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Navajo open new hotel in Monument Valley

MONUMENT VALLEY PARK — An ancient Navajo prayer, “Night Chant,” begins in a “house made of dawn” and evokes transition, healing and restoration of hozho – or beauty, order and harmony.

Like a manifestation of the prayer, a promotional photograph shows the morning Arizona sun washing vivid color and new life over Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park’s man-made mesa, The View Hotel.

Monument Valley Park is located three hours northwest of Flagstaff on Navajo land in Arizona. The hotel is significant to the preservation of culture and to the healing of a depressed economy of the nation within a nation, say those close to the project.

“My biggest reward is knowing that whatever building I construct will create employment opportunities for people, and with this current project it will create employment opportunities for my people, The Dine People,” says Romona Tayah, assistant superintendent for FCI Constructors Inc., who built the hotel.

In a prepared statement, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said the project will create much-needed jobs while highlighting tribal culture.

“Job creation on Tribal land means economic opportunity but also translates into cultural preservation,” he said in a recent press release. “When family members can find employment close to their traditional homes they stay connected with their culture and their language. This fosters an environment where traditional ways of the Navajo people can be passed from generation to generation.”

TRIBE STRUGGLES FOR RECOGNITION

The road to projects like The View was a long and arduous for the Navajo, also known as the Dine People.

Beginning in January 1863, the U.S. Army forced more than 8,000 Navajo from their native lands on the Colorado Plateau in what is known today as The Long Walk, a roughly 300-mile trek to Fort Sumner in New Mexico.

“The instigator of this policy, General James H. Carleton, was involved in a wide variety of non-military activities that presupposed removal of Indians from their homelands …
Carleton was involved in a series of questionable activities regarding mining, the cumulative effect of which appears to have contributed to his decision to remove Navajos from their homeland,” wrote Neal W. Ackerly in his 1998 book, A Navajo Diaspora: The Long Walk to Hwéeldi.

But Carleton had underestimated the number of Navajos and Fort Sumner was ill-equipped to care for them, Ackerly wrote.

In May 1864, Dr. Michael Steck, then Indian Agent for the New Mexico Territory, condemned Carleton’s policy as a failure, stating that the captured Navajos surrendered largely because the Army could provide food.

“The rich and powerful portion of them are still in their own country … it will cost ten times the amount to catch and remove the wealthy portion of the tribe,” Steck wrote.

By early 1865, Carleton was losing federal and local support. Hundreds of Navajo began leaving Fort Sumner on their own, returning to their native land.

On June 1, 1868 the U.S. signed a treaty with the Navajo, officially allowing the remaining detainees to return home to a reservation of about 3 million acres, or 5,500 square miles.

NAVAJO ECONOMY IS TOP CONCERN

Today, the Navajo Nation covers 27,000 square miles in Arizona and New Mexico and includes 204,698 people, according to Trib Choudhary, a principal economic development specialist with the tribe. This makes the Navajo the largest Native American tribe in the U.S.

Government, mining and services such as hospitals and schools makeup the Nation’s main employers, however 50 percent of its people live below the U.S. poverty level. About 9,400 Navajo families nationwide depend on welfare programs to provide clothing, gasoline, and food stamps, Choudhary says.

The Navajo Nation government earned about $71 million from all mining revenue in 2005, accounting for almost 58 percent of the tribe’s $124 million general fund that year, tribal documents show.

When federal emission standards forced the coal-fired Mojave Generating Station in Laughlin to close on Dec. 31, 2005, the Navajo Nation’s pocketbook took a big hit.

“[The Navajo government] lost about $20 million,” Choudhary says. Replacing that revenue seems about as hard as the stratified formations speckled across the desert floor.

The next day, Peabody Western Coal Company shut down operations at the Black Mesa Mine on the Navajo reservation. Mojave was the mine’s only customer, buying about 5 million tons of coal annually.

About 240 people were employed at the Black Mesa Mine when it closed.

The overall unemployment rate in Navajoland, including non-Indians, is 52 percent. Among Navajo people, the rate is 57 percent, according to tribal documents. Bout three-fourths of the 4,195 people living near the View Hotel project are unemployed, Choudhary says.

