Happy Canada Day!

Archeological evidence shows that people have lived here for nearly 5, 000 years. The first residents built no permanent homes, but remains of their campsites and images etched or painted on the canyon walls tell us their stories. Later, people built household compounds and storage facilities to store corn and beans. About 700 years ago, most of these people moved away. Most recently, Navajo tribes arrived and still live here, farming and practicing their cultural customs.

This National Monument is home to several periods of Indian culture dating from 350 A.D. to 1300 A.D. and the 26-mile canyon’s sheer cliffs range from 30 to more than 1, 000 feet, providing a spectacular backdrop for hundreds of Anasazi ruins, as well as modern Navajo homes and farms.*

It was too hot for us to do much hiking, besides the fact that dogs are not allowed on most of the trails. While Sarah was marveling at the incredible timeline of human connection to this seemingly inhospitable environment, Joe remarked how easy it is to remember the importance of water to human existence when confronted with this landscape on a sweltering summer day. How easily we take for granted in our contemporary homes that the twist of a tap will provide us life-giving H2O.

GEO-QUIZ #2: Where are we? Leave your guess in the Comments section. A reminder that the person with the most correct guesses at the end of July will win a prize! Prize still to be determined, but we promise it will be fabulous!

(*adapted from The Official Navajo Nation Visitor Guide)