Day 5 – 27th August 2008 – Lake Powell
Today is our anniversary – Lyn is up before me (5:30am) and is already striding purposefully towards the rim for our last view of a Grand Canyon sunrise – I hold back so that I can write her card and find her present that I hid on present.
I can’t believe it day 5 already and we’re leaving the Grand Canyon – we have a 150 mile drive to Lake Powell which if we didn’t stop would take around 3 hours – well you can at least double that for us – we tend to do more stopping than driving. Right if you remember I explained earlier on that we intended looking at the east entrance viewpoints on the way out today – so that is what we did. We started with Yaki Point, then Grandview Point; followed by Moran Point, Zuni Point, Papago Point, Pinal Point, Lipan Point and finally Desert View. Well, I’m not sure that it was because these view points were now new to us but they looked even better than the viewpoints we had restricted ourselves to further west. These viewpoints seem to give you a better uninterrupted view of the Canyon and I sure they would have been even better (if that was possible) for sunset and sunrise pictures. I particularly liked Lipan and Desert View (and Grandview well all of them really). At Desert View you can visit and climb the watchtower to get an even better view of the Canyon as well as the Painted Desert.
Oh yes we also visited the Tusayan Ruins and Museum – these are the ruins of a small Anasazi village, dating back to the late 1100s - visitors receive a brief history lesson of how some of the early settlers in this area lived. The Tusayan site is the only one with easy access. Paved walking paths wind through the pueblo excavation and there is a small museum. Admission is free. Estimated walking time is about 30 minutes but be warned there are some very interesting Ranger programmes which provide you with a small tour and much more information – we had to miss this out because we just didn’t have the time – shame looked really good.
So my advice is regardless of the entrance that you use to come in to the Grand Canyon spend some time to begin with looking at all the view points from one end to the other – you can then decide which is your favourite which you can return to for photo opportunities or just a romantic evening starring at the stars – wish I had.
Ok we filled the car with petrol at Desert View $39 (￡22) bid a sad farewell to the Grand Canyon; slip The Feeling – Twelve Stops from Home into the CD player; turn up the turbo boost on the Cruiser and continued on our way via Highway 89 which takes you all the way to Page.
This drive is in sharp contrast to the one which brings you into the Grand Canyon – we are now surrounded by stunning scenery.
This route takes us through the western edge of the Navajo Reservation, with views of the Painted Desert on our left and Marble Canyon on our right. It crosses the Little Colorado River at Cameron and passes under the Echo Cliffs north of The Gap.
I’m not qualified to speak on the native American debate but you can’t help thinking about their history – I would like to find out more about how they view their situation now – as a visitor it still looks as though they are living a very meagre existence which isn’t consistent with the lifestyle of the rest of America – I realise this is an area of debate which is fraught with controversy and I may be in danger of trying to impose lifestyle expectations on a group of people which are stereo typical of my own and so for the sake of this report I don’t think it is appropriate to peruse this line of thought – however, I can’t explain my sense of sadness for the native American population.
Right back to the trip – the scenery from the car is now fabulous – the sight of Marble Canyon continually draws your eye. Eventually the Echo Cliffs come into view and just pass the Trading Post called The Gap you climb to the right and pass through Antelope Pass – this would have been a fabulous photo opportunity but unfortunately road works had closed the pull in – would have been a great picture back along the Canyon.
Now, up until now I kept mentioning to Lyn that we must look out for Horse Bend – I didn’t have any details of this stop, I just remember a Trip Advisor mentioning that it was on the road and was worth a visit. We were now approaching Page and I thought we had missed it when, there it was, we managed to bring the Cruiser to a halt, turn around and drove into the car park. Goodness it was still very, very hot but still it looked as though Horseshoe bend was just on top of the big dune at the end of the car park and a sign confirmed that it was only .25 miles to Horseshoe Bend.
Well, that can’t be so bad then – collect camera and water and head off to the dune (those of you that have made this ‘small excursion will, I am sure, be having a secret smile now).
We make the ‘testing’ climb to the top of the dune and notice that a lot of the people coming back are not looking so good – oh well perhaps they’re not as fit as us – crack on! We make it to the top of the dune only to discover that Horseshoe Bend is still a long way off down the other side of the dune and across some very hot looking barren scrub. At this stage a German couple in the final stages of what can only be described as heat exhaustion manage to stagger back to our position at the top of the dune – the lady who was about our age (if not a bit younger) was in a very bad way – Lyn offered her a drink of water and she accepted gratefully – her husband did the same. Revived they eventually dragged their weary bodies back towards the car park. This concerned me, Lyn was much better by now but still not back to full strength. I was concerned that this may set her back but she was determined to carry on.
The walk was worth it – Horseshoe Bend was glorious – I found that it was difficult to capture the full effect of the Horseshoe standing on the rim and so I fully extended my tripod – stood out as far as I could on the precarious lip of the Bend put the camera on a 10 second delay pressed the button and hoisted the tripod into the air as far as I could whilst leaning out as far as I dare – hey it worked – now I don’t necessarily recommend this method of photographing Horseshoe Bend as you are just as likely to either loose your camera over the side or topple over and fall to your death – neither of which does anything to improve your holiday experience.
The walk back to the car was everything we expected – HOT and EXHAUSTING. We got back to the car – collapsed into our seats and put the air conditioning onto max. I’m sure Lyn gave me another one of those looks but I couldn’t see for the sweat in my eyes.
Two bottles of water later we had recovered sufficiently to continue on our way – we drove the short distance into Page – I have never seen so many houses of worship so close together - the folk of Page obviously take their religion very seriously.
The GPS didn’t recognise The Lake Powell Resort and so we had to try and find by traditional methods which involved driving around in circles for an hour or so until we get so lost that we ask someone the way – we eventually did and a very nice American gentleman at the Glen Canyon Dam pointed us in the right direction – thank you very much.
We arrive at The Lake Powell Resort and check in – we walk to our room stepped out onto our terrace and were greeted with a view that takes your breath away – If I had been asked to pick the ideal room on the whole resort we could not have done better – we were on the ground floor, just left of the swimming pool with a panoramic view of the lake – I thought I had died and gone to heaven – suddenly the Grand Canyon had a real contender for most fabulous location on this trip.
Lyn headed straight to the pool I headed for the camera – the most fabulous sunset was in progress.
Later in the evening we visited the pizzeria for a snack on the way back we saw the Milky Way in the sky clearer than we’ve ever seen it before – star gazed for a while and eventually turned in about 10:00pm – Lake Powell is just beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!!
USA Trip of a Lifetime Report - Day 5
I%26#39;m loving these reports- can%26#39;t wait %26#39;till you get to Yosemite.
By the time you%26#39;re done, you will have experienced more of America than most Americans...
USA Trip of a Lifetime Report - Day 5Very enjoyable...you are a very descriptive writer..
Thank you for taking the time to post these reports - they are wonderful.
Somerset - Thanks for these ';As you go'; trip reports. They make for great reading and makes me want to follow in your footsteps. Keep %26#39;em coming!
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