Day twelve: Page
We had a leisurely day planned for the halfway point of our holiday. We were staying in Page again so we had breakfast outside and took our time. We walked to the tour office for our slot canyon trip only to find out we couldn’t take our rucksacks so took them back to the hotel, five minutes walk away. The start of the tour was a hoop dance performed by a young Navajo man then we were driven to the Upper Antelope Canyon in a 12 seater open back truck. The route to the Canyon took about 15 minutes and the last 10 were very bumpy, over fine sand, and ended at the mouth of the canyon.
Our Navajo guide, Irwin, showed us the settings our cameras should be set to (including smart phones) and in we went. Irwin knew where to stop, which angle to take a photo and what the result should be and he took his own photos as we went through. He must have a lot of photos unless he deletes them all again!
The slot canyon is a split in the sandstone rock eroded over time by water. The canyon fills with water approx. 6 or 7 times a year, the water coming off the desert after heavy rain, often up to 20 miles away. Inside the canyon the rocks look smooth and carved, the path level although the route twists and turns, wide to start then narrows towards the end. Overhangs and outcrops can catch you out. Cowboy hats are an excellent early warning device! All of a sudden the slot came to the end and we emerged into bright sunshine and the heat. We had a brief stop before returning to the truck. The journey back through was swift as all photos had been taken.
We had lunch in Page before driving to the Glen Canyon dam, across the Colorado river, creating Lake Powell. We walked down what seemed to be the side of a sandstone rock to the viewing area. Here we could see the rain coming, we knew it was forecast, and from across the canyon we could hear thunder, then we saw the lightning.
After returning to the car we drove to Lake Powell and the rain started. It rained for about half an hour but had stopped by the time our boat trip was due to sail. Cowboy hats are good for keeping rain off too… We had booked an hour and a half trip on Lake Powell to the wet side of Antelope Canyon, where we’d been that morning, albeit with a good five miles separation. The rock formations rising out of the lake were mesmerising, the canyon itself getting steadily narrower, the further the boat went into it, before it became too narrow. At that point we turned round and went back again. We had seats on the upper deck at the back so had great views of all the steep cliffs and layers of rock. It was so relaxing with the warm wind and sun on our faces.
On the way back to Page we called in again at the Glen Canyon dam, this time at the top of the dam. The visitor centre was closed but we walked out on to the road bridge for some closer photos of the dam.
For dinner we had an alternative experience, Navajo style: Navajo food and dance. The regalia they wear is bright and colourful and the dances energetic. The same Navajo man we had watched earlier that day performed again but he was joined by members of both his tribe and family with other dances too. And fry bread for dinner, I loved the fry bread. It seems to be a cross between pizza and fried bread but is light and thin, totally delicious.
