It’s a fairly strenuous 5 mile round-trip hike to Betatakin, known to the Navajo as Talestima. One of the best-preserved Anasazi ruins in the entire southwest sits quietly beneath an enormous overhang in a cliff wall hundreds of feet tall. You can enjoy ranger-lead walks during the summer and feel underwhelmed by the numbers of visitors: only 25 visitors are allowed into the site daily per hiking tour.
Go here for James Q. Jacobs’ collection of superb Betatakin photos: www.jqjacobs.net/southwest/betatakin.html
Visiting Kawastima, the Navajo name for the Keet Seel ruins, is a trip, literally. Not just because it has artifacts in situ, that is, pottery, baskets, ladders, and daily-life tools resting in place as if they were left there yesterday, not merely because it has superbly intact dwellings, but because it requires a strong physical commitment to visit the site. Before you can depart, a mandatory orientation meeting is held a 8:15 am and 4:30 pm daily. Most people will never visit it because it is an 18 mile round-trip hike, usually requiring an overnight camp-out, unless you are a Kung-Fu hiker and can do it in a day. Only 20 permits are granted daily and upon reaching Keet Seel a back-country ranger will serve as your guide and contact during your stay. No water is available along the 9 mile hike in and out so overnight hikers are required to carry at least 2 gallons each. That’s 14 pounds of water not counting the container weight and the rest of your gear! Campers are admitted early May to late September. The remainder of the year visitors must do the round-trip hike and entirely in a day. It’s the real deal, but you’ve got to truly want it. And contrary to rumors, there is no horseback access to Keet Seel. Now you know why so few people have ever seen its grandeur.
Casa Malpais overlooks the Little Colorado River’s Round Valley. It’s located near Springerville, Arizona, just north eastern Arizona’s stunning White Mountains. It’s a sacred place to both the Zuni and Hopi tribes who claim ancient affinity to it. It’s not on the grand scale of Wupatki or certainly Mesa Verde, however if you find yourself in this region, it’s worth the visit both for the site and the scenery.
