A very special hike

At 8:30 am on Thursday morning a red jeep of Four Corners Adventures, the partner company of Wild Rivers Expeditions, picked us up at our second, equally beautiful hotel in Bluff: The Desert Rose (see pics). Our room was large and elegantly furnished, with a balcony for star-watching, and there was a large swimming pool.

With our Navajo guide Louis (pic), we drove from Bluff via Muki Dugway (which we drove yesterday) up to Cedar Mesa. This high plateau is considered to contain the largest concentration of Ancestral Puebloan ruins (see pic below) in the Four Corners Region and we saw some of them.

Cedar Mesa was and is used by the Navajo as hunting grounds as well as a place to gather dry wood for heating. Wood of trees being hit by lightning or storm can't be harvested. That was only one of the Navajo "taboos", as Louis told us. Being a modern-traditional Navajo Indian himself, he spoke the Dine language and knew well about traditions, culture and history. In addition, he was - contrary to the usual "Indian way" - talkative and interested for the world at the same time. We spent a great day with him and learned more than ever about the Navajo way.

The name "Cedar Mesa", of course, traces back to the cedars, which grow in abundance here, but really special is the cryptobiotic soil (see pic) which is endangered by cattle grasing here and by people hiking here without following the trails. Cryptobiotic soil crusts, consist of soil cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses and they increase the stability of otherwise easily eroded soils.

On a gravel road we drove into the woods, parked and started our hike. Frankly, we didn't know at all, what to expect, Louis didn't tell us before, which was probably a good thing! It started out flat and even over the plateau, then slick rock showed and the rocks, we had to cross, grew and became more slanting when we criss-crossed them on our way to the Citadel ruins. Wow, partly it was became really steep, nothing for people with a fear of heights or unstable footing. See pictures below for our trail. Couldn't take pics of the real rough passages, had to concentrate on my steps.

When we approached Road and Lime Canyons we crossed on sort of a footbridge and walked on to the foot of the Citadel. The last climb was pretty rough, more than head-high rocks we had to hoist us up before we stood up there and soaked in the vastness, the quietness, the majestic landscape and the ancient ruins here. The Citadel was, as the name says, most probably a village in a strategically very cleverly planned location, the visibility and loneliness of the place are just fantastic. This dwelling of the Ancestral Puebloans showed several small rooms in a row, purpose not exactly known.

Destination coming in view: The Citadell

And that's us, having succeeded:

Peter peeking and me resting...


What a view and how calm and peaceful it is!

He was watching us up there:

Since the dwelling is considered a sacred place still by the Navajo, we didn't have lunch here, but climbed half-way down to another little plateau, where Louis served sandwiches and other snacks. Invigorated, we walked the rest of the trail back, not as frightened anymore looking down...

Peter checking out our airy lunch place:

Back at the jeep after about three miles in total in about 6.500 ft. height (2.200 m) we drove on to Muley Point, another fantastic viewpoint up on Cedar Mesa, where Monument Valley - our destination for the next day - was to be seen in the background. Then down the Moki Dugway again into the Valley of Gods and back to Bluff.

All we needed after returning to the hotel at 4:30 pm was the pool and, even more, the adjacent hot whirlpool. And, even better, after soaking and loading down pics, we were invited to a delicious family-style meal of ham and gravy, macaroni & cheese made from scratch, kale, butternut squash and freshly baked bread ...