“The Navajos are trying to bring industry, but they often don’t have the money for infrastructure,” Choudhary says. Navajo lands are held in trust and cannot be leveraged to fund private enterprise – even by its own people. “Private companies don’t want to build because they can’t own the land.”

As a sovereign nation within the U.S., it is understandable that Navajo leaders would look to capture more of the tourism revenue currently bypassing its economy for lack of services.

About 2.5 million tourists annually visit the reservation’s many attractions like Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly and Chaco Canyon. They spent more than $100 million inside the reservation, according to the tribe’s 2006 economic report.

With only 13 hotels and few retail outlets on the reservation, much of the potential revenue leaks out to border towns.

So, borrowing from business models used by the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Forest Service, the Navajo Nation set up a system to lease parkland through its Parks & Recreation Department.

OUTLOOK IMPROVES WITH THE VIEW

The View Hotel is the first such project. The Nation’s parks department leased land to ARTSCO, a family-owned company led by Armanda Ortega, of the Kiy`anníí – Dine for “Towering House” – Clan. The Ortega family has traded in Indian jewelry, arts and crafts since the early 1800s.

ARTSCO built the 90-room hotel with private funds on the site of a former campground that adjoined the park’s visitor center, using contractors that employ more than 90 percent Native American workers.

The project means a lot to Romona Tayah, assistant superintendent for FCI Constructors, Inc., who lives in a reservation home her parents built the year she was born.

“Maintaining ties to family land given to me and my sisters by my grandmother and mother is what keeps me coming home from wherever my work takes me,” Tayah says.

The View Hotel will employ about 100 people. A percentage of gross revenue on all sales will go to Navajo Parks & Recreation. The Navajo Nation will receive sales tax revenue.

“The hotel goes beyond what have become standard eco-friendly building practices using low-flow water devices, extra insulation, windows with energy-efficient values, and fluorescent lighting,” stated Mike Finney, owner of AZ Communications Group, which has worked with ARTSCO and the Navajo Nation office of tourism.

“There are operable windows in public spaces including the soaring two story lobby that allows for natural air flow for energy efficient cooling,” he says.

Modern utilities and a wastewater treatment plant will be in place before the hotel opens in mid-November, Finney says. Hotel management is taking online reservations now for arrivals beginning Dec. 6, 2008, he says.

QUESTIONS LINGER ABOUT GAMBLING, IMPACTS

Despite the much-heralded project and its promise of new jobs, the long-term effects of bringing more tourist services to the Navajo Nation remain unclear. Information regarding financial benefits – both to the Nation and its workforce – were not immediately available.

Speculation abounds about the role gaming should have in tribal culture. Gaming on Navajo lands was approved in November 2004 by the Navajo people in a referendum vote. The first tribal casino – Fire Rock Casino – is under construction in Window Rock and expected to open in November, Choudhary says.

Choudhary advocates for tribal casinos and would support a casino at the View Hotel. However, he worries about the profit-sharing models used by other Native American tribes, which give between $7,000 and $38,000 to native individuals. A Navajo parks officials says that there is no gaming ever planned for Monument Valley Tribal Park.

“It’s not right to give welfare to people who are able to work. It makes them lazy,” Choudhary says.

But a casino could help fill the gap in government revenue and jobs left by the mining industry, Choudhary says.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

West Fork offers refuge from ‘touristy’ Sedona

ALONG THE WEST FORK TRAIL — “I’m not sure why I came to Sedona,” remarks Janet Hamilton, a massage therapist visiting from Manhattan.

Hamilton has just joined me in a sandstone alcove located along the clear waters of the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon, where we’ve both stopped to take a rest. “It’s too touristy for me,” she says.

The irony of Hamilton’s comment seems to escape her, seeing as how she’s a tourist herself. But we both agree that things are nicer out here away from the shops and restaurants. Sedona epitomizes all Western communities that are fated to be both beautiful and endowed with an agreeable climate: commercialized and populated to the point where the very qualities of space, quiet, and freedom to explore, which so captivated everyone in the first place, have largely disappeared, exchanged without apology for a grid of exorbitant real estate.

