Page, Arizona

Navajo Mountain, sacred site for the Navajo

Recently we took a three day trip to Page, Arizona. My wife was on
business so I had time to explore. It was our first time there. Page is the
site for the Glen Canyon Dam which forms 186 mile long Lake Powell
extending far north and east into Utah. The local radio station gave a
couple of interesting statistics; the lake level had fallen 23 feet in the last
five months but was expected to rise by 30 feet in the next three months.
Glen Canyon Dam is the second largest in the country. Its hydroelectric
power production is large.
Currently, the hydro generators are being replaced because the old ones
are worn out. Interestingly, the replacement generators are made in
Brazil as we no longer apparently have the manufacturing capacity to
build them here. They were brought in by sea to Houston and then to
Page by truck. Page has no railroad service. It is a relatively new town
as it was started as a construction camp for the dam in 1956. So
everything there seems quite new and modern.
At the Carl Hayden visitor center for the dam they have exhibits on all
of the dinosaur fossils they discovered in building the dam. They also
offer tours of the dam and the hydro generation facilities. It was there
that they could tell us of places to explore in the area. There are many
federal monuments and national parks in close proximity. These include
The Grand Canyon NP, Escalante Staircase NM, Vermillion Cliffs NM,
Bryce Canyon NP, Zion NP. The Monument Valley of John Ford
westerns fame is also easily reached from Page. They even list Mesa
Verde NP as a “close” destination but it is in SW Colorado so further
than the others by quite a bit. Rainbow Bridge NM is on the shore of
Lake Powell but the boat excursions don’t run this time of year so that
waits for another visit.
I hiked in the Escalante Staircase area in Utah and also south of Page in
the Glen Canyon NM to see the Horseshoe Bend in the Colorado river
south of the dam. The canyon is over a thousand feet deep at that point
and the bend is so big and tight in its turn that I couldn’t get it with my
28mm lens. You would need a fisheye to capture the whole thing. On
the hike to the Horseshoe I encountered a whole bus load of Japanese
tourists. We are all creatures of habit as they walked on the left side of
the trail in their direction just as they drive cars on the left at home.
The Escalante hike was pleasant. I hiked up a small canyon with a dry
bed this time of year. I could see lots of evidence of torrents of water
that had washed debris up to 6 feet or more on small scrub trees along
the bed. Some of the trees looked bedraggled but had fresh leaves
coming out on them. It is a stark but beautiful landscape with many
geologic features exposed by the action of the water, weather and time.
I started early and was coming back out when I met a group of folks
with a young lady for a guide. I figured they wouldn’t make it as far as I
had gone because there were several vertical “steps” in the trail to
negotiate, most about chest high and while the guide was young her
charges were not. I managed by standing on tiptoe and putting both
elbows up on the ledges and rolling up on one side getting a leg up and
then the rest of me. Coming down on most of them I just jumped into
the soft sand below but on one I sat down on the edge and dropped from
there as it was the highest.
Page is a town of friendly people well worth a visit.
Bridge built during the dam construction; Page on far side.
Wahweep Bay near the Wahweep Marina

Wahweep Marina
 Horseshoe Bend

Needed better wide angle lens

Escalante Hike
 Turtle with coal car and caboose

What are the odds that it would fall on the small rock?
 Pics from Airplane; Beechcraft 1900D, 19 passenger

Blue Mesa Reservoir and Black Canyon of the Gunnison

San Luis Valley upper right

Good snow melt ahead

Twins?