A Dam Fine Time

We’ve just spent 5 days in Page, Arizona on the shores of Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam. Page continues the desert landscape but with a whopping great big lake to make things interesting.

Our first excursion was a Photography Tour of Upper Antelope Canyon. This canyon is a beautiful, narrow slot canyon (down to 1 metre wide at spots) with gorgeous light and colour. The problem is that it is chock full of tourists – why is it that tourists want to go to tourist destinations??? In the peak season they have 200-300 people going through every hour. We were slightly early in the season so there were only 199 -299 people. It was busier than paisley wallpaper. Our guide did a pretty good job of getting us into the right spots to get good photos, but there were some moments of frustration it has to be said. We managed to take 1400 photos between us, and managed to cull this down to a couple of hundred for the slide show. Here’s a couple to whet your appetite……..

The Sand Fall. Wind blows in sand from the top to create this "sandfall".

At the right moment, sunlight filters in from above through the 100m slot.

This shadow is called "Monument Valley" since the shadow looks like a  Butte from said valley.

Next on the list was a 2 day kayak trip on the lake with Jim from Kayak Powell. We set off in glorious weather - mild temps, no wind and glassy water making for easy paddling. Jim had planned to take us into a canyon, but as we neared the entrance, a big power boat approached and a man with a megaphone told us to back off as the canyon was closed for a “live firing exercise”. Next thing we know, shots are ringing out from the direction of the canyon. Time for Plan B which was a much safer walk to a cave and lunch. Post lunch we paddled on in a leisurely fashion and watched the coast guard practising high speed chases across the lake with lights flashing and sirens blaring. The coast guard boat was much slower than the ‘villain’ it was chasing so the villain had to go round and round in circles to give them a chance to catch up. Bit silly really.

We camped in a canyon called Ice-cream Canyon, and I was very disappointed to find no such refreshment. No Baskin-Robbins, no Mr Whippy, not even a man with a wheeled ice-cream trolley. Bummer. It was a great spot even without ice-cream.

Deirdre in front of Lone Rock.

Next day we were doing the “aggressive option” which was a long paddle to the river end of Antelope Canyon. Gone were the glassy waters and easy paddling. The water was churned up with wakes from every imaginable type of water craft, and the swell reflected off the walls of the river canyon making for hard paddling in choppy, confused water.  I found that I had put on my Cranky-pants which are hard to paddle in (they are quite burdensome). Eventually we made it into Antelope Canyon and were rewarded with spectacular cliffs and calmer water. We were able to walk further into the canyon at the end of the watery bit, and enjoy a much quieter experience than the upper canyon of a few days prior.

Paddling into the lower Antelope Canyon.

Speaking of pants, here’s one from the “are you for real?” files. In Walmart we came across a specials display of “Dog Pads” - incontinence pads for “ailing, incontinent or Senior dogs”.  Across the way, there was a display of nappies for puppies. Maybe you dog lovers have seen this before, but it was pretty weird for us!

Other activities in Page included a fairly dull float down the Colorado River below the dam, and a tour of the dam itself.

Glen Canyon Dam

Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River. Mike had to stick his head over the edge of a  1000 foot drop off for this shot. 

We’re now in Zion National Park but we’ll tell you more about that in a few days time.