It’s the way of the West. In Arizona you don’t have to stick around long to see gorgeous desert transformed into parking lots. But Sedona is also the place where the Colorado Plateau’s southern edge drops in a dramatic escarpment of sedimentary rock called the Mogollon Rim, a convoluted terrain riddled with rough canyons and high, forested mesas that lay well outside the reach of development. One of the best known canyons is West Fork, a tributary to Oak Creek Canyon, where I have come not only to experience the land but also to push beyond the well-beaten trail leading into this canyon.

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West Fork is the most popular trail in the Sedona area with its easy hiking, cool running stream and beauty. The Sedona tourism industry directs so many visitors to West Fork by encouraging sightseers to hike the gentle 3.5-mile trail from the Call O’ The Canyon parking lot ($8 to park). It’s not unusual for the place to be filled with hundreds of people on a summertime weekend.

Although gorgeous and even tranquil in those 3.5 miles, West Fork continues nine more intriguing miles past the trail’s end, deeper into the officially designated Red Rocks-Secret Mountain Wilderness, where people tend to be fewer and the wilderness more truly wild.

A pool that stretches from wall to wall at the 3.5-mile mark signals the gateway to this upper stretch of canyon. The prospect of getting wet is enough to convince the majority of hikers to turn back at this point and head for home. But for the more adventurous, this is where the hike really starts.

The water is a perfect temperature, and hardly ever more than two feet deep. After the trail disappears, it’s usually easiest to walk in the creek instead of bushwhacking along the banks. Minnows and small fish dart from your footsteps as you slosh along.

The same red and white sandstones that make Sedona so attractive also form the 1,500-foot walls of West Fork. As I head past the wading pool and round a few turns in the canyon, the cliffs make for a continuously shifting array of spectacular erosional forms – buttes, spires, alcoves, walls streaked with desert varnish, petrified sand dunes – all of which support a forest of cliff-bound ponderosas and Douglas firs. It makes it hard to keep your eyes on your feet, which you’ll need to do to avoid slippery rocks.

Every so often a wet-smelling, cool breeze flows downstream. Although it’s warm enough in August to take an afternoon dip in the creek, you’ll never feel like you’re getting sun-blasted in this part of West Fork. In many places, the namesake oaks and other deciduous trees overhang the creek, and in other places, arching “waves” of sandstone loom over the running water to provide a shady avenue for travel.

While taking a break at a bend in the canyon, I enjoy the relative quiet afforded by the lack of people. Canyon wrens sing from unseen perches, scrub jays squawk in their harsh voices, and flowing water gurgles nearby. A spring beside the creek fills my water bottle with sweet, pure water and I drink deeply, soaking in the pleasures of solitude beneath the majestic, towering canyon walls.

Side canyons appear occasionally, some of which invite exploration. In any given year, more black bears and mountain lions see these minor tributaries than people. However, I stick to the main canyon, where wildflowers and ferns and mosses sprout from the sandstone along the creek.

When I’ve had enough of walking, I choose a pleasant alcove to spend two nights. Few others venture here, but those who I do are like Janet Hamilton: like-minded folks who are relieved to know there is still a place near a “touristy” town like Sedona where nature retains its potent magic.

HOW TO GET THERE

Driving directions: From the junction of Arizona 179 and 89A in Sedona, drive north on Arizona 89A for 10.3 miles, then turn west into the Call of the Canyon day use area.

Facilities: Restroom. The day use area is open from 8 a.m. to dusk.

Cost: $8 per vehicle. Red Rock Parking Passes are not accepted here, nor are national park passes.

Length: 6.8-mile round trip to the end of the designated trail and back, 24 miles if hiking to the very upper end of the canyon and back. Camping is allowed, but only 6 miles beyond the parking lot.

Note: Take hiking shoes that you can get wet. Dogs are allowed but must be leashed.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Crown King clings to life in the Bradshaw wilderness

CROWN KING — Tombstone is officially known as “the town too tough too die.” That dubious distinction, however, may be more appropriately applied to Crown King.

