Rez Radio

I woke up at 6am in the Valley of the Monuments, almost the exact moment that the sun rose above the horizon. It was serene.

But, it was all clear skies and I didn't get any amazing colorful sunrise except a redder color. It lasted only a few moments before the desert filled up with yellow sunlight, so I drove on farther into the Navajo Nation. Once upon a time the Navajo were Alaskan and part of the Athabascan people, until a portion of them embarked on a migration south over generations. Many of the words between the two languages are similar, though Athabascan words like the one for canoe have disappeared from the Navajo language because they hardly have use for one here.

With the vibrant sunrise passed into history I headed south, listening to the rez radio which is a mix of Indian drumming and singing, health announcements, and… country music. They sure love their country music down here, and it’s common to hear a chant honoring a grandfather followed by Shania Twain.

After miles of endless featureless Arizona desert the itch to hike became unbearable, and I pulled over in Rough Rock at the first road that looked like a trailhead. It was a rez road and bumpy and bumpy as all hell and no place for cars. It winded along a mountainside and I pulled over at a small pull-off and concealed the Escape behind a huge rock so that the handful of people I saw on the road wouldn't screw with it. I made a blind hike to the top of a nearby mountain through dense shrubs, but the view at the top was obscured by other mountains around us. No vantage point here. Doh! I did hike naked though, which I haven't done since I was at Wildrose Peak in Death Valley many years ago. Even though the ground was bone dry, dusty, and covered in hellish cactus barbs that would stick into my skin, it was still a pretty good hike.

Content with my hike I returned to the empty highway and continued south. As I was driving through Chinle the graduating class of the local high school was all throughout the town decorating their cars. Awesome, way to go graduates.

And I encountered another thing in town that I’ve grown up hearing about but never seen first hand since Alaska doesn’t have reservations (except for one that’s a special case). Rez dogs. With their shared ancestry, I imagine that the Navajo have similar views to the Athabascan (or at least pre-contact Athabascan) where it’s considered unfair to an animal or anyone really to restrain them. So they wander, free.

A few hours past Gallup, New Mexico I heard the closing ceremony of another high school’s graduation on the rez and a student officer recited a blessing wishing all native Americans across all states well. They also said that those that leave the Forsaken Mountains and those that stay are both blessed by them. I’m glad I got to listen to the communities celebrate the achievements of their upcoming generation, though boy am I drained by this desert landscape. I miss the forests already and I’ve only been gone a day! I crossed the Colorado state line and entered the mountains again, stopping in Durango to stretch my legs again before heading north to Silverton. The landscape is chock full of verdant green grass and birch trees and it feels like I’m in Alaska all of a sudden. I’m blown away by the abrupt change in scenery and I can't believe sunbaked Arizona is just beyond these mountains.

Colorado is truly an island of mountains amid a desert of plains.