Rock with Wings - Shiprock New Mexico (4 Corners Area)

1 year ago
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Ship Rock is a dramatic 7,177-foot-high (2,188-meter) rock mountain located in northwestern New Mexico about 20 miles southwest of the town of Shiprock. The formation, a volcanic plug, rises above a barren desert plain south of the San Juan River. Ship Rock is on Navajo Nation land, a self-governing territory of 27,425 square miles in northwestern New Mexico, northeastern Arizona, and southeastern Utah.
• Elevation: 7,177 feet (2,188 meters)
• Prominence: 1,583 feet (482 meters)
• Location: Navajo Nation, San Juan County, New Mexico.
• Coordinates: 36.6875 N / -108.83639 W
• First Ascent: First ascent in 1939 by David Brower, Raffi Bedayn, Bestor Robinson, and John Dyer.

Ship Rock is called Tsé Bitʼaʼí in Navajo, which means "rock with wings" or simply "winged rock." The formation figures prominently in Navajo Indian mythology as a giant bird that carried the Navajo from the cold Northlands to the Four Corners region when they were being threatened by a more aggressive tribe. Ship Rock, when viewed from certain angles, resembles a large sitting bird with folded wings; the north and south summits are the tops of the wings.
The above text is copied from an article from "Outdoor Trails & Climbs" by Stewart Green. Here is a link to the entire article: https://www.tripsavvy.com/facts-about-shiprock-756148. Also, I found another article about Shiprock on a website called "New Mexico Nomad". Here is a link to that article:
https://newmexiconomad.com/shiprock/
Both of these articles I found very interesting and informative and I highly recommend that you check them out.
One final note...As of 1970 it is illegal to do any rock climbing on "Winged Rock".

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