2018 Fall Western Trip: Page, Arizona

Wednesday, 10/17:  178 mikes and parked at Wahweap RV Park outside Page, Arizona

Site C-5

View of Lake Powell from the campsite.

We arrived about 2:00 to pouring rain, and set up in the rain.  Just our luck, the rain stopped 15 minutes later and the sun came out.  This is an absolutely beautiful campground located in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.  It is probably one of the nicest places we have ever camped at.

There was no TV service, so we watched 2 DVD movies after dinner.

Thursday, 10/18:

Sunshine and warm today.  Judy doesn't particularly light heights, such as the Glen Canyon Bridge, so I found  the local Safeway grocery store and pick up a few necessities.  On the way back to the camper, I stopped and visited the Hayden Visitor Center at the Glen Canyon Dam.  As an AP Environmental Science teacher, I used to talk about the book Cadillac Desert and the damning of the Colorado River.  The Sierra Club always regretted not opposing the Glen Canyon project strong enough.  The Visitor Center puts a very well done, by the way much more positive spin on the advantages of the dam.  Interesting to look at the other side of the argument.  

Glen Canyon Bridge over the Colorado River

Glen Canyon Dm from the bridge

We had lunch back at the camper.  Several friends had recommended a visit to Upper Antelope Slot Canyon.  I went online and got the last available slot at 3:30.  The canyon is on Navaho land, and the only way to visit is by a reservation. I was in a group of about 12 people, so the tour was intimate and personal.  Our guide, Ricky, conducted an amazing tour.  Since we were the last tour of day, he dawdled a bit and spent a lot of time with us.  Ricky is a professional photographer on the side, and taught us a lot of tips on the iPhones and took a lot of individualized pictures of each of us.  It was an amazing afternoon.

I was back to the camper by 6:00,  had a quick dinner of hot dogs, and then we watched 2 more movies on DVD.

Friday, 10/19:

I went to see Horseshoe Bend this morning.  I actually went yesterday about noon, but the parking lot was full, so I turned around.  This morning I got there at 8:00, and there were only a few cars in the parking lot.  By 9:30 the overlook was becoming too crowded, so I left. The early morning was not the best light, which would be about noon, but there was going to be too many people by then.  Most are foreign visitors and I wonder if people realize how much our tourist industry relies on foreign visitors.

View of the Page area/

Trail down to Horseshoe Bend

Sunrise at Horseshoe Bend

On the way back, I booked a 10:30 Glen Canyon Power Dam tour.  It was really interesting.  We went down 64 floors from observation deck.  It was 11 floors to the dam top and then another 53 floors to the base of the dam.  Along the way, I learned that Lake Powell is the 2nd largest man made reservoir by volume, and the largest by shoreline.  Lake Mead at Hoover Dam is the largest by volume.

View of Glen Canyon Bridge looking up from the top of the dam.

Walking the top of the dam.

Flags along the top of the dam.

At the base of the dam looking up.

After lunch, we went to the Lake Powell Marina and did some shopping for souvenirs,

Lake Powell Marina

We had a homemade gourmet dinner of pan seared scallops over spinach and bacon to celebrate our last night at Lake Powell.  We watched 2 more DVD movies before bed.

Tomorrow, Saturday, we are off to continue our eastward trip home.  Our next stop will be Holbrook, Arizona.