Rare Opportunity to Explore Navajo Mountain and Dinė Culture

Join Navajo guides Eric and Charlene Atene and a CFI Founder and Executive Director Karla Vander Zanden on this hiking trip at Navajo Mountain with a focus on the traditional Dinė way of life. Navajo Mountain lies near the Arizona and Utah border and rises to a height over 10,000 feet. Navajo Mountain is considered sacred to the Dinė or Navajo people and they call this place Naatsis'aan, which means "Head of the Earth Woman."

Canyonlands Field Institute is pairing up with Dinė guides Eric and Charlene Atene to offer a very unusual hiking and cultural experience. Our trip meets the first evening at Recapture Lodge in Bluff, Utah for orientation. We travel the next day to Navajo Mountain, highlighting geography, geology and historical features along the way including a short hike late afternoon on the west side of the Mountain to the ruin site of the old Rainbow Lodge and Trading Post. We will spend the first night the guest hogan of Rose Atene, traditional Navajo, basket maker and Eric's mom. The next few days we hike in the area south of Navajo Mountain, and hike with day packs only. We will see prehistoric sites dating from Archaic to Pueblo III Ancestral Puebloan in age as well as old picturesque hogans, springs, plants and grazing areas still used by the Dine today.   Meanwhile a truck will take our overnight and kitchen gear to the next outback camp which will be there for us when we finish the day's excursion.

This trip's itinerary remains somewhat exploratory in nature, varying with time of year and interests. We take 3-4 mile hikes each day. The difficulty level of the hiking is  "moderate" with some (300 feet) elevation gain and drop and sandy trails. We explore the maze-like wonderland that lies between the Mountain and the San Juan River. We will get up on the mountain by vehicle and short hike during our trip at for one of the most fantastic views on the Colorado Plateau.  We have the rare opportunity to hike where few Anglos do. CFI will provide meals and share knowledge of the geology and ecology of the area to round out your trip.

"I had long wanted to explore the Navajo Mountain area. This trip turned out to be the perfect way to do it I was again in touch with the Colorado Plateau but experienced a new part of it...Highlights of the program? Eric Atene and Charlene Valentine Atene! They and the family members we met made the land come alive in a way that would be impossible without Navajo knowledge and perspective. The place and the people are woven together... And the congeniality of the group. I enjoyed this group, both guests and staff. " - Tom Wylie, 2011 participant and National Park Service retiree, Denver, Colorado.