Canyon de Chelly is the oldest continually habituated human space on the Colorado Plateau. People have been living here for over 5,000 years. People live here still. Long before white westward expansion, the Enlightenment, even Christ. It’s surreal to look at the canyon walls and understand that what you’re seeing isn’t just natural splendor, but a record of human time. The reclined kokopelli is one of the first pictographs at the canyon’s entrance. I have no idea what it means, but I know seeing it reclined is unusual. Our guide said it was probably about 1,000 years old. What I like best are the handprints, both positive and the ghostly negatives, and mostly only the left hand. Except for farthest two on the right. It’s like the standard one-handed signature wasn’t enough for the artists. Like they dipped their other hand in paint and touched the wall again to say, “This is really important. Remember us. We were here.”
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#canyondechelly #kokopelli #kokopellicave #handprints #negativehandprints #pictographs #petroglyphs #ancientart #ancientartarchive #rockart #arizona #visitarizona #conquerarizona #hikearizona #arizonahiking #explorearizona #arizonaisgorgeous #arizonarockart #nationalmonument #coloradoplateau #navajo #navajonation #pueblo #anasazi #findyourpark #findmeoutside #optoutside #getoutstayout #exploremore #nativeamerican
Took me ten years to get here after reading about it, but that’s just a blink to this 2,000 year old panel. Of the 650 carvings, my favorite is the hunter on horseback. Horses were reintroduced by the Spanish in the 1500s, so in the scale of time represented in the panel, this glyph is breaking news. @ancientartarchive @canyonlandsnps @visitutah
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#newspaperrock #ancientart #petroglyphs #rockart #ancientpeople #prehistoricpeople #firstnation #nativeamerican #canyonlands #canyonlandsnationalpark #moab #utah #visitutah #utahgram #utahunique #sanjuancounty #utahrocks #utahrockart #keepitwild #wanderlust #bucketlist #nature #southwestadventures #desert #highdesert #nps #findyourpark #findmeoutside #wowutah #ancient
I have a lot to be grateful for, but at the top of my list are all the people who encouraged me to get into backpacking and all the beautiful places this hobby has taken me. I got to do this hike two years ago this month, when @sunny_brookee randomly called the reservation desk in Supai and snagged someone else’s last-minute cancellation. After the ten mile hike in I saw that YES the water really is that blue, and it’s never as empty of crowds as Instagram makes it look. On our second night, we moved our tents to the edge of this cliff and, instead of listening to other campers, fell asleep to the sound of all that ghostly blue water tumbling off the cliffs. What a perfect evening and memory. @visit_arizona @conquerarizona @weliveelevated @outdoorproject
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#havasupaifalls #havasupai #havasupaiindianreservation #havasufalls #havasu #supai #mooneyfalls #grandcanyon #arizona #visitarizona #azinstagram #conquerarizona #arizonahiking #arizonahighways #nature #stayandwander #exploremore #getoutstayout #optoutside #wanderlust #womenwhohike #hikingadventures #hiking #waterfalls #waterfallwednesday #nature #bucketlist #explorearizona
A few years ago, friends who live in the tropics came to visit us in the desert. After a week of exploring, they said, “The desert is nice, but it’s so desolate.” I’ve thought a lot about that. It’s so easy to love a big flashy mountain, green forest, the endless sea. Even the chaos of a city. So don’t come to the desert. It’s not worth your time. It’s ugly. You’ll hate it. Nothing to see here. Please, stay where you are. @archesnps @weliveelevated @utahunique @visitutah @outdoorproject
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#arches #archesnationalpark #fieryfurnace #redrocks #moab #utah #visitutah #utahgram #utahunique #weliveelevated #publiclands #findyourpark #findmeoutside #optoutside #getoutstayout #travelstoke #exploremore #wanderlust #hiking #hikingadventures #canyoncountry #exploremore #wanderlust #womenwhohike #adventuretime #nature #stayandwander #highdesert #keepitwild
There’s no such thing as an ugly slot canyon in my book, but there is truly no place I’ve ever found that can top the light and textures of Antelope Canyon. Walking through it reminded me of swimming. The walls are so smooth they seem soft, so sculpted by water that they seem like waves. I wish I could have known it before organized tours and social media. It seems like a holy place. A place you’d want to stand in all day. I think everyone who comes here senses that. I guess that’s why the tour guides push you through so fast, and in the company of so many others. It’s a truly awesome place that filled me with pure awe, but like so many moments of grace, it’s fleeting. @visit_arizona @conquerarizona @womenwhohike @outdoorproject @discovernavajonation
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#arizona #visitarizona #conquerarizona #arizona_hiking #arizona_landscapes #arizonahighways #slotcanyons #pageaz #antelopecanyon #lowerantelopecanyon #exploremore #canyoncountry #southwest #optoutside #getoutstayout #hikingadventures #nature #canyons #stayandwander #offthebeatenpath #bucketlist #womenwhohike #womenwhoexplore #travelstoke #arizonagram #arizonaadventures #navajonation
What did I expect of Canyonlands National Park? Canyons, of course. Big empty vistas. Dust. I’ve read that it’s a favorite park for a lot people, but didn’t really understand why. Could it compare to Zion’s majesty? The vividness of Bryce? Arches’ strange formations? Yes, yes and YES. I don’t know what it’s like to drive through and observe it from viewpoints. I imagine disappointing. These places are too big for cars and a single afternoon. But in the intimacy of three days in the backcountry, we walked across sandstone benches so vast they could have contained cities. In the distance you could see more canyons, and then mountains, and then sky. The glittering, cloudless sky rolled over us every night. You might hear voices from people in the canyon below you, or perhaps one ridge over, or perhaps many. You could have walked until daylight ended. You could have walked, it seemed, forever. I wanted to. I’ll be back. @canyonlandsnps @nationalparkservice @womenwhohike @outdoorproject @visitutah @weliveelevated
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#canyonlandsnationalpark #canyonlands #canyoncountry #needlesdistrict #canyonlandsnps #canyonlandsneedles #utah #utahgram #utahunique #livelevated #lifeelevated #exploremore #optoutside #getoutstayout #hikingadventures #backcountry #backpacking #keepitwild #womenwhohike #moab #findyourpark #nationalparksgeek #sandstone #outdoorproject #theoutbound #findmeoutside #wanderlust #publiclands
