ARIZONA - INDIAN LANDS

After following 163 south through Kayenta, I turned southwest on 160, enjoying the desert landscape through the Black Mesa area. This was Navajo and Hopi land. This area is considered cold desert and some sources claim it falls within the Great Basin Desert Range, which would make Arizona the only state containing portions of all four of the major deserts found in the United States. Much of the information I'd found disputes that fact, so it may not be technically so, and instead an outlying area of the Great Basin Desert.

Years ago I had started (admittedly, I'd never finished it) reading a book called the "Hopi Survival Guide". A half-breed friend that I worked with had turned me on to it and he was reading it simultaneously. It is a book about the remote reservation in Hotevilla, Arizona and the ancient prophecies and warnings passed on by it's elders. While reading it - I always thought to myself I'd like to roll through that village someday. I didn't realize it while on this ride, but at one point, I was within 50 miles of Hotevilla. Next time.

Somewhere near Tsegi, the ruins of what looked to be an old petrol station looked inviting. So, I whipped in there for a quick break and look around. Must have been a hangout for some angry young Indians. Seems like many Indians don't fit too well in the white man's world. Being somewhat ambiguous by nature, I can understand both sides. Actually, the older I get, the more disenchanted I become with much of our modern world. Feels to me like the superficial materialism and high cost of living is zapping the soul from humanity. I feel trapped. Perhaps the elders were right.