Travel

Mesa Verde, Part 7: Shiprock

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This is Part 7 of a 7-part series about Mesa Verde National Park. To read the previous installation, CLICK THIS LINK. To start at the beginning, CLICK THIS LINK. Thanks for reading!

Shiprock

About 27 million years ago, the Four Corners region (where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico converge), was on fire. Over 80 volcanoes were active in what geologists call the Navajo volcanic field. Most of these volcanoes were violent. As their superheated magma rose to the surface of the Earth, it came into contact with groundwater, touching off massive steam explosions, which carved out craters as deep as 3,300 feet.

But most of those craters no longer exist. Erosion and eolian winds, over millions of years have washed and blown away the surrounding soil. And as the soil departed, what remained were giant, excavated sculptures. These were the craggy, rough-scaled necks of the now extinct volcanoes.

The most famous volcano to stick its neck out is located in Northwestern New Mexico. The Navajo Indian tribe has known about it for centuries, but it was discovered by Americans in the 1800s. The Navajo name for the rock is Tse-Bit-a-i, which means “winged rock.” This refers to the legend of a great bird that brought the Navajo people to this region from the north. It’s an apt name, as the rock does seem to resemble a giant wing.

In 1860, an American first named this massive stone, “The Needle,” after its topmost pinnacle. But sometime during the 1870s this name was changed to Shiprock, due to its resemblance to a huge clipper ship. That name has stuck, at least for us palefaces and other non-Navajos.

Shiprock, or Tse-Bit-a-i.

The tip-top of Shiprock peaks at 7,177 feet above sea level. But this inselberg erupts from a 5,594 foot base, giving it a prominence of 1,583 feet above the high-desert floor. This makes it nearly twice the height of Devil’s Tower (another volcanic neck) in Wyoming. And unlike Devil’s Tower, it’s surrounded by a vast, flat plain. As a result it is very conspicuous from a distance, just like a tall ship on the horizon, while viewed from the shore.

Shiprock is surrounded by a sea of flat desert. The dark line to the left of Shiprock, in this photo, is an ancient volcanic dike.

While hiking in Mesa Verde National Park, we could clearly see Shiprock 46 miles away, floating as if on a great sea, through the shimmering desert haze. And while motoring across the Colorado Plateau, near the Colorado/Utah border, we detected the top mast of Shiprock bobbing up over the horizon, 47 miles to the south, like a distant schooner sailing into view. And while cruising over the Four Corners area in an airliner, I’ve descried the distinct shape of Shiprock from 30,000 feet.

Shiprock from 46 miles away, at Park Point Overlook, in Mesa Verde National Park.

Navajos regard Shiprock as sacred, and feel nervous about any human approaching it. Especially non-tribal members. And the idea of climbing it is repugnant to them. But this has not stopped those who have not shared the Navajoan religious view. Mountain climbers took a fancy to Shiprock. During the 1920s and 30s, they assessed it as being a climb of considerable technical difficulty, and a great unsolved problem that was begging to be unriddled.

Members of the Sierra Club finally solved it. A group of more than four became the first to successfully ascend Shiprock, in 1939. But it was a tough climb, and this was the first climb in the United States to use expansion bolts for protection.

In March 1970, three climbers sustained serious injuries while attempting to scale Shiprock. After this, the Navajo Nation took action. They banned any and all rock climbing not only on Shiprock, but anywhere else on their vast reservation. This includes the iconic monoliths, spires, and other famous rock formations found in nearby Monument Valley. They announced that the ban was “absolute, final, and unconditional,” and applied to both Navajo and non-Navajo alike.

Still, rock climbers make their attempts, while trying to evade tribal police. But the Navajos consider all their monuments to be sacred, and strictly enforce this ban.

The formidable aiguilles of Shiprock have been tempting climbers for at least a century.

My brother and sister-in-law went on a vacation to Mesa Verde National Park, with my wife and me. After noticing Shiprock from Park Point Overlook, 46 miles away, we decided we wanted to get a close view of this massif. So we piled into my brother’s motor home and headed south on Highway 491. (At one time this was called Highway 666, but superstitious Christians lobbied to have the number changed.)

We crossed the New Mexico border and made it to a point on our erstwhile apocalyptic highway, where we were just seven miles away from this towering monolith. Here, we turned down Indian Service Route 13, and proceeded several miles, until we reached a dirt road, where we could pull off the pavement. On this spot, our vantage was about 3.5 miles from this geological wonder. We could have driven closer, down the dirt road, but out of respect for the Indians, and not wanting to be run off by tribal police, this was as close as our trembling hearts dared to approach their supernatural volcano.

Shiprock in the distance, with Shiprock Dike to the left. I suppose we could have ventured down the scant dirt road you see in the foreground, to get a closer look at this giant inselberg. But we thought we spotted a war party planning an ambush, so we drove our wagon no further.

We humans are fascinated by rocks like this, that jut out of the landscape so abruptly. And I can imagine Indians, hundreds of years ago, navigating across the broad expanse of their desert land, utilizing Shiprock as a navigational landmark. Hell, it can be easily seen from dozens of miles away, so why not navigate by it? I think it’s safe to assume that this was their ancient GPS.

It seems that for the Navajo, Shiprock has served as a guide. It has saved them from wandering too far abroad, into enemy territory. It has beckoned them home from their peregrinations. It has reconnected them with family and friends. And for these reasons, it is no wonder they consider this rock to be so sacred.

This concludes my series about Mesa Verde National Park, and the surrounding Four Corners region. I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading!

This is the largest of three volcanic dikes that radiate out from Shiprock, like the spokes of the Mercedes-Benz logo. It’s hard to believe these rock walls are 27 million years old.

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Categories: Travel

51 replies »

  1. Pingback: Mesa Verde, Part 6: Hovenweep – Chasing Unicorns

      • Just rubs me the wrong way. This is my planet as much as it is anyone else’s. But to say some natural place is only special for one group of people based on religious beliefs bothers me. But it probably like that in many places around the world, like in Hawaii where certain groups are trying to block telescopes on a mountain because it is a sacred mountain.

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        • I understand. Indian burial grounds might fall into this category also. I’ve never understood why you can’t build on something, just because somebody was buried there, hundreds or thousands of years ago.

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  4. Route 666 to the off-ramp at SR-13, the the Highway to H… Sounds like a more appropriate designation for the eastern Sierra route past the holy billboards and ceremonial tire-dump to the sacred gambling casino. Somehow reassuring that an astute developer hasn’t installed a cable-car to a viewing platform and gift shop on Shiprock’s summit.

    Thanks for the articles. Interesting and informative!

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  8. Wonderful job with the series! I like the photos of Shiprock but I don’t have any desire to climb it. Which is good, now that I might be run off by Indians arrows.

    I enjoyed the series but what happened to the love boat that was supposed to appear in the post today?? No steamy romance?

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    • Thank you. I think it might be a good thing for you to experience Indian arrows. Then you’d know what it’s like for someone to send something flying through the air at you.

      And are you blind? This post is entitled “Shiprock.” Didn’t you see the big clipper ship Love Boat sailing through the desert sea?

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  9. The clipper ships, incidentally, were the fastest sailing ships ever designed and built. Using cleverly rigged sails, multiple versions of which hung above decks, they cut swaths around the world in no time flat. They were superseded by steamers in the 1800s, and later by diesel-powered ships. But if the world ever needs sail again, the concept is always there, and that’s what I like about it.

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