpoint of our trip, a journey across the back roads of Dinétah, the revered home of the nation's most populous Indian tribe.

The Diné the Navajos have treasured these rustedblood-red buttes, these aching distances, and these austere spaces for centuries.

Atop Preston Mesa, we first glanced toward Humphreys Peak 100 miles to the southwest and then to NavajoMountain 100 miles to the northeast. Something in the unencumbered distance to the horizon, the wind's caress of the sandstone rim, and the pungent after-rain scent of the junipers held me entirely within its spell.

At just this moment, a chipmunk emerged from a crack in a pile of sculpted sandstone a short distance from where I sat, regarding me with his bright, skeptical little eyes, stuttering on his tiny feet.

Naturally I took this as a sign that I should reflect on the Navajo story about Gila Monster and Chipmunk. Gila Monster, in his black-andorange-beaded magnificence, loved to sit in front of his hogan and smoke his pipe, proudly looking out over his tobacco patch. Gila Monster treasured his tobacco and sometimes shared it with his good friends, including Bull Frog and Chipmunk.

Gila Monster particularly loved to watch Bull Frog smoke because of the way in which the smoke rose from the brown spots on Bull Frog's back, so that it seemed theamiable amphibian was on fire. Gila Monster also shared with Chipmunk, who was cheerful but foolish.

One day some of Chipmunk's friends came to visit, asking him for a smoke. Chipmunk sneaked into Gila Monster's tobacco patch and stole some leaves so he could please his friends. Gila Monster soon discovered the theft, and when Chipmunk lied about what he had done, Gila Monster witched him, shrinking him down to miniature size. Gila Monster eventually relented and returned Chipmunk to his true stature, except that his feet remained shrunken. That is why chipmunks have such small feet, even to this day.

"Over there. Those must be the dunes," broke in Gary, pointing to the south.

I followed his gesture, noting the great smears of light red amidst the green shrubby expanse of the plateau. We had been guided through the afternoon by the Arizona Atlas and Gazetteer, intending to follow the generally well-maintained reservation dirt roads from U.S. 160 across the plateau to The Gap on U.S. 89 a distance of about 30 miles. The map makes references to rock pinnacles and sand dunes, so we had high hopes. But so far all of the dunes we'd glimpsed were well covered by brush.

Granted we had oohed and ahhed over the color-saturated Kayenta, Navajo, and Wingate sandstone outcroppings, which are composed of sand dunes and sea bottoms laid down between 63 million and 200 million years ago. But I'd had my heart set on pink sand dunes. The day had been perfect, lizard-indolent, when we paused to sit in the sun, now

blood-tinglingly crisp at this high place with its stunning 360-degree view of mesa-edged landscape. But still no dunes, and the afternoon shadows had grown long. "Those have got to be the dunes," I concluded, bringing the binoculars to my eyes. Gary tried unsuccessfully to smother a smirk. He'd suggested that we might locate the dunes from this prominence. So we piled back into the car, retraced our steps to Indian 6231, and resumed our meander west toward The Gap. We paused along the way to admire the diligence of a sheep dog working his flock and a rock outcrop with its sanddune swirls still clearly visible. We arrived at The Gap as the sun staged its lurid finale, and we scrambled out of the car just in time to capture the nightly immolation of the 200-million-year-old sandstone that comprises Echo Cliffs.

Drunk on the scenery already, we nonetheless decided to spend the night nearby and resume our search for the pink dunes in the morning. The next day, we again turned off U.S. 160 to Indian 213, which is marked by a windmill and water tank about 7.5 miles southwest of Red Lake, or 16.2 miles northeast of Tuba City. This time we drove about 5.4 miles on the well-graded Indian 6230 before turning onto Indian 6220, which lurches off to the south toward Tuba City. In less than a mile, giant red sand swells appeared about a half mile off the road to the west, the leading crest of a veritable sea of wind-sculpted dunes. We made a rough fourwheel-drive-only detour to the top of nearby Castle Butte for a view of the dunes, then returned to Indian 6220. We packed up our gear and hiked across the desert to the dunes, which undulated from the desert floor with sweeping windserrated grace.

Satisfied with this surfeit of scenery, I wandered off into the dunes, picking up, savoring, and discarding bits of windand water-polished agate, marveling at the corrugations in the surface of the sand, and admiring the abstractions of beetle and lizard tracks in the sand. The leading edge of the dunes swayed into shadow in the long, late light, shimmering red as the wind swirled a misting of pink sand contours. The wind and the sand were washed in beauty like a perfect prayer.

TIPS FOR TRAVELERS

Our author spent two days seeking out the correct routes to view sand dunes and drive across the Kaibito Plateau, but the adventure can readily be completed in one day. Here's a route guide: Go east 16.2 miles on U.S. Route 160 from its junction with State 264 at Tuba City. Left onto Indian 213. (There is no sign on 160 marking the turnoff. The sign is on 213 about 100 yards from the junction.) Go 1.2 miles on 213 to Indian 6230 and turn left. Go 4.3 miles to Indian 6220 and turn left. Sand dunes first appear on the right (west) of the road within a mile. For an additional eight miles along 6220, there are points where you can park and walk to the dunes. Return on 6220 and 6230 and turn left. Go 2.5 miles to the Y junction of 6230 and 6231. Bear right onto 6230. Go 6.6 miles to 215 and turn left. It's 6.7 miles to the top of Preston Mesa. Return to 6231 for the 23.6-mile drive to The Gap. Required backcountry permits can be purchased at the Little Colorado River Navajo Tribal Park's Cameron Visitors Center, P.O. Box 459, Cameron, AZ 86020; (520) 679-2303. Be aware of weather and road conditions, and make sure you and your vehicle are in top shape and you have plenty of water. Don't travel alone, and let someone at home know where you're going and when you plan to return. Odometer readings in the story may vary by vehicle.