h2o, Cottonwood Campground is a beautiful spot. & yes by all means bring your Mamiya 7 & at least a monopod. Films like FP4+ shine there. The canyon floor visit & the view from the rim down onto Spider Rock are magical. It is well worth reading about the history of the Navajo people in the canyon & about the 'long walk.'
I have a view camera "vacation pre-nup" verbal contract with my wife. She like to go to Maui for the snorkeling. I ask permission for just two 4x5 stop breaks on the road. But in return, I pay dearly, and for each 4x5 incident, she get a shopping afternoon in Lahaina (never spends much, thankfully). But at the water edge condo, I can walk out and take as many view camera shots as I wish if she's napping or cooking. Out on a drive, it's pre-arranged. Medium format cameras are quick to shoot, so she doesn't have any problem with them, and might be shooting her little camera at the same time, which is actually an underwater Nikon I gave her for snorkeling; but it works reasonably well on land too.
About 25 years ago, we did take a long October road trip through the SW together, alternating camping nights and motel ones. I only shot 4x5 at the time, but she was a lot more patient with it back then.
If you take your M7, it would be helpful to have both a standard or slightly WA lens and the 150 if you own one of those. That would allow you to home in on White House ruin or Spider rock from their respective overlooks in the morning a little better. There are a lot of interesting rock patterns visible from above. If you shoot BW film, don't forget a med deep green filter. If you use a yellow, orange, or red instead, that reddish Navajo sandstone will come out awfully bleached looking. But you'll need a token selection of those too, for sake of other scenarios, like fall color enhancement in b&w.
All I have for the Mamiya are 65mm and 150mm, so I always go a little wide, or a little long! Got green, red, orange and polarizing filters, and will have a full on tripod. I think my cousin is arranging a jeep tour with a guy who wants to know if people have special interests, so I told her to say photography! I figure the guide can regale her and my wife while I get a little time to photograph. I think we'll go for a 5 hour tour (as opposed to the standard 3).
I just shot 35mm slides at the time that pre-nup would have been made.
You should do fine with those two lenses. The canyon gets progressively deeper as you go further in, hence taller walls. You can't correct verticals with the 65 like a view camera, but you no doubt know how to use the limitation to the best advantage. From the top, the longer lens will be valuable. At one spot you can plainly see the footholds they carved in the rock face get them up the cliff - must have been really fun commuting several times a day carrying pots of water or baskets of corn, when a single slip would be it.
The light that time of year is wonderful. But snowstorms can occur anytime, and nights are surprisingly cold, so make sure that in your main vehicle you have extra food and water, and warm sleeping bags along if you're driving all the way there. That can spell the difference between having fun and death if you get stalled somewhere en route due to bad weather.
Nearby Navajo National Monument is well worth a visit.
My distant recollection is that the jeep tours all start and end at one spot, and there isn’t much to distinguish them.
Be careful on the rim with how you lock up. Theft is a common problem, unfortunately.
Rick “been too long” Denney
Last edited by rdenney; 2-Oct-2021 at 21:02.
Already planned in!Originally Posted by Chauncey Walden
Yeah, I'd believe there isn't much difference. We got a recommendation for one, though.
Will be as careful about theft as possible...
Drew, Since you mentioned it, I've been down and up that way (chipped footholds). The one time i visited Canyon de Chelly, by chance we arrived the day before the celebration of the end of the 'Long Walk' (June 18). A young Navajo ranger led a small group of us on a 'hike' down into the canyon (& back) by the traditional slabs with their chipped out holds. You nailed it exactly "a single slip would be it. I've made my living as professional rock & mountain climbing guide. The route was more complicated and difficult than some of the low 5th class (roped climbing) slab climbs in Tuolumne Meadows.....& definitely 'no fall' terrain.
Last edited by Greg Y; 2-Oct-2021 at 13:53.
Sandstone isn't my cup of tea when it gets wet. I've only visited Canyon DeChelly on my way back from other places, and never explored there much on foot, much less scrambled there. I prefer granite climbing, though I never was a real climber in the current sense - more of a naive hillbilly kid who managed to get up some nasty routes unroped, and darn near pissed my pants doing so. Getting back down is always worse, of course. My nephew turned out to be a world class big wall and extreme conditions climber, but had all the right gear. I do clearly remember negotiating some very narrow sandstone ledges in Zion wearing a big pack full of Sinar gear. Up in the high Sierra, an 85 lb pack on class 3 pitches or ice was routine for me. Not any more! I'm 72 now, and already have enough to fear from my upcoming visit to the dentist, which I suspect will involve some jackhammer usage, or at least a rock drill and similar bolts!
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