Canyon de Chelly

[framah]

 Been thinking of a trip back out west so this is  what I use to get me going:

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h216/framah/D55T0084whitehousetreecopy2.jpg[/img]]

[bill t.]

Notice the color of the tree.  That happens in like in mid October or so.

Yeah the Canyon is way cool.  But don't expect to go wandering around by yourself unless you have permission from the Tribe, and also a guide.  There are tours that will take you in on the back of a deuce-and-a-half, which stop at some nice photo-op locations like the on shown here, but there are plenty of other nice views also that are difficult from a bouncing truck.

The nearest I ever came getting killed was standing on the rim during a thunderstorm.  A bolt of lighting hit the steel rail about 10 feet ahead of me as I was walking up to it.  It was really bright, and really loud.  There's a moral there, I should have stayed in the car.  Anyhoo, there are some nice views from the road that more or less snakes around the rim of the canyon.  Just don't die for them.

[Ken Doo]

It's definitely worthwhile to hire a guide to explore the canyon floor.  I visited Canyon de Chelly a few years back with Don Libby.  We used Don's 4x4 and hired Timothy Halwood of Twin Trail Scenic Tours, (928)349-5560 as our guide.  I think I've still got some info/images on my blog and landscape site from that trip.  And you're close to Monument Valley...   

[Chris Calohan]

I am planning a trip there this October as well before heading up to Moab. Thanks fo rincluding the phone number of the guide service. I also want to go a bit more north and see Mesa Verde. Anyone have any suggestions as to that area?

[dreed]

I don't know if you've been to the Canyon de Chelly before but the White House area is fenced off and I don't recall seeing anyone going inside of it. If memory serves me correct, you wouldn't need to pay anyone to capture the shot that you've included here.

The real catch to getting the shot that you've posted will be time of day (morning.) As the walk in is rather long and in some places a bit tricky, getting there for earlier morning light might necessitate 4 wheels for some.

Can someone else confirm which, if any, guides take you inside of the fencing around the White House so that you can shoot it without having to deal with the fence?

[Kirk Gittings]

You can just shoot over the fence. Its not that high (unless they made it higher since the last time I was thee). But you can't shoot from that far back without geting the fence.

[framah]

I saw the bone crusher they use to take people into the canyon. No way I  was going to do THAT!!

So, I went into town and hired a guide to take me down into the canyon.
I managed to be the only person in the Jeep along with the driver/guide. She was very good and knowledgeable and we went quite far in and she stopped wherever I wanted to shoot. In for about 3 hours.

Here's another from there:

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h216/framah/D55T0069copycopy.jpg[/img]]

This was the day before the full moon so the sun was still up enough to light up the canyon walls.

[t6b9p]

It used to be that (1985) you could hike in by yourself provided you stayed on the one trail into the ruins. I don't remember many details about that hike except the shallow river ford and complete solitude of having the entire canyon to ourselves (wife & I). The solitude was briefly broken by the tourist truck but, before and after their arrival, there was plenty of opportunity to photograph "without people".

Does anyone know if you can still hike that trail without a guide?

[bill t.]

I saw the bone crusher they use to take people into the canyon. No way I  was going to do THAT!!

The tour guides call it the "shake & bake tour."  My lumbar region agrees.

[biedron1]

You can indeed hike the trail to the White House Ruin without a guide. I did it about a month ago. The fence is there, so you can't get right up to it, but as someone else mentioned, you can shoot over it. As far as I know, the White House is the only place you can hike to in Canyon de Chelly without a guide.

Bob

[t6b9p]

Thanks for confirming that.

[Ken Doo]

No way would I join one of those group tour trucks.  Not for photographers at least.  With the navajo guides, you can use your own 4x4, or most like Timothy Halwood have their own 4x4s to take you around.  Definitely needed as we crossed many rivers in route to our locations.  We lucked out as Timothy had access to private ranch property within the canyon and we were able to photograph slot canyons located there.

ken