Lake Powell in Arizona and Utah

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After camping for two days near Grand Canyon’s North Rim, we headed northeast toward Lake Powell, which straddles Arizona and Utah. We stopped to view the Navajo Bridge which crosses Marble Canyon. The bridge was originally built in the early 1900s and is now for pedestrians only (too narrow for today’s traffic). During construction, workmen dangled from ropes to prepare the canyon walls. Because there was no other way across the Colorado River canyons, they had to drive a 700-mile round trip through Needles, CA to get supplies and equipment to the other side. The current bridge is next to the old one and they were designed to look alike.

Arriving at Page, AZ, we headed for the Glen Canyon Dam. This was built in the 1950’s to store water from the upriver states for distribution to the downriver states in a water-sharing agreement which also included Mexico. The result is gorgeous Lake Powell, which took 18 years to fill the huge canyons, a recreational magnet with lots of houseboats, fishing, watersports, and stunning cliffs. As we left the Visitors Center, an afternoon rainstorm poured down as we ran to the buses. Of course, the rain stopped after we were inside. However, there was a pretty rainbow!

The next day we took a 3-hour boat trip on the lake. We traversed two narrow side canyons, viewed the sandstone cliffs up close and personal, and saw fish in the clear water. Notice the color lines on the cliffs - the water level is down about 97 feet due to drought conditions over several years. Good news is the lake rose 53 feet after last winter's snow runoff in the Rockies. We tried our hand at fishing from the shore and a dock that evening, but didn’t have a single bite. Next stop, Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado.

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Photos

Marble Canyon
View from the Navajo Pedestrian Bridge

Old and New Bridges
Standing on old bridge, looking at new bridge

Glen Canyon Bridge
Bridge next to Glen Canyon Dam

Glen Canyon Dam
The dam which created Lake Powell

Rainbow
Rainbow after the downpour

Boat Tour 1
Sandstone cliffs on a beautiful day

Boat Tour 2
Every mile of the canyons brought something new

Boat Tour 3
Every mile of the canyons brought something new

Boat Tour 4
We traveled into some narrow canyons and came very close to the canyon walls

Boat Tour 5
We ended our three-hour tour with lots of pictures.