From the Promised Land to the Land of Broken Dreams

Approaching Ship Rock.

We have traversed many roadways during our five cross-country trips, but none bring me the dramatic joys that come with the passage over the Chuska Mountains. It’s my favorite road and it’s called Buffalo Pass and is located in Apache County in Navajo Nation. Indian Route 13 never disappoints.

It took us from the parched moonscape of Ship Rock across the Arizona border into aptly named Red Rock. The color change in the geography is almost impossible and can stir the hidden artist in even the least imaginative person. Then came the climb. The road rises through pinion pines into the cool recesses of roadside snow, delivering us to the first ponderosa pines of our trip.