Buffalo outside a film museum

6/07/06 - On to Page, Arizona
Wednesday we moved to Page, AZ (Map)and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. In Kanab we saw this odd Buffalo outside a film museum. We pulled into the Page Lake Powell Campground and enjoyed their indoor pool and spa that evening.

The next day we visited the Glen Canyon Dam. Unfortunately, the security was so tight at the door to the visitors center, they would not even let us in long enough to get our National Park Passport stamped.

That evening I took Tara for a hike and saw the coal Navajo Generating Station power plant in the distance. Then we got treated to this beautiful sunset .

Vermillian Cliffs

6/09/06 - North Rim of the Grand Canyon
Friday we drove down past the Vermillion Cliffs to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Here's a photo of the Marble Canyon Plateau with the shadow of a cloud that looks like a gigantic bird to me.

Next we checked out the Navaho Bridge which was the first crossing of the Colorado that connected Arizona with Utah in 1929. A new more modern bridge (on the right) was constructed next to it in 1995.

Near the Navaho Bridge are the Rock Houses which were fascinating. Some were pretty small, but one had several rooms with two of the walls constructed of small rocks and most of the other two walls and part of the roof consisting of one huge boulder.

North Rim Grand Canyon

The drive to the North Rim was pretty, but once we got past the impressive Vermillion Cliffs, it was mostly forest until we got the the Grand Canyon itself. Our first stop was Bright Angel Point. I walked out to the beautiful vista point and took quite a few photos.

North Rim Grand Canyon

Then we drove to Point Imperial and saw this fantastic view. We did feel that the North Rim was less impressive than the South Rim, but that may be partially because there is so much more of the South Rim to see.

North Rim Grand Canyon

Glen Canyon Dam

6/11/06 - Lake Powell
Sunday we drove out to Wahweap area where we discovered a pretty nice RV park, a new marina under construction, and a large section of lake surrounded by arid Arizona terrain.

On the way home we stopped at an overlook on Scenic View Drive. It was a beautiful spot with great views of both the Colorado River and the Glen Canyon Dam.

6/12/06 - Slot Canyons
One of the places I especially wanted to see in this area was Antelope Canyon. We stopped there yesterday, but found that a guide was required, and my wife decided she was not up for a jeep ride or a hike. So I called several places on Monday to try to get in on a photo tour.

Slot Canyon

One of the tour services mentioned that they not only had tours of Antelope Canyon but also of another slot canyon in the area that was more secluded and unknown. So I decided to check it out and arrived just in time for their Sunset Tour of Cathedral Canyon. When I got there, they were surprised and it took about 15 minutes for my guide Chief Tsosie to arrive.

So the two of us jumped in this rather beat up pickup truck and headed out to the Navaho Indian Reservation. On the way, Chief Tsosie was nice enough to stop and pick up Tara who was thrilled to come along for the ride. I have not done much off-road driving, so it was a particularly thrilling ride through river washes to this very secluded slot canyon.

Cathedral Canyon

Our journey continued through this beautiful slot canyon, which was about 75 feet long, into a wider canyon which we hiked about half a mile into, before we got to our destination.

The entrance to Cathedral Canyon was very narrow and we had to place our hands and feet on either side of the wall, which were about 4 to 5 feet apart, about 6 feet off the ground. It was a bit tricky and a little frightening, but we made it without incident. Tara had to wait behind though, which was of minor concern to me.

Once we got into the main part of the canyon, it was very impressive, towering nearly 100 feet over our heads. Chief Tsosie played his flute for a few minutes, while I took some photos and took in the sacredness of this natural cathedral. Then Chief Tsosie took some photos of me and we inched our way back through the narrow entry way.

Tara was very glad to see us of course and the trip back was just as exciting. It seemed much shorter and was made more interesting by the setting sun.

Antelope Canyon

The next day, I met Chief Tsosie again and he took about 8 of us on a photography tour of Antelope Canyon. There were about a dozen other people in other trucks from Antelope Slot Canyon Tours and possibly 50 other people in the canyon during the time we went through. Chief Tsosie did a great job of clearing the Upper Antelope Canyon for us to be able to get some great shots of this magnificent natural wonder.

Lake Powell

That evening I took Tara on a hike on the Page Rim Trail which overlooks Lake Powell. It was a great way to finish our visit to Page, AZ.