Saturday, November 04, 2000
Cottonwood, AZ - Nov 4
We have been in AZ for 11 days, but you wouldn't know it from the weather! We spent the first four days in Page, staying at the Wahweap campground at the Glen Canyon Natl Rec Area. We had a nice site with a view of Lake Powell. It is lovely there but sad to think of the even lovelier canyon that is buried beneath it.
The weather was rainy, and had been raining for many days before, so all slot canyon hiking was out of the question. The road into the north end of the Paria Canyon trail was closed, and the Navajos were not allowing anyone into Antelope Canyon. That was a disappointment and will be reason to return.
We did go on a 2 1/2 hour boat trip, which went into the flooded part of Antelope Canyon. We went in quite far, until the boat almost touched the canyon walls and you could see where the water ended and the dry canyon began. We also went on a short hike to a Colorado River overlook just south of Page, which has a gorgeous view of a horseshoe bend in the river. Quite spectacular and very few people, since it's not an "official" overlook. No guard rails or anything -- you just get as close as you dare and look over!
On the rainiest day, we went on a tour of the dam and learned a lot about the lake and dam. We had a very good tour guide, who was not one to just deliver a script. She made it so entertaining that the tour ran 1/2 hour long! We also went to the John Wesley Powell Museum and learned about early canyon and Page history.
On a nicer day, we drove to Lee's Ferry and looked at the historic sites there. This is also the point where people who raft the Grand Canyon put in, so it is a popular place. The Paria River empties into the Colorado here, so the end of that canyon hike is here. We walked up a little bit and gazed at it longingly. Of course, we would not have been able to backpack the entire length, but we would have liked to go in a couple of miles.
On the same day we viewed Marble Canyon from Navajo Bridge, the first bridge across the Colorado, which replaced Lee's Ferry as the only place to cross the Colorado in this area. There is now a new bridge and the old bridge is open for pedestrians only. A short drive down the road are the lovely Vermillion Cliffs.
We continued on to Flagstaff, hoping to get there between storms. We got there and set up about 1 and were off to a concert at Northern Ariz U at 3. We also attended a lecture by Susan Stamberg of NPR that evening. Both were very good.
The next day we went to Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano Natl Mons, just north of Flagstaff. Wupatki Pueblo was built and occupied during the 1100's. There are several other pueblos at this site. We were able to tour them all, but it started snowing as we headed into the Sunset Crater area. So we were not able to do any of the short, interesting hikes there. The snow continued all night, and we woke up to about 4 inches. Our furnace stopped working during the night. Since the sun was coming out and there was a furnace repair place in our next destination, (Cottonwood), we decided it was time to leave Flagstaff. We will be back, hopefully when it's not snowing!
After a short (60 miles) drive to Cottonwood, almost 4000 feet lower (no more snow danger), we set up at a nice state park and arranged a house call to get the furnace fixed. Luckily, it was quick & easy to fix. We plan to stay here through the election, so we can watch the results on TV.
The weather was rainy, and had been raining for many days before, so all slot canyon hiking was out of the question. The road into the north end of the Paria Canyon trail was closed, and the Navajos were not allowing anyone into Antelope Canyon. That was a disappointment and will be reason to return.
We did go on a 2 1/2 hour boat trip, which went into the flooded part of Antelope Canyon. We went in quite far, until the boat almost touched the canyon walls and you could see where the water ended and the dry canyon began. We also went on a short hike to a Colorado River overlook just south of Page, which has a gorgeous view of a horseshoe bend in the river. Quite spectacular and very few people, since it's not an "official" overlook. No guard rails or anything -- you just get as close as you dare and look over!On the rainiest day, we went on a tour of the dam and learned a lot about the lake and dam. We had a very good tour guide, who was not one to just deliver a script. She made it so entertaining that the tour ran 1/2 hour long! We also went to the John Wesley Powell Museum and learned about early canyon and Page history.
On a nicer day, we drove to Lee's Ferry and looked at the historic sites there. This is also the point where people who raft the Grand Canyon put in, so it is a popular place. The Paria River empties into the Colorado here, so the end of that canyon hike is here. We walked up a little bit and gazed at it longingly. Of course, we would not have been able to backpack the entire length, but we would have liked to go in a couple of miles.On the same day we viewed Marble Canyon from Navajo Bridge, the first bridge across the Colorado, which replaced Lee's Ferry as the only place to cross the Colorado in this area. There is now a new bridge and the old bridge is open for pedestrians only. A short drive down the road are the lovely Vermillion Cliffs.
We continued on to Flagstaff, hoping to get there between storms. We got there and set up about 1 and were off to a concert at Northern Ariz U at 3. We also attended a lecture by Susan Stamberg of NPR that evening. Both were very good.
The next day we went to Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano Natl Mons, just north of Flagstaff. Wupatki Pueblo was built and occupied during the 1100's. There are several other pueblos at this site. We were able to tour them all, but it started snowing as we headed into the Sunset Crater area. So we were not able to do any of the short, interesting hikes there. The snow continued all night, and we woke up to about 4 inches. Our furnace stopped working during the night. Since the sun was coming out and there was a furnace repair place in our next destination, (Cottonwood), we decided it was time to leave Flagstaff. We will be back, hopefully when it's not snowing!
After a short (60 miles) drive to Cottonwood, almost 4000 feet lower (no more snow danger), we set up at a nice state park and arranged a house call to get the furnace fixed. Luckily, it was quick & easy to fix. We plan to stay here through the election, so we can watch the results on TV.
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 11:11 AM 
