We are going to reserve tour guides for Saturday and Sunday.

Looks like the tour guide cost will be ~$200-250 per person for one car per day. So $400 - $500 for the guide & car. Hotel is beyond that. There are 3 hotels (see Nancy's note below for details). I will let everyone make their own hotel reservations. I booked the Holiday Inn already for me & Nancy (Thunderbird is sold out already). If you want to go, please book your room now.

If you want to go, please RSVP via the website and join the event group. We can have conversations there about what we're planning.

FYI, below is what Nancy sent me with her research:

"I looked into making reservations at Canyon de Chelly. I found a tour guide that will let us stop wherever we want to take photos. The others have set tours and only let you out at certain sites. However, they only have Suburbans, which means if we want to go to Spider Rock (which we do), since they are not 6 WD, we need 2 vehicles (and 2 guides) for 7 people because the road is bad. Also, turns out, June is not the best time to go. When it is really dry, the sand is like sugar. Also, it will be 103-105˚ and no AC in the vehicle because of the terrain. The woman I spoke with thinks Oct. is best. The colors are beautiful then; I went in Oct. when I visited. Early morning would be best for the tour and for photos we should book 6-8 h. If we want to do that (before set tour time of 8AM), we need to get backcountry permits the night before (needs to be before 5 PM) and our tour guide needs to go with us to sign. It is $8 pp and has to be cash. The vehicle is $320 for 3 h plus $100 + 6 per cent Navajo Nation tax for each additional hour. There is a cash discount and it depends on what we book, but probably would be $50 less. It can be reserved with a $75 dollar check, which counts as cash and we can pay the rest when we get there. Cancellation is free (check will be reissued and mailed back) until 48 h before (then the cancellation fee is the $75). It would be best to call 5 days before to see how weather will affect the canyon. ATTN: Canyon de Chelly Tours PO Box 1112 Chinle, AZ 86503 There is room in the back of the SUV to store camera gear. We need to pack lunches and it is ok to bring a cooler. It is a good idea if we do more research if we want to request specific sites to photograph. Of course, there are the popular ones: Whitehouse Ruin (Ansel Adams), Antelope House and Spider Rock. There are ruins, petroglyphs, pictographs, etc. There are actually 2 canyons: Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. Oct. is prime time and if we want to do it, we need to book now; we would have to send the deposit a month before. Canyon de Chelly Tours 928-349-1600 I spoke with Tanya. Delvonia is the tour manager and would know more about specifics of photography/light/sites. There are only 3 hotels: Holiday Inn-nicest Thunderbird-ok Best Western

Bring your own towels. You will get charged if you stain towels....red dirt."