June 14, 2005
Day 28: Ganado to Coyote Canyon
When you sleep out in the open, you wake up at dawn. I rolled up my things and loaded up my bike in - maybe - three minutes. There's something nice about the simplicity of it all. Of course, it helps when there are no mosquitos to worry about, too. I went across the highway to the convenience store and bought a quart of chocolate milk. I'm a milkaholic and can't help noticing that quarts have more than doubled in price since the mid-1990s. Seems that the only size they want to deal with is gallons. I think a gallon of chocolate milk first thing in the morning would be over the top.
Two things are noticeably absent on the reservation - bathrooms and garbage cans. Convenience stores are more than glad to sell all sorts of things in paper cups and plastic wrappers, but there's nowhere to throw away the trash - so it ends up blowing around the open plateau. Then there's the problem of where you can go after you drink your 64 oz. Mega-Cola - or in my case - chocolate milk.
Fortunately, the bathrooms were open early at Hubbell Trading Post - and clean! I took some great early morning pictures, then had a private tour of the Hubbell home. The living room - with its Navajo rugs and baskets - is one of the finest interiors in all of the West.
It was a slow climb up the Defiance Plateau with heavy traffic and no shoulders. I was surprised how nice everybody was. Anywhere else and you'd be getting middle-finger salutes and horns, but here folks slowed down and waved. Imagine! When I got to the top, I had a leisurely peanut butter and jelly lunch among the pines. Then I flew down to Window Rock.
Window Rock is the administrative center of the Navajo Reservation. There are government offices, shopping centers, and lots of traffic. But even in Window Rock, many of the stores in the shopping centers stand empty. I spent the afternoon visiting the Navajo Museum with its historic photos of the Navajo people's forced exile and return. The art collection is superb - traditional and modern. Some of the best pieces were whimsical, yet thought-provoking combinations of native and Hollywood Western motifs.
As usual, I dallied until late in the afternoon. I went up to Window Rock Park just as people were getting off work from the tribal offices and there was a veritable traffic jam. I had planned to head north to Squirrel Springs, but the wind convinced me to go east towards Ya-Teh-Heh and on towards Coyote Canyon. I remembered flying down the Coyote Canyon Road a few years back and looked forward to doing it again, but there was no flying to be done this evening. Seems as though most of the speed last time came from a killer tailwind. Without the wind, it was just a soft ride throught the sagebrush and rose-toned hills as the sun was setting. I pulled off on a dirt road and set up my tent for the night.
Today's ride: 59 miles (95 km)
Total: 1,377 miles (2,216 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |