A Great Finish to another Wonderful Adventure

Our return into Utah has reinforced our belief that it is the best state that the U.S. has to offer. We started this segment with a visit to Bryce Canyon where we have been before and always come away amazed at the hoodoo like rock formations in the canyon below. After that we drove into nearby Kodachrome State Park where we hiked the Panorama Trail (10 km's) where we saw the majority of the park's 67 spires (tall, thin rock formations) that sparkled in the sunlight. Some were red Navajo Sandstone structures while others were former geysers where the softer rock around them slowly disintegrated leaving them exposed. The colours throughout the park were spectacular.

From there we headed further north to Escalante where we hiked along the Calf Creek Canyon (another 10 km hike) to the Lower Falls where the mist from the 50 metre drop cooled us off on a warm day. A nearby geocache provided a different perspective of the waterfall. After the hike we continued driving north along the incredibly scenic Highway 12 which offered many beautiful views.

We have spent the past two days at Capitol Reef National Park. It is one of 5 NP's in Utah and the one we had targeted on this trip since we absolutely loved the other 4 and this one did not disappoint us. The landscape was created 65 million years ago when a buckle in the earth's crust, 160 km's long, occurred across south-central Utah. During our time there we did 6 different hikes, totalling 20 km's, with (Butch) Cassidy Arch and the Hickman Bridge being the most strenuous and rewarding with panoramic views (Bridges are created by water; Arches by wind and rain). Another hike took us along a narrow canyon wash that was used as a wagon trail route 100 years ago. The entire park is filled with dramatic cliffs and colourful rock formations leading to an abundance of photographs that we had to narrow down at the end of every day. There was also a good Morman pioneer influence within the park, with rock engravings recording their presence along with their (Fruita) orchards and some buildings still actively maintained. The Gifford Farm House sold freshly baked fruit pies and we enjoyed a tasty peach pie back at our campsite. After one final hike this morning we commenced our long drive home and on another nice, sunny day we made good progress arriving in Idaho Falls this evening which should allow us to make it back home tomorrow night.

Thanks for your interest in following our latest adventure. It has been another wonderful journey and we are blessed to have so many friends to meet up with on our travels and at the same time, new places to visit where we always seem to find incredible, unplanned finds along the way, seldom seen by most people.
Life is good!

Bryce Canyon - view from Inspiration Point

Kodachrome State Park

An old gas station just outside the State Park. Check out the lovely gate on the right side.

The 50 metre waterfall at Lower Calf Creek

Capital Reef - only the beginning

Gorgeous views everywhere

The Castle

Mesmerized by the views at Sunset Point

Hickman Bridge - no water flow right now but it must have been serious in it's day

Time to Turn the Page

Seeking warmer temperatures to mitigate the cold front that was moving in from the coast, we took a detour back into Arizona where the city of Page was at a slightly lower altitude (4,000 feet) and forecasting 15-18 C weather with night time lows still comfortably above freezing. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We have discovered several tourist-worthy places to visit here along with some inexpensive golf ($30 a round) on the lovely Lake Powell National golf course that we played twice. We also avoided the snow that fell a few days ago in places just over 100 km's north and south of us, while Page received some light rain overnight followed by an overcast, cool day. On that particular day we took a tour of the nearby Glen Canyon Dam (larger than the Hoover Dam and 3rd largest in the U.S.). The informative tour took us from top to bottom of the dam built in the early 1960's, explaining how the Colorado dam site was selected and built, and also about the water rights agreement that was developed to ensure adequate water flow would always be supplied to the downstream states and Mexico (annual volume commitments). Interestingly enough, up until 1996 (Oklahoma City bombings), visitors could do self-guided tours of the dam, even down to the interior turbine room at the base of the dam. The directional signs, imbedded into the tiled walls, still exist today.

On other days we visited the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area which featured the large dam created Lake Powell in a beautiful red rock, blue water setting. It is home to hundreds of houseboats in the summer and other water recreation activities draw huge crowds to the Page area. We also did a 1.5 km hike out to Horseshoe Bend where there was a spectacular view of the Colorado River from a cliff-top ridge looking 1,000 feet down into a canyon where the river made a sharp bend around another steep cliff on the other side. The highlight of our visit to Page however was a trip into Lower Antelope Canyon where we walked through an incredible slot canyon carved by wind and water. The canyon was very narrow, accessed by steep ladders, and the light filtering in from above created a palette of colours when it bounced off the smooth, round canyon walls below. The views were amazing and we took over 100 pictures while in the slot canyon for less than an hour. After several editing sessions that evening we narrowed it down to 40 pictures that we just had to keep.

With our time on this trip winding down we need to leave Page behind but we will have fond memories of our visit here. Tomorrow we will drive back into Utah where we plan to visit a few more National Parks to finish off our latest adventure.

Glen Canyon Dam - the top of the dam is 710 feet above the Colorado River. The highway bridge is in the foreground and the lovely Visitor Centre is at the top of the cliff on the left side.

The 8 power generating units at the base of the dam. One of the 50 ton turbines was being replaced while we were there.

Horseshoe Bend and the Colorado River 1,000 feet below.

Lower Antelope Canyon with it's narrow, winding slot canyon.

The filtered sunlight delivered some beautiful colours on the sandstone walls.

Every time we turned a corner, another photo opportunity emerged.

The rose

The slot canyon exit (after climbing a steep flight of stairs).