Springing up in the 1880s around a cluster of gold mines high in the Bradshaw Mountains, Crown King has survived a catastrophic flood, a blood feud between its founding claim holders, a population that has at times approached zero, discontinued service from the U.S. Postal Service and at least five fires.

The most recent, the Lane 2 fire, consumed almost 10,000 acres in early July. Although the burn line came within yards of the town, the efforts of several hundred fire fighters, and some fortuitously timed monsoon humidity, succeeded in saving Crown King yet again.

There are several ways to reach Crown King from Phoenix. The most commonly used route heads north on Interstate 17, exits at Bumble Bee (Exit 248), and heads west on Crown King Road (NF-259). The unpaved road meanders through the nearly uninhabited towns of Bumble Bee and Cleator for several miles before beginning its ascent into the mountains.

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Bumble Bee was established in the 1870s as a stage stop between Phoenix and Prescott. Cleator was built about the same time around series of gold claims along nearby Turkey Creek. In 1904, it became a railroad stop between Mayer and Crown King. Today, Cleator is home to six permanent residents and one world-class bar (in this writer’s humble opinion).

The Cleator Bar, open most weekends is a ramshackle affair – dim and heaped with the detritus of a hundred years on the frontier’s edge. Rusty license plates, beat-up mining equipment, yellowed Polaroids of bygone deer hunts, a life-sized cutout of John Wayne, and several pegged rattlesnake hides cover every surface. Weekend warriors from the suburbs sit alongside old cowboys, and Dave and Darlene keep a healthy supply of cold beer and fresh peanuts on the bar. [After a day spent bouncing around the dusty backcountry, three bucks for an icy Budweiser and the company of an antlered gator head seem like quite a bargain.]

Beyond Cleator, the road turns southwest and gains elevation. Long, scraggly pines appear on either side of the rocky switchbacks. The extent of the recent fire is revealed when the upper slopes come into view above. Charred pine trunks cover the mountainsides like porcupine quills, and the soil is scorched black.

But just beyond the bridge leading into town, glimpses of green appear. Crown King – its cabins and general store protected by a canopy of ponderosa pines and applied in sunlight – lies within this forest.

The saloon is the heart of the town. Established in 1904 in Oro Belle (a gold-mining town that once sat five miles away), the saloon building was taken down and reassembled “board by board” in Crown King around 1910. Stepping inside feels a little like traversing some kind of cosmic wormhole into the past: A battered pool table commands the center of the room, stuffed mule deer heads adorn the walls, sawdust covers the floor, and sepia-toned photos of Crown King’s glory days line the walls. Bottles clink as the jukebox belts out Roy Acuff and Patsy Cline.

The saloon always has live entertainment on the weekends and rooms for rent upstairs, but there are several other rustic places to stay. The town also boasts a chapel, general store, nearby campground and an outstanding restaurant called The Mill, which was built around the actual stamp mill from the old Gladiator Mine.

The route from I-17 to Crown King is about 26 miles. The road up the mountainside is often steep with extreme drop-offs and amazing views a few feet from your tires. It can be a little intimidating, but apart from the occasional stretch of “washboard” conditions, it’s never too rough or technically difficult. Although you’ll be more comfortable in a truck or SUV, regular passenger cars make the trip all the time (especially in the summer when the temperature on top is usually fifteen degrees cooler than it is in Phoenix.)

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com .

Flagstaff hiking, history come together at Weatherford Trail

Traveling around northern Arizona’s canyons and mountains, I sometimes wonder: What would this place be like without a road going through it?

Oak Creek Canyon near Sedona is a good example. Just over a century ago, it was home to grizzly bears that drank from a clear-running stream. If you dared, you went into Oak Creek Canyon on horseback or foot.

Nowadays the highway in Oak Creek gets clogged with impatient drivers “visiting” what has long since become a tourist hot spot, and the Forest Service regularly closes the creek due to unsafe levels of fecal contamination.

I use roads as much as anyone. But when confronted with the idea of hiking just another stretch of asphalt wilderness, I opted for the high road and chose the Weatherford Trail.

In 1926, this route north of Flagstaff began as a road leading 10 miles and 4,000 feet up to the highest ridges of the San Francisco Peaks. Entrepreneur John W. Weatherford (you can still eat at the hotel he built in downtown Flagstaff – the Weatherford) made such a drive possible by throwing 10 years and many dollars at the mountain with hopes of attracting motoring tourists to Flagstaff. “Drive to the summit of Arizona’s highest peaks!” the slogans screamed.

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Thanks to the Great Depression, money for leisure travel dried up soon after Weatherford completed the project, and so did the business. The Forest Service bought the road for $15,500 in 1942 and wisely closed it to vehicular traffic, choosing instead to rehabilitate it as a hiking trail. No doubt Northern Arizona’s Native American tribes such as the Navajo and Hopi, who consider the Peaks to be sacred, were supportive of the decision.

As I set out on the Weatherford one warm July afternoon, I quickly discover one good thing about old roads – they can make for great hiking. Weatherford engineered his thoroughfare to have modest grades suitable for Model Ts. This means the entire trail is gradual, an easy hike for most. And the one-way, 8.7-mile route tends to follow ridges with excellent views.

Starting from Schultz Tank at 8,000 feet, the Weatherford eases two miles north through ponderosa pines toward looming Fremont Peak. At the 2-mile mark, the boundary for the Kachina Peaks Wilderness appears: No mechanical means of transport allowed herein. Not what old Weatherford had in mind, but I’m thankful to walk his route in silence.

The trail ascends the west rim of Weatherford Canyon (obviously Mr. Weatherford was fond of his name), a wide, several-hundred-foot-deep forested draw filled with Douglas fir, spruce and quaking aspen. Richly green ferns carpet the slopes amongst lichen-covered boulders, and purple lupines line the trail. It smells sugary in these high alpine woods, and I take a deep breath of the moist air.

The trail passes the junction with the Kachina Trail (which leads about 6.5 miles west toward the Arizona Snowbowl) and climbs above Weatherford Canyon along a series of switchbacks. At each elbow in the trail, grassy meadows appear where it is easy to imagine an old-fashioned picnic lunch spread out on a blanket shared with friends. I am alone, so I continue upward. The grade is so moderate that I’m hardly breaking a sweat.

The views of Flagstaff and the foothills below become more and more intriguing as the Weatherford climbs, but I’m completely absorbed by the view in the other direction as I hit the 6-mile mark at Doyle Saddle (also called Fremont Saddle). Here the Inner Basin of the San Francisco Peaks falls away in a spectacle of volcanic walls, aspen groves and meadows that lead downward to numerous cinder cones of the San Francisco volcanic field, and then, miles beyond, toward the red sandstones of the Painted Desert.

I’ve been keeping a close eye on the weather, as it’s monsoon season and lightning has killed hikers on the exposed ridges up above. But the clouds have parted, and I decide to continue.

From Doyle Saddle, the trail courses along the northern slopes of Doyle and Fremont Peaks, passing the Fremont-Agassiz saddle where the rusty remains of Allen Doyle’s tourist camp are strewn about (Doyle was an early guide). Near 11,000 feet, the forest thins to a sparse grove of twisted, ancient bristle cone pines, and then, even these disappear. The Forest Service forbids hiking off-trail above the tree line (11,400 feet) to protect the fragile Senecio Franciscanus plant.

Finally, I am standing 12,000 feet above sea level and overlooking the Agassiz-Humphrey’s saddle, where the Weatherford Trail ends. In the distance to the south, Oak Creek Canyon appears as a gash in the Mogollon Rim.

I can imagine the noise and hubbub of traffic there, but right now, in the silence of these mountain heights where only foot travel is permitted, I turn around and look instead at the grandeur I’ve experienced. It would have been much easier to ride here in a Model T, but I prefer the ache in my legs and feet.

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>>Email the editor @aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Arizona legends, views abound at Four Peaks

Strange stories abound about the Four Peaks wilderness area northeast of Scottsdale.

A lost gold mine that was guarded for years by the Apache Indians awaits rediscovery on a rocky shelf south of the peaks. Another mine high in the crags produces amethyst that rivals even Siberian stone in quality and depth. Mustang mules, descended from stock whose prospecting owners had died in the Arizona wilderness decades ago are still spotted occasionally by hunters.

And Jacob Waltz, Arizona’s infamous “Lost Dutchman,” wandered through this rugged country to give the slip to any would-be followers who sought his legendary gold mine in the Superstition Mountains.

Four Peaks has held a special allure for me since I arrived in Phoenix in 2000. It offers spectacularly sweeping views of the Roosevelt Lake basin and Sierra Ancha Wilderness beyond, so pack a lunch and a camera.

The drive starts on State Route 87 east of Fountain Hills (the “Beeline Highway”) and heads north Forest Road 143, which is just past the Saguaro Lake turnoff. I followed FR 143 for two or three miles before being forced to admit that my Toyota Echo wasn’t really suited for anything called “Forest Road.” As it started to bear east toward the peaks I turned and headed back to Phoenix, itching to return in a few weeks in my Nissan Xterra.

For the first few miles, FR 143 winds through boulder-y low-desert terrain; saguaro and ocotillo cactuses abound. The road steadily climbs as it winds north and east. Cholla and brittlebush are replaced by manzanita and eventually ponderosa pine near the ridgeline. The road ends at the ridgeline and forks into Pigeon Springs Road. Pick any direction for the views, which become truly spectacular.

No longer obscured by the looming mass of Four Peaks, the wilderness landscape opens up in all directions. Roosevelt Lake sprawls blue and lazy across the basin floor a vertical mile below. Beyond the valley, the Sierra Anchas rise though haze. Further still the country melds into the sky, the horizon lost in the bellies of distant thunderheads.

As I started down I realized how hungry I was. I parked at a wide pulloff on the south side of the road and carried my cooler about a hundred yards into the chaparral. I settled down to enjoy my lunch on a grassy area on the hillside. As I ate I watched storm clouds, roll toward me across the huge valley, their shadows darkening the hills beyond the lake.

I felt pin prick above my right ankle. I’d been sitting cross-legged in the grass, lazily eating my sandwich and snapping pictures, and I hadn’t glanced toward my feet in probably 15 minutes. They were now covered in a mass of swarming ants. I leapt up, swatting and brushing at my shoe tops, camera bouncing off my chest, hopping madly away from the mound I’d unwittingly sat on.

Ants 1, me zero. Now the storm’s leading edge was moving out over the lake just a few miles away. Great. Though I was still in bright sunshine, I knew the storm shadow and rain bands were probably no more than twenty minutes out. And I resumed the drive a little more quickly than before.

I drove faster and reached just a few minutes before the rain arrived. Across the swampy flood plain at the lake’s northern end, the branches of partially submerged sycamores and cottonwoods began to sway as the front moved in.

My final pictures of the day were of the last rays of sunlight slanting across the unlikely marshland.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Finding the Southwest in the Middle East

AMMAN, JORDAN — Walt Disney himself was seduced by the beauty of Sedona, and used the slender pinnacles of the area as a model for Splash Mountain, his famous amusement ride. But Mr. Disney is not the only one who found beauty hidden in the cracks of these sandstone cliffs.

Each year, tourists flood Sedona for a glimpse of what so many others have written, painted, and tried to re-create. The color-drenched rock set against blue Arizona sky attracts an active type to the area. They come ready to explore with climbing ropes in hand and mountain bikes strapped to the roofs of their vehicles. The rich color and mysterious balance of this popular getaway also possesses a relaxing appeal to those seeking refuge in a rare landscape of mountains.

But what about those looking for international adventure of a similar type?

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The vision of star-gazing at the foot of ancient desert mountains will not be found hiding anywhere in Europe. However, a search farther south yields a small country, or rather a kingdom, once ruled in part by America-born Queen Noor. Nestled safely within the borders of the Middle Eastern country of Jordan lies peace and history waiting to be explored from a camel’s back.

Discovering the exotic therapy of the Middle East is possible to do even nowadays during a time of constant turmoil. The probability of returning not only safe but fascinated by the exploration of this biblical land is likely.

Travel to Jordan from the U.S. is not difficult, and visas are easiest to obtain upon arrival at the airport. Although a consistent history of peace has left the country with few travel advisories, one must not expect to arrive in a clean and modern city.

The capital of Jordan is Amman. It is an old Islamic city caught in a moral and religious game of tug o’ war. Visitors will hear the unfamiliar sound of the call to prayer ringing through the streets, reminding all followers of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, to pray five times a day.

While walking down the city streets, one will find feminine eyes peeking out from behind black veils. However, the vast majority of female Muslims in Jordan cover only their hair with a scarf called a hijab . Men wearing their traditional headscarf, called a kafiya , is as common a sight as American men wearing baseball caps.

However, another side of Amman exists. It is fueled by the desire to live with the comforts of the Western world. There are parts of town tailored to please the higher class, with shopping centers visitors would expect to find in Scottsdale, not the Middle East. Also, it should come as no surprise that Starbucks, McDonald’s, even Safeway have set up shop in this Middle Eastern capital city. Night clubs and swanky restaurants are popping up in the ritzier parts of town, with names written in English not Arabic, the official language of the country.

Accommodations in the small kingdom of Jordan have recently been expanding to cater to luxury-seeking clientele. An influx of tourism hit Jordan when the lost civilization of Petra, the country’s most extraordinary secret, became one of the Wonders of the World.

Far away from the beeping horns of taxis and shouting voices in the markets live the ancient people of Jordan. They have wandered the desert trade routes of the Middle East since before Christ was born: the Bedouin tribesmen.

It is in their homeland of Wadi Rum that the visitor to Jordan will experience life without a clock. Meals prepared over the fire, fresh tea with sage, and falling asleep in a Bedouin camp will mark only the beginning of an adventure into the Jordanian Desert.

Exploration by camel caravan to see authentic hieroglyphics will start to make one feel like a desert wanderer. But for those in search of something a little more thrilling than the view from a camel, Wadi Rum also offers off-road desert safaris.

From the back of an open-air Jeep, travelers can feel the sandy wind in their faces as they’re whisked away to world-class rock climbing sites, sand dunes the size of angry sea swells and breathtaking sunset views.

Soon a massive sun slips below a horizon painted with waves of heat. The stars begin to appear in the sky’s deeper colors as the last beams of light shoot across the desert sand. It is when these last few beams of light disappear that the visitor to Jordan realizes just how at home one can feel in a desert halfway around the world.

Sedona and Wadi Rum belong to different cultures. However, both induce a childlike imagination as one explores the shadows of towering red cliffs. Whether it is the desire to be an Arizona cowboy or Aladdin himself, one should explore these natural amusement parks with bright eyes and open minds.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Eco-friendly fun in Lake Havasu City

In a desert city where fun is measured in decibels and horsepower, the existence of a supremely lush and silent estuary might strike the unwary traveler as extremely odd, if not unlikely.

For Lake Havasu City, however, the presence of the Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge adds a much-needed second dimension to this one-dimensional boater’s paradise 200 miles northwest of Phoenix.

[Editor's Note: A longer version of this story will appear in the August edition of PHOENIX magazine, which goes on sale July 24.]

Situated about 23 miles southeast of the city’s outskirts, the refuge is a massive stand of towering cottonwood and willow trees standing shoulder in the sand. One look from the top of a nearby rock outcropping shows a spread so thick that it’s more tropical rain forest than riparian habitat.

The refuge is comprises 6,100 acres. A ribbon of water connects it to the lake, feeds the native fauna and provides a handy cooling device for the woods.

During a recent hike, for example, the ambient temperature during my drive into Lake Havasu City hovered around 100 degrees. But 3.5 miles off the highway and a half-mile into the refuge, the temperature drops at least 10 degrees. The humidity is shuffled along on breezes for a swamp-cooling effect while the tree canopy shades the sand and keeps it cool (thus, there’s no reflective heat here like the Phoenix ‘heat island’ effect).

Stan Culling, who helps manage the refuge for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, touts its virtues: three top-notch fishing facilities, kayak access and some of the best birding in the Southwest, according to Ebird.org, which tracks birding “hotspots” nationwide.

For example, Culling says, careful and quiet birders can catch a glimpse of yellow-billed koo koos here — a species that is almost endangered but flourishes here because of the protective canopy.

“This is one of the last remaining stands of cottonwood-willow forests on the lower Colorado,” Culling says. “It’s a big deal out here.”

The refuge was named after a missionary-turned-explorer. Bill Williams reportedly left St. Louis for Arizona in the early 1800s to convert the local Native Americans. He later became a trapper and never went back, wandering the West until death. Legend has it he is buried in an unmarked grave on a mountain near Williams, Arizona, that also bears his name.

DIRECTIONS FROM PHOENIX: Drive past Parker toward Lake Havasu City on Highway 95. Pass a small subdivision called Hillcrest Bay, and watch for an upcoming stretch lined with a guardrail. Make a right on an unnamed dirt road. This is the refuge’s posted entry. Continue 3.2 miles to the cul-de-sac at the end and park at the trailhead.

INFORMATION: (928) 667-4144 or USFWS refuge headquarters .

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Street eats in Rocky Point

PUERTO PEÑASCO, Mex. – Ocean breezes. Cold cocktails.

Mexico beach protocol dictates that tacos are essential, but the hotel restaurant wants $3 a pop.

¡Ay Caramba!

Welcome to the new-and-improved Rocky Point.

Finding cheap eats in Arizona’s beach getaway is getting tougher, thanks to upscale resort developments. Their opulent presence has eliminated a lot of the gut-bomb Mexican food.

But for budget-oriented travelers looking for authentic cuisine, there are still some gems to consider. And yes, some of them are on wheels.

Seafood

Tired of shelling out $20 or more for the Catch of the Day? For the same price, travelers can enjoy a seafood feast at Mariscos El Doctor, a fleet of red-and-white trucks popular amongst local Peñascans for its fresh shrimp and oyster offerings.

Proprietor Ramiro Ramos González, who has lived in Rocky Point for 35 years, serves up various mixes of fresh shrimp cocktail for as little as $1.50. Oysters are served with vegetable garnishes in the shell and smothered in lime juice and hot sauce (for taste, but the acids also help kill possible bacteria). He says they come from the estuary south of Playa Encanto near the Mayan Palace resort.

Everything comes ice cold from large coolers Ramos totes around in the back of his truck, which has a shaded canopy. Patrons belly up to a food bar by sitting on stools that Ramos provides and leaning against wooden shelves he attaches to the rails of the truck’s bed.

Seafood lovers can find Ramos’ fleet throughout town. To stay close to the action, look for his makeshift restaurant near the corner of Benito Juarez Boulevard and Hidalgo. This is the main intersection in town that leads to the Sunset Cantina and Plaza Las Glorias, with a pedestrian bridge that travels over the street. [In late afternoon, Ramos likes to set up shop near the shadetree in the parking lot of the corner’s only bank.]

FRUIT

If it’s fresh fruit you seek, try driving further into town on Benito Juarez Boulevard and veer left at the fork to enter Rocky Point’s Old Port area. There you’ll find the mobile coconut stand that serves coconut milk to thirsty locals.

in the bed of a small pickup, this unnamed proprietor (who is easy to find, since he is the only one doing it) displays his cocos on a stick in the truck bed. He carves them up for a tasty treat ($3).

Look for the stand on Estrella Street, between Pescadores and Zaragoza streets in Old Town. [Here's a map . This is the loop one block north of the wharf's main drag, called the Malecon .]

ICE CREAM

Although Thrify Ice Cream shops are open throughout Rocky Point, do as the Romans do and drive over to La Michoacana. This Mexican ice cream brand is extremely popular throughout the country for its use of fresh fruit and creamy milk in making frozen treats.

It’s less than the Thrifty shop for a scoop ($1.50 versus $2.50), and the location on Hidalgo west of Benito Juarez Boulevard is in the heart of the town’s non-touristy commercial area. There are restaurants, video stores, clothing shops, furniture stores, newsstands, local salons, a hardware store and more. It’s a perfect break from running errands on a hot day. Plus, the design of the corner store is open-aired on both streets. [This can be a boon in cooler temps, when one can eat ice cream on the steps.]

For more information on Rocky Point and accommodations, visit puerto-penasco.com.