Shiprock

Aircraft Carrier?

Alligator?

New Mexico

Shiprock is a rock formation rising approximately 1600 feet (483 m) above the plain on the Navajo Nation, New Mexico, USA. The rock is so named because it resembles a 19th century clipper ship. Actually there are several rocks like this around the area. In my view, what makes this rock interesting is the small range near the rock. From a particular angle, the rock and the range together look like an aircraft carrier. Moreover, there are open cracks on the range and you can imagine that they are “windows” of the ship. When you approach ShipRock from the town Shiprock, there are two very rough dirt roads that could lead you into the rock. The second one is a better location for making a nice photographic composition of the range and the rock. In my opinions, there is no need to drive deeper into the rough road (You need a 4X4 or good luck); standing at the beginning of the road is sufficient to take good photos. (more pictures below).

Window Rock Arizona

Navajo Nation

Wind Talker Navajo Code Talker

Chong Ho Alex Yu

Window Rock is the capital of the Navajo Nation, which contains the Navajo Nation World War II Memorial. During WWII the Japanese troops were able to break any codes used by the US military until the involvement of Navajo code talkers. Navajo code talkers transmitted messages using codes built upon their native language, which was unknown by Japanese. This unbreakable code made a significant contribution to the US victory in the Pacific theater. After WWII the Navajo codes were kept as classified information and thus code talkers had received no recognition at all for a long time. Nevertheless, Navajo code talkers became a household name when the movie “Windtalkers” directed by John Woo was released in 2002.

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