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Horseshoe Bend Mileage 265 miles
We woke and headed to breakfast. While standing at the elevator, we felt like the hotel was moving. It felt like we were on a ship and all three of us felt it. We packed up and headed out. Shortly after we left town, we saw a sign with arrow pointing to left said Grand Canyon South Rim 78 miles and an arrow pointing to the right said Grand Canyon south Rim and Page 79 miles. That just tells you how big the canyon is.
As we left Flagstaff, we saw trees and greenery but shortly after the scene became much more desolate. The road was straight and flat and there was not much around. The flatness just didn’t seem right since we were at 6000ft in elevation. There was not much to see. We passed through a couple of VERY small towns ( 1 or 2 buildings) and then we saw a sign “Regional Alert – Ice May be Present on Roadways”.. Really?? It’s almost 90 and it’s just after 9:00 am. We ended up on the same section of road that we were on a day or so ago and ended up at the
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part of the trail we hiked to get to Horseshoe Bend same gas station for a break. You see, Susan planned the route so that we would avoid the Grand Canyon on the Memorial Day weekend so our route thru this area has been shaped like a figure 8. We are going to be heading back south in another day or so.
A truck pulled out in front of Susan and she begins whining about not being able to pass. It was frustrating. Why did he do that? There was no one behind us for a mile or so.
The landscape changed to mesas and a canyon and we ended up taking the highway up the side of the mesa for some beautiful views and colors. Eventually we made it to Horseshoe Bend in the Glen Canyon Recreation Area. There were a lot of cars and buses but we pulled in anyway. We prep’d for the hike with extra bottles of water and coated ourselves with plenty of sun screen. We hiked up the sandy hill, across the top, and back down the other side and then over rough layered rocks but we made it to the edge. Wow, the view was great. The water was green but also
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The outside of Antelope Canyon covered with algae. The contrast between the river and the rocks along with the shape of the river was amazing. Susan and Pam were glad they had taken their bandanas as the hike was dusty. The temperature was rising so we hiked back to the car and departed. As we were waiting to turn left out of the parking lot, we saw an RV bus almost hit a car. The RV seemed oblivious to the stopped vehicles wanting to turn into Horseshoe Bend.
Our next stop was the Glen Canyon Dam and Visitors center. We took pictures of the dam, the dam bridge and the river. After this we decided to eat. Page doesn’t have much in the way of nice restaurants so we ended up at a place serving bar food (the Dam Bar and Grill). It was food. We then went to find our Antelope Canyon tour as we had some questions. Our tour wasn’t until 5 so we ran errands for the next couple of hours and then headed back.
Our tour was for Upper Antelope Canyon and they broke up all the attendees into 7 groups. We were loaded into an open air truck
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The inside (the next several pictures) bed with seats and seat belts for the ride to the canyon. Most of it was on paved roads, but the last few miles was on sand and it was dusty. But, we were prepared, we all had bandanas and covered our faces to keep the dust out of our lungs. This portion of the ride was very bouncy, but it wasn’t extreme.
We arrived at Antelope Canyon and it was just a slot in the side of the rock face. I guess that’s why they call it a slot canyon. We hiked in with our guide and wow, it was amazing. The canyon was a few yards across with a lot of vertical depth. The guide told us about the flash flood danger and about some of the flash floods over the years. In places you saw logs up high that were jammed into position during one of these floods. The guide was great and told where and how to take the best pictures… You had to be careful when walking around as the rock formations jutted out and it would be easy to trip or knock your head. Claire actually fell backwards (but didn’t get hurt) when
she was backing up to get out of someone’s way. Until you see this canyon, you just can’t believe the colors and the beauty. I’m sure it looks different at different times of the day as the light comes in thru the holes and shines at different angles. Even though it was very hot outside, it was cool inside and the guide told us it was usually 15 degrees cooler in the canyon. We make it to the other side and chatted for a bit before the return trip. The guide for the group behind ours brought his local flute and stood inside the opening of the canyon and played a song for us. It was surreal. The drive back out was just as dusty and the guide drove us thru some sand so that we bounced and bounced and bounced. Susan stated that we also got a carnival ride in the price.
We got back to the tour company, hopped in our van and headed to our next destination, Springdale Utah, just outside of Zion National Park. Susan tried to make sure some road kill was really dead and we laughed because there were so many signs about
wildlife and we said this was wild death. We ate in the car since it was later and follow highway 89 as the GPS instructed. It then told us to turn onto highway 9 but the GPS told us it would take over an hour to go about 25 miles. We all said, huh???
Well, it turns out highway 9 goes right smack thru the middle of Zion National Park and is the scenic hair pin turn road. But, you see, this was around 10pm. There was NO ONE on the road, and it was DARK. I mean so dark that you could see all the stars. Susan drove slowly, Pam and Claire could barely see anything and there were tunnels. Then we got to the second tunnel. Oh my, this tunnel was dark and it was long and there were turns and windows in the tunnel. The whole drive was eerie. We made it out of the park and back to civilization and found our hotel and checked in. We had a stay at the Hampton Inn in Sriingdale, Ut. There were no points rooms in the area so this was a paid hotel and we have the
hotel for 2 nights. We know that will make the next day easier since we don’t have to pack in the morning.
Remember there are extra pictures after the bottom of the blog.
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Barbara
non-member comment
Slot Canyon
The pix are beautiful! When I was in AZ people were killed in canyons like Slot Canyon when flash floods roared down the canyons. The problem is that there can be a flash flood with no clouds in sight. Rain falls higher up and then washes into the canyons. Very dangerous during late summer.