Wahweap – Page, AZ (2)

Following on the heels of the Grand Canyon, one would think it would be hard to stack up. However, our next stop included a long desired view of Antelope Canyon. I’ve seen pictures everywhere and never quite believed the images could be real. It was on my list of things to see, but the last time we came through the area, it was closed due to Covid. I was bummed. This was a bucket list item for me, so once again, I have posted way too many photos.

Before we left the Grand Canyon for good, we took Highway 64 out to the east and stopped for a bit at the Desert View Tower. We had seen this structure all the way across the canyon from the North Rim. It was pretty cool to see up close, and a good spot for a Dory of the Day. My facebook pals are getting way too good at guessing her locations. I’m going to have to up my game. Jimmy Gunn would be proud.

Arriving in Page, we pulled over, along with all the other cars on the road, to witness a boat fire sending huge plumes of black smoke into the air. It was quite dramatic. You could see the flames shooting up as it spread from boat to boat, and every so often there would be an explosion. I held us there for a while as I tried to survey the proximity of the fire to the land. Coming from California, I did not want to put us in fire danger, even though the thing was in the middle of water. You just never know.

Once it seemed that either someone was putting it out, or it had burned through most of its fuel, I gave the all clear to check in at the nearby campground. Richard returned from registering us inside the campground store and said that the woman at the desk swore up and down to him it was a training exercise. I did not believe that for a second. Neither did Richard and he told me he said to her, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” She insisted. “Listen,” he continued, “I am going to tell my wife you said this. Are you seriously telling me this is what I should tell her?” She doubled down. She said they do this every year and practice on “junk boats.” Well, lest you go looking to verify her story, I can tell you she was full of bullshit. The following day there was a news story about it and the people at the Lake Powell Resort confirmed it was no training exercise and that five house boats had been lost, along with the pier.

Regardless, it appeared there was no way the fake fire/real fire/believe what you want fire was going to pose any threat, so we checked off a FOMO item in the form of visiting Horseshoe Bend. This is a short drive out of town, marked by big signs and a a pay to enter parking lot. Once you’ve paid $10 per car, you can take a one mile trail out to a lookout point. The trail is slightly downhill going there, but is very accessible with nicely groomed gravel. Once there, you’ve got the standard lookout platform, and dozens of people precariously perched all around the nearby rocks, taking selfies. I was far more uncomfortable with their shenanigans than with the height of the observation deck. It, at least, had sturdy railings. Dory got in a selfie too, but I later deemed it too easy to include in the Dory of the Day guessing game.

The next day, our first mission was to get a doughnut at the place that was serendipitously right next to the Antelope Canyon Tour office. It is rated #5 in the entire country for top of the line doughnuts. We each had one, and they were good. My life remains much the same as it was pre-doughnut. I do not feel it altered the trajectory of my future, but it was a good doughnut.

Antelope Canyon Tours does a bang up job getting tourists in and out of the upper canyon on time. They take you on covered pickups and that drive was more exciting than a rollercoaster. And likely far less safe. But we did not tip over on the city street turns, taken at a good clip, nor did we get stuck in the sandy approach to the canyon entrