Toadlena Trading Post

Toadlena Trading Post sits way out in far western New Mexico up against the Chuska Mountains which run along the border between Arizona and New Mexico.

The trading post is in the Two Grey Hills area of the Navajo reservation, and has been in business since the beginning of the 20th century. The current owners, Mark Winter and Linda Larouche, operate the business in the old trading post system, dealing with local Navajos on the barter and trade system.

The post has a group of local Navajo weavers who produce excellent quality weavings which the trading post sells. Two Grey Hills weaving is distinctive in that no dyes are used - only natural wool colors are used, making the Two Grey Hills weavings all in shades of brown and natural and black and grey.

We spent a long time talking with Linda, one of the owners, and she was a wealth of information about the rugs they sell, as well as the Navajo people who live in the Toadlena Area. The trading post location is very remote, but she loves it there, and has found her niche as a lover of the area, the weavings and her Navajo customers, weavers, and friends.

What a wonderful place! I would have loved to leave with a rug, but they are very expensive, and we will need to think through such a purchase, maybe for the future.

While we were at Toadlena, it began snowing hard, and John, Linda, and I laughed about the crazy weather in west central New Mexico, where snow on April 29 is not surprising.

John got many many pictures at Toadlena:






Two Grey Hills rugs in the trading post museum:













Two Grey Hills:

From Shiprock to Gallup, New Mexico

It is 94 miles from Shiprock to Gallup.

94 miles through the Navajo Indian Nation.

Miles of stark beauty, incredible rock formations and endless skies. We saw a little bit of everything - a little bit of sunshine, wind, blowing sand, and snow.

These are some of the pictures John took on our drive through there on April 29.






TOADLENA, NM:






SNOW IN GALLUP NM THE NEXT MORNING< APRIL 30:

Shiprock

Shiprock is a rock formation which rises 1800 feet above the high desert on the Navajo Reservation about 12 miles southwest of the town of Shiprock, NM in northern New Mexico.

Shiprock. In Navajo: Tsé Bit'a'i. "rock with wings". To the Navajo it represents the great bird who brought the Diné (Navajo people) from the north to their present land. Anglos named it "Shiprock" in the 1870s for its resemblance to a 19th century clipper chip. To geologists, Shiprock is thought to have been formed 25 million years ago by volcanic action in the area.

To the Navajos, Shiprock and the land surrounding it is of great religious and historical significance. Navajos believe that in the beginning the people lived on top of the peak, and then men came down from the mountain only to plant their fields and get water. Legend says that one day the peak was struck by lightning obliterating the path and leaving only a sheer cliff, leaving the women and children on the top to starve to death. To this day, the Navajo forbid the presence of people on the peak; climbing has been illegal since 1970. There are many other Navajo legends and beliefs about Shiprock.

At any rate, Shiprock is the most prominent landmark in northwestern New Mexico. It can be seen for miles around. We were in the area for two days last week, and took many pictures of Shiprock. On the second day, a sandstorm with heavy winds almost covered the mountain from our view in a matter of minutes when we were just about a mile away.

Shiprock. Tsé Bit'a'i. Haunting. Spiritual. Mystical. A place of legends. A place that says "New Mexico" as much as any place in our state.








SHIPROCK BARELY VISIBLE IN A SANDSTORM.


THE TERRAIN AROUND SHIPROCK:


(Information from Wikipedia.)