Ship Rock > ImageRevealed ! | [ Sizes: Orig | Large | Med | Small | Thumb ] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dedicated to all SP members, those recovering, ... and those no longer with us except in spirit: NOTE: "During the last several years, the Navajos have frowned upon ascending Ship Rock. PLEASE CLICK link for updated beta!" (Tse` Bit` A'i` - "Rock With Wings") Shiprock Peak is the "neck" or remains of a solidified lava core, of a dormant 40 million year old volcanic pinnacle. It's shaped somewhat like a 19th century Clipper Ship with high trap- dykes running north from Utah and south from the main spire and rising about 1,800' above the four-corner's New Mexican plain. It's elevation is 7,178 feet above sea level. It lies about 13 miles southwest of the town of Shiprock, New Mexico, and 6 miles west of Highway 666. It is also visible from Dzil Na`'oodilii (Mountain Around Which Traveling was Done), which is about 40 to 50 miles east of Shiprock Peak. The pinnacle was called the "Needle" by Captain J.F. McComb in 1860. The name 'Shiprock' apparently came into use in the 1870s as indicated by the U.S. Geological Survey Maps. The Anglo-American legend is while they were in the area they noticed the similarity between the rock and the 19th century Clipper sailing ship of the time, giving it the name "Shiprock." Until Oct. of 1939, its ragged and sheer sides had never been climbed. Climbers from the Sierra Club of California made the first ascent. The legality of climbing Ship Rock falls squarely into the "gray area." The following Navajo legend illustrates the reason why the Navajo (Dine`) resent the climbing of their Tse`Bit'A'i`: A long time ago the Dine` were hard pressed by their enemies. One night their medicine men prayed for their deliverance, having their prays heard by the Gods. They caused the ground to rise, lifting the Dine`, and moved the ground like a great wave into the east away from their enemies. It settled where Shiprock Peak now stands. These Navajos then lived on the top of this new mountain, only coming down to plant their fields and to get water. For some time, all went well. Then one day during a storm, and while the men were working in the fields, the trail up the rock was split off by lightning and only a sheer cliff was left. The women, children and old men on the top slowly starved to death, leaving their bodies to settle there. Therefore, because of this legend, the Navajos do not want anyone to climb Shiprock for fear of stirring up the ch'iidii, or rob their corpses. ~Harrison Lapahie, Navajo Nation, (1997)~ ~photo taken by Kathryn M. Wilde, Museum of Northern Arizona, (1991)~ Comments[ Post a Comment ]
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Image ID: 378024 Hits: 2595  Lat/Lon: 36.71088°N / 108.79117°W Image Type(s): Informational, Scenery | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
