DAY-26.  Chinle AZ.   Today we drove the North Rim of Canyon Del Muerto, a part of Canyon de Chelly National Monument.  We drove 40 miles and hiked 2.7 miles to and around the three overlooks.  The deep canyon scenery is breathtaking, not just because it is spectacular, but because there were sustained winds of 50 mph and more.  The wind was so strong that at one point Alice seemed to be on the verge of levitating as she bounced among the rocks, too close to the 800-foot-tall cliff edge for comfort.
     The weather here, at 5,500 feet, has been very pleasant with clear skies and temps in the 70s.  But the dry wind has been raging for at least several days.  Everything is bone dry, including river and stream beds.  The extended drought in the broader region is causing serious worries for those who live here.  There has even been a high rate of mortality among feral (wild) horses, with their carcasses surrounding some dried-up watering holes.  The desert environment is not compatible with large population centers.  Even ground water is becoming more and more of a limiting resource.  It remains to be seen how the water shortage problem will be solved.
     Lunch was a Navajo Taco (Pete), and Navajo style lamb stew (Alice).
     Strangest scene of the day was us (me, actually) hefting a huge, heavy laundry bag across a 4-lane highway that runs through Chinle.  The hotel has no guest laundry so we had to do as the locals do, go to the town laundromat across the road from our hotel.
     Tomorrow we head to Grants, New Mexico about 150 miles from here.