This arch is located about 5 miles northwest of Cove. Before we started the project of inventorying the Navajo's irrigation related water uses I had never heard of Cove - and I had lived in Arizona for 30 years by then. I had crossed the reservation on numerous occasions on all the US highways, but Cove is located in a remote and isolated area in the northeastern part of the reservation, close to the New Mexico border. The Navajo Nation, so called since 15 April 1969, covers an area of 27,425 square miles (71,000 square km) mostly in Arizona, but some area in Southern Utah and Northwestern New Mexico. Navajo who live in Shiprock, New Mexico that have tribal business in Lukachukai take a paved reservation route and save about 50 miles versus taking the US highway (79 miles vs 132 miles). When taking the shorter reservation route the road to Cove, also paved, branches off and it goes passed the Cove Chapter House to the community of Cove where it dead ends and the pavement ends. There are no gas stations, no fast food places or restaurants, and no motels or hotels, just some houses and fields, and dogs - and they all bark. We worked in Cove several days and noticed this arch the first day. We also noticed that in the morning the arch is bathed in sunlight, and in the afternoon it appears as a silhouette. So one day we decided to drive there in the morning, it is just a trail, and barely drivable in a 4x4. When we got there and turned off the engine, we noticed the silence. There was absolute silence - no whispering breeze that rustled the leaves, no insects, no birds, no distant road noises, no faint noise from a high flying jet. Total silence - and it was overwhelming and awe-inspiring. No wonder that formations like this one, and mountains and other outstanding geographic features play such an significant role in the Navajo's religion. This picture was taken on 5 November 2003, Sig...