Any FReepers near Fort Defiance, AZ?

I'm going to be at Fort Defiance, AZ for three months starting next Friday. Anyone nearby?

Joya and I are in the Four Corners area.

There’s at least one other FREEPER in our area . . . not recalling who off the top of my head.

I would be willing to meet in Shiprock.

The distances are considerable—hours and 100’s of miles. The scenery is striking if you like majestic butes and rock formations etc.

Canyon De Che sp? is not that far from Shiprock. Kayenta and Monument Valley are on the way to Shiprock. Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon are West of 4 Corners.

Oak Creek Canyon between Flagstaff and Sedona is beautiful. WestFork of the Oak Creek is about in the middle of the steeper parts of the canyon. It is a very narrow beautiful canyon with a smallish stream.

Hiking is wonderful but requires boots or shoes that are OK wet. The trail crosses back and forth across the stream. A 1-3 hour hike up and back is worth it. The steep red walls and striking forest plus the water are all incredible.

It’s been 40+ years since I’ve been to the upper reaches of it. I suspect it’s relatively unchanged. At the upper reaches—at least—maybe a couple hours into it—one has to swim. There were deep pools and the canyon walls closed onto the pools. The only way to continue was to swim. Beyond the deep pools was a beautiful moss covered grotto.

Weather is important. The narrow canyon drains a considerable area and a flash flood in the narrow canyon could be a dramatic problem. Given that it’s National Forest now, I imagine they’d close it, then. There’s a parking lot at the trail head and a parking/entry fee is charged. I think it’s around $10 for a single person, maybe a couple in one car.

There are some dramatic pics on the net of the canyon. I don’t have the links handy.

Meteor Crater is not that far from Winslow.

Sedona has some beautiful drives and vantage points to see the wonderful red rock formations and contrasting vegetation and blue skies.

Jerome, up the valley and hill from Cottonwood is a very old mining/ghost town. Over the hill from there a bit of a distance is the great town of Prescott.

The NAU library in Flagstaff has a Special Collections Dept with Emery Clifford Kolb’s archives and a lot of other early Arizona materials, including LDS materials. Kolb lived at the head of Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon from 1904 until he died—I think he died in the 1980’s—maybe 1978 or so. He took all the mule train photos going down into the Canyon.

Lake Powell has unparalleled vistas of red rocks, water and blue skies as well as some good fishing and great water sports.

Arcosanti between Cottonwood and Phoenix—Cordes Junction, I think—is a great architectural sociological experiment owned by the Arcosanti Foundation established by Italian born architect Paolo Soleri. It has hundreds of acres but is building a community for 2,000 or so people on a south sloping cliff face with a massive greenhouse area wherein everyone will be able to walk to any other part of the community in about 10 minutes or less—including escalators, IIRC. It’s worth a visit if one is interested in that sort of thing. One can stay overnight there with reservations. They have a good bakery and sell Soleri’s bells etc. as a means of fundraising to build the place. They have a website as well.

I guess that’s all I have to suggest off the top of my head. Farmington is East of Shiprock and Navajo Dam East of Farmington. Durango is 45 miles Norteast of Farmington with a narrow gauge railroad that goes to the old mining town of Silverton. Farmington is not really on the way to anywhere and has no great tourist spots. There is a small oil and gas museum on the main street that has some great displays—some of them active audiovisual affairs. IIRC, Farmington puts on its 4th of July fireworks show the eve of the 4th. Multi-millionaire Tommy Bolack puts his show on off the cliff South of Farmington on the evening of the 4th.

Please let me know if you are interested in coming to the 4 Corners area and I’ll do my best to meet up with you. Joya joining would depend on her work schedule, etc.

Thx.

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