If a Coyote Crosses Your Path

Antelope Canyon, Navajo Tribal Land, Arizona

I'm a little nervous about offending anyone on the Navajo tribal lands, so I brush up on do's and don'ts. The problem is that there are hundreds so I memorize a few of the most relevant. Most of them seem sensible or whimsical.


The Navajo guide leads us into the otherworldly slot canyon.


If a Coyote crosses your path, turn back and do not continue. If you keep traveling, something terrible will happen to you. You will be in an accident, hurt, or killed.


Don't point at a rainbow with your finger. The rainbow will cut it off or break it.


Don't throw rocks at a whirlwind. It will throw them back and chase you


Don't call whirlwinds a name. Evil Spirits will get you.


Do not roll a rock from a mountain. The holy people put them there and it will be bad luck.


Do not watch a river flowing swiftly, or you will get dizzy and fall in.


Do not run over a snake in your car or you will have a bad life.


Do not talk to dogs or other animals because they might talk back and you will die.


Do not say, "I wish I had some meat" when you have the hiccups or your livestock won't grow.


Do not eat frogs because you will have bad luck or bad breath.


Do not eat the heel of a loaf of bread or you will have lots of children.


Do not bite on roasting corn and then put it back or it will get cold and ruin the rest of your crop. Also, your teeth will fall out.


Do not burn blood from a nosebleed because you will get headaches and your head will split.


Do not have three people comb each other's hair at the same time or they will get stuck.

Do not turn pages backwards or you will go blind.

Do not peel potatoes or apples when you are pregnant or the baby will have a flat face.

Big Ugly Biker

Page/Lake Powell, Arizona-

We make an unplanned stop in the small town of Page, Arizona, near the Utah border and Lake Powell, two hours north of the Grand Canyon.

We meet a big, ugly Harley-Davidson biker with beard, leather clothing and a several nose rings on a scenic overlook for lake Powell. I'm betting there are tattoos under his leathers. He is studying the lake and the colourful canyons and spires rising around it. He walks over to us, carrying a poetry book to examine us and our little motorbike. I step in front of Mrs Phred and bravely greet him. He has moved here from Orange County, California. We tell him that we were planning to go to Bryce Canyon and he tells us that it would be a huge mistake to skip Zion National Park. He described the Zion geology and said that Bryce was also beautiful, sort of like looking down at colourful snow cones. He seems to be a gentle soul. We decide to follow his advice.

 The Powell dam was built in the 1960s to control the ravaging floods of the Colorado River. Powell was the explorer who first navigated the Colorado by boat in 1869. We missed the dam tour but will try again. It takes six attempts to get though the metal detector and into the secure area due to the incredible array of junk in my pockets (batteries, keys, foil wrappers, assorted small screws, jump drives, tools).

I get a haircut and we sign up for a trip to see Antelope Canyon, a most unusual 'slot' canyon in Navajo territory. Due to the loss of eleven tourists in a 'flash flood', a guide is required. All the guide operations are run by Navajo Indians. Listening to them talk, I am reminded of the Navajo 'code-talkers' used in the Pacific campaign in WWII.

There is a Powell museum, municipal tennis courts, and a movie theatre in Page. We've also identified a hike near the dam. Powell was a one-armed Civil war veteran who first explored the Colorado river in a three month trip that displayed incredible bravery and leadership.




The National Recreation Area near the Dam offers great campsites overlooking the lake. You can rent houseboats and explore the vast lake and its canyons. One of the things in the canyon is 'Rainbow Bridge', the world's largest natural stone arch. A lot of the rock formations here are 'Navajo sandstone', an orange rock formed from sand dunes which were cemented together by minerals in the ground water. It's a material that wind and water find easy to carve into spectacular sculptures.

Pressed into Service by a Balloonist

Page, Arizona

 This morning, Tom and Maggie, balloonists from Gallup, New Mexico, asked me to serve as a crew member on their balloon. I assisted with assembling the gondola and unfurling and inflating their balloon. Apparently, their crew failed to show. I followed them into the cold desert, helped them out and then left after his lift-off. The sky is filled with colorful balloons.

  

Later we drive to Zion National Park three hours northwest of Lake Powell. The shuttle service is closed down for the winter season and they opened the scenic roads to private vehicles so we take the motorbike up to the scenic road to the head of Zion Canyon.

It's a spectacular park, formed from Navaho sandstone. The fall foliage makes it even more wonderful. This is a good time to visit the Southwest. The elevation in the park runs from 3,600 to 8,700 feet. One mountain has a pine tree growing on its shoulder.

Night sky viewing conditions are excellent. Venus is up in the evening. It comes around every six years. By spring it will be a morning star again. A huge shooting star leaves a 4 AM fiery trail.

Zion Canyon was named by the Mormon settlers. It means place of safety or refuge. We hear on the radio in the evening that a Mormon judge is in danger of being disbarred for polygamy. The commentator is upset that he is being prosecuted for practicing his religion. There is a municipal tennis court just outside the park. Mrs. Phred won again, 6-2, 6-0. The cold weather is making my shoulder act up again.