I rode my Electra Glide to the Chuska Mountains. I left my home in Durango and headed southwest.

My first stop was Shiprock.



This is an extinct volcano that last erupted 27 million years ago.



Most of the volcano has eroded long ago. All that is left is the magma caldera.

On the left of this next picture is what looks like a wall. This is a volcanic dyke. It was a fissure in the ground that filled up with lava. Now the ground has eroded away leaving the dyke above ground.



Over the winter I took my Electra Glide apart and took all the body parts to the painter. I had it painted bright red.



I added fishtail slip-ons and Corbin Seats.



to be continued ...

 

Then I headed west to the Chuska Mountains. These mountains span the border of New Mexico and Arizona.







I pulled over at Buffalo Pass.
In the next picture you can see Shiprock in the distance and the long dyke extending out to the right. Far in the distance is the La Plata Mountains near my home in Durango.



Here's another picture of my newly red 2009 Electra Glide. I also added lowers.



There was a lot of Ponderosa Pine on the eastern side of the mountain range. As I descended the western side there was a lot of sandstone.













This next picture is looking back at the Chuska Mountains after getting back on relatively level ground.



Next stop is Canyon de Chelly

To be continued ...

 

Nice. I like the "new" bike.

 

I think Canyon de Chelly is one of the most underrated canyons in the US. This place has huge cliffs that are 1000 feet high.



The first lookout point I pulled over at was "Massacre Cave". This is also called "Place where the 2 people fell". During the Navajo Wars the US army waged war against the Navajo. In 1864 Kit Carson lead the US army in a scorched earth policy, destroying villages and food sources. The Navajo took shelter in caves and ledges in Canyon de Chelly. One of the soldiers was walking on a ledge and came to a cave women and children were hiding in. Knowing there was no escape one of the women grabbed the soldier and jumped off the cliff. They both fell to their deaths. Solders on the canyon floor then shot into the cave. Their bullets ricocheted off the roof of the cave until all the women and children were dead.











What I really like about Canyon de Chelly is it's not commercialized. There aren't many people there.



This is called Junction Lookout point.









This tall rock is called Spider Rock





Next I started to head back but I didn't want to take the same route I came.

To be continued . . .

 

Nice pics Dave ! Was wanting to hit Canyon de Chelly on the way back to NM next month. Did you do the North or South Rim ?

 

I went to both the north and south rim. That reminds me. I used GPS tracking. Here's the route I took:
https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php...=0&showAll=yes
I came into the north rim and rode around to the south rim. Then I wanted to continue east but that county road 7 is unmaintained so I rode back around.

 

At the Spider Rock the road continuing to the east was unmaintained and in poor shape. I turned around and came back around the canyon. Then I wanted to take a different route home. There is another pass through the Chuska Mountains, Narbona Pass. I have been reading a book that talked about the history of that pass so I wanted to check it out.







I took Narbona Pass over the Chuska Mountains. This pass was named after Narbona, a Navajo chief that fought the Mexican Army when this area was part of Mexico.



Narbona set up an ambush from the hills and ledges over this pass. Here they defeated teh Mexican army.





Then I came into Farmington NM from the south.



That's Farmington in the valley of the San Juan River.



I ate dinner at a Texas Roadhouse in Farmington. After dinner I headed north to my home in Durango.

 

Beautiful, that’s a good ride, in such beauty.

Thank You!

 

Thanks for sharing! Heading that way in June from VA!

 

Great trip! Thanks for sharing.