Vegas and the Canyons, 2018, day five
The missing canyon
On our last morning in the Grand Canyon, Shannon and I drove to a viewpoint in the dark for another fiery sunrise, but the sun forgot to join us.
We packed up and headed east out of Grand Canyon National Park. The park shuttles don’t come come this way, so the stops felt a bit quieter.
We stopped at two viewpoints on this road: the first and the last. First was Grandview Point — the site of the canyon’s first hotel, built at the end of the 19th century. There’s no sign of the structure now.
The viewpoint was still flooded from the previous night’s storm, despite the enormous drain.
Other tourists generously climbed onto unsafe outcroppings so we could secretly photograph them.
We hiked a few minutes down the trail.
On a faraway ridge, there was a huge collapsed area or cave.
We were going to sacrifice a magic lion on this slab, but he got away.
One more Grandview panorama before we go, because I couldn’t pick a favourite.
Our final park stop was Desert View, on the eastern edge of the Grand Canyon. This is the site of the Desert View Watchtower, another Mary Colter building, this one designed to look like a Pueblo tower.
The canyons were shallower here, softening into plains in the distance.
The top floor of the tower was closed for repairs, but we could explore the rest.
Layers of pretend here as modern teams scrupulously retouch a hundred-year-old invention of a native landmark that never existed.
Sandy bought candy chews made from cactus. Were they delicious?
The crow tried to warn her.
Time to hit the road!
Today’s travel would shift our home base from Thunderbird Lodge on the south rim to an AirBnB in a tiny Utah settlement called Orderville.
After Desert View, we stopped at a truck stop in Cameron known for its “Indian fry bread,” a flat unseasoned doughnut that we sprinkled with icing sugar. Our minivan’s tires had lost pressure, so we topped them up, struggling to finish before we ran out of scrounged American quarters, while standing in gooey mud so red it would stain your bones.
Sandy had decided to collect souvenir golf balls, and we searched the trading post’s rooms of knickknacks for candidates.
Heading north from Cameron, we drove through ferocious rain that hadn’t been in the forecast. This worried me because one of places we wanted to visit today was vulnerable to flash flooding. But there was nothing to do but drive on.
Throughout the trip, we listened to audio books. There was Neil Gaiman’s fairy tale Stardust and two sequels to books we’d heard on previous road trips: the second Penderwicks book and the second Flavia de Luce detective story.
In Page, Arizona, we stopped to see Horseshoe Bend, a famous rock formation that you probably have as a screensaver on your computer. The attraction was unmarked, and the parking lot was just a big dirt field divided by concrete curbs. You can’t see anything scenic from the highway. I only recognized the turnoff from Google Maps.
Nonetheless, the parking lot was packed like Christmas at the mall. You had to drive up and down the aisles waiting for someone to leave. Then, you could join the other tourists hiking fifteen minutes through the desert to the viewing platforms, marching in a line like ants to spilled soda.
Everyone was right to come.
Now we need to talk about Antelope Canyon.
The decision to see Antelope Canyon shaped our whole trip. Originally, we had planned to go to Vegas with a brief side trip to the Grand Canyon. Then our world-travelling Aunt Glynis showed us her photos of Lower Antelope Canyon. It’s a slot canyon, carved by water, narrow and deep, barely visible from the surface, but full of light and shadow from inside.
We decided to extend our trip to see this wonder, even though it would take us all the way past the Grand Canyon. Then, having decided to go that far, why not turn the road trip into a loop and return through Utah, north of the Grand Canyon, so we could see Bryce National Park and Zion National Park too? Our short getaway had become an adventure-packed whirlwind circle tour. Hooray for Lower Antelope! Writing down our itinerary before the trip, this was the destination I looked forward to the most.
The canyon is on Navajo land, and more tourists want to visit than can fit at once, so only scheduled guided tours are allowed. We navigated to our guide’s headquarters, pulling onto the side road and driving alongside a large parking lot. A large parking lot that was completely empty. This was not encouraging. A gate blocked the entrance to the headquarters, and a handwritten sign taped to it said there had been flash floods in the canyon and all Lower Antelope tours were cancelled.
Just a few minutes away was Upper Antelope Canyon, and its tour site was bustling with vehicles. On a chance, we thumped into its disintegrating parking lot, nearly losing a muffler. Upper Antelope Canyon was indeed unflooded, and although there were only a few hours of light left, they were squeezing in tours. Unfortunately, they wanted US$80 per person to enter — cash only. We weren’t carrying hundreds in cash, and had no way to get any in time, so we slouched back to the minivan and left. Instead, we made a dejected grocery run in a small town Safeway and headed to Utah.
There were hours of driving still to do, and this change in schedule meant we would be driving in daylight. This proved to be a fortunate turn. Southern Utah is beautiful everywhere. Unmarked strips of scenery were jaw dropping. Even the gas station had a majestic red mesa behind it.
You would look out the car window and see clifftop caves, ready for smugglers and young detectives.
We arrived in Orderville, population 589, while it was still bright outside. Our AirBnB was a delightful tiny home in a complex called Escape to Zion. It was modern, clean, and well stocked. You had to climb a ladder to reach Sandy’s bedroom in the loft, making it her own private den.
Now, with a whole evening to relax in this comfort, we realized how exhausted we were with the pace of the trip so far.
I barbecued on the covered deck in a sun shower.
We unwound.
Still to come: Bryce Canyon in the snow
Thanks for reading! Here are the photos collected in an album and here is page one of this road trip.
