BACK ROAD ADVENTURE

Eventually, Wetherill sold the trading post to the Babbitt family, who in turn sold to Harry and Elizabeth Rorick in the 1930s. The enterprising Roricks wanted to make Shonto a waystop for visitors en route to the national monument. All they needed was a road. Harry, with experience in surveying, ran a line up the cliff, got some black powder and an air compressor for drilling and paid local Navajos $2 for an eighthour day. It was pick and shovel and jackhammer work, but in no time the road was finished up onto the mesa. They also built four guest hogans beside the post, providing novel but rustic accommodations. The Roricks succeeded in enticing sightseers on the Santa Fe Railroad's Indian Detours trips to come to Shonto. Travelers transferred from the railroad's main line between Albuquerque and Flagstaff into five-passenger Packards and Cadillacs for the ride out to the trading post. Shonto's guests included noteworthy scientists, artists and patrons of the dayAlfred Vincent Kidder, Neil Judd, Herbert Gregory, Laura Gilpin and Mary Wheelwright who enjoyed the rough-hewn ambiance and the access to Betatakin and Keet Seel.

After savoring that same ambiance at Shonto today, it's time to head to the northeast on Indian Route 221. Watch for an inscription on the right, just as the road climbs up through the narrow sandstone walls away from the post. The date 1936 is chiseled in large relief into the rock face. Donald Black, whose father, Bob Black, worked for the Roricks, jokes that the etching might have been made by Civilian Conservation Corps workers during a break. Bob Black helped build Shonto Trading Post, the guest hogans and the new road, along with others employed by the Depression-era program.

Later, as an employee at Navajo National Monument, he maintained the road with a big “motor grader,” keeping it passable even in heavy snowstorms and washouts. As a young boy, Donald rode down to the trading post with his mother in a horse-drawn wagon, to sell or barter the rugs she wove. His fondest memories are of the ice cream and candy there. The traders at Shonto always knew everybody by name, and the post, says Donald, was a meeting place for “the elderlies.” By that time, Shonto Trading Post was in the hands of far-flung New Mexico trader Stokes Carson 221 for the next 7 miles to the national monument. Along the way, you'll see sandy tracks leading to Navajo homesteads and corrals. The irresistible scent of sagebrush and piñon and juniper trees saturates the air and, in the distance, slickrock canyons curve across the Shonto Plateau.

The road ends with little warning at the visitor center of Navajo National Monument. From there, you can walk a half mile out on the paved Sandal Trail to a lovely overlook of Betatakin, hidden under a great vault of sandstone in the head of a small branch of Tsegi Canyon. If you are equipped to stay overnight, the campground is one the quietest and most delightful in any of the national parks. That will set you up to take a rangerguided hike down to Betatakin in the morning. Call ahead or check at the visitor center for the hiking schedule.Keet Seel offers an unforget-table experience that requires more planning. The 17-mile round-trip hike leads up a wash to this spectacular 160room cliff dwelling, the largest in Arizona. You can make the trip only by park permit and only between Memorial Day and Labor Day. You have the option of making a round-trip day-hike or spending the nightin a primitive campground after your ranger-guided tour. What a trip this road would have been for people from eastern cities, merchants and missionaries and young Navajo boys who had never known anything else. For visitors today, it still provides a remarkable glimpse into the past.or members of his family. (It's owned now by the Shiprock Trading Company.) About 3 miles up, near the powerline, a side road heads off to the little settlement and church mission of White Post, named for a bleached tree stump. At this fork, bear left and watch for a hand-painted sign pointing to Navajo National Monument and an "official" marker indicating Indian Route 221.The road surface, alternately rocky washboard or soft sand, requires a fine balance between driving fast enough not to bog down but not so fast that you skitter off sideways. Stay on

WHEN YOU GO

Hours: Shonto Trading Post is open Monday through Saturday. Navajo National Monument is open daily, year-round, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

Warning: Back road travel can be hazardous if you are not prepared for the unexpected. Whether traveling in the desert or high country, be aware of weather and road conditions, and make sure you and your vehicle are in top shape. Carry 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.

Travel Advisory: The campground is first-come, first served. From April to October, the Navajo Nation is on daylight-saving time, an hour ahead of the rest of Arizona. Carry a good map. Inquire locally about road conditions.

Additional Information: Navajo National Monument, (520) 672-2367.