Going Places with Lucy & Leo

May 30

We arrived in Page in the early afternoon to a scorching red hot sun. Leo had a bit of a scuffle with the RV park office person because they assigned us a terrible spot even though we had made the reservation months ago and had requested a very nice site towards the back of the campground, which is quieter. Before you think I’m being too negative I’ll explain that we took a lot of care in selecting these campgrounds for our trip, and the site to which you are assigned makes all the difference in the “glamping” experience. Our campground, Wahweap Marina and RV Resort,  was absolutely beautiful and  right on Lake Powell. Leo’s efforts paid off and we were assigned a site with lovely views of the water and afternoon shade in our picnic area, in the RV world…this is heaven!

The very first afternoon we took a short drive to see Horseshoe Bend Slot Canyon. You take a 1.5 mile hike (a bit steep) right off the highway  to see this gorgeous view which Mother Nature with time, wind and water from the Colorado river, created a gorgeous slot Canyon. In the high desert, water and rocks creates a mosaic that never disappoints. In summary a unique place worth stopping to see and enjoy.  We were there in the afternoon over a holiday weekend so it was very crowded but with patience, we were able to get close enough to the precipice  to view the Canyon, experience vertigo and get some great pictures.

The next day, we booked a tour of Antelope Canyon in the Navajo Nation. This area is restricted and can only be accessed by guided Native American people. They take you on a short jeep ride to the canyon and then you are assigned a Navajo guide that explains how the Canyon was formed, and then takes you through the slot canyon. Our guide was fantastic, she was continuously spotting different picture taking angles and views, which all mimic something in nature. However she still managed to spot George Washington’ s head, a bald eagle and even King Kong. Our guide was the best picture taker ever! She would explain what you were “seeing”, then explain how to capture the image with your camera, then she would see the picture you took, tell you what a terrible picture you shot and then take your camera away, take the picture herself , and show you the difference. She knew exactly what setting your phone or camera should have for the best possible result. She also pointed out where to stand and gave us tons of picture taking tips. She was amazing and helped us to get beautiful pictures. The canyon itself is gorgeous and the light effects seeping through the many slots gives it a surreal quality. Another surprise was how pleasant it was to walk through the canyon, even though it was 95 degrees outside in the sun, it felt like you were walking through air conditioned corridors. Our guide also explained how deadly these canyons can be during rainy season (July and August) when flash floods can send water rushing through at 30 miles an hour. It is so very narrow at some parts that I can just imagine the force this water creates and how dangerous it would be to be caught inside any of these slot canyons. But safety first, today, they are very careful during rainy season and at the slightest hint of rain they cancel all guided tours.

What good is staying at a lake resort if you’re not going to go out on the lake and by this I mean a boat of some sort. The water temperature on Lake Powell was 60 degrees (even though the air  temperature was over 90) and that’s way too cold for swimming for this Florida girl. But luckily for us there were dozens of water adventures available to choose from.

Lake Powel covers over 150 miles of canyons and coves and over 1,500 miles of lake shore. We found a tour that combined a boat ride and a hike to Rainbow Bridge National Monument, which is the largest natural bridge in the world. This bridge is not to be confused with the formations you find in Arches National Park, we learned the difference between a natural bridge and an arch, that being that a natural bridge is formed by water erosion and always has water going under the bridge while an arch is formed by shifting winds and no water under it. The Colorado River formed this natural bridge long before man dammed it up and created Lake Powell. The trip took 2 1/2 hours by boat to get to the trailhead for a 1 1/2 mile hike to the Monument . The hike was a bit steep at first but I would categorize it as easy. The views are spectacular and you can take an extra 20 minute hike to see the Rock formation from the back side, which off course Leo insisted we do. On our return, our boat  stopped by the Dangling Rope Marina to deliver mail and necessities. This marina outpost which is literally in the middle of “nowhere ” provides a refueling and rest stop to boaters who venture deep into the Canyon . The crew also told us that the marina sold the best soft ice cream in Arizona, so we had no choice but run to the ice cream stand as soon as the boat docked and try it. Our opinion… it was pretty good, even though you are out in the middle of nowhere, in the desert and really hot, does your brain get a bit confused in these situations? Still upon reflection, we would still give  the ice cream a thumbs up.

After the hike and boat ride we were glad to get back “home” to our motor home, take a long shower and fix our drinks to celebrate happy hour and event no RV’er must ever miss. Tomorrow we leave the desert Southwest after a month of beautiful experiences and headed to our next adventure, Utah’s grand circle of National Parks,  with Zion National Park being first at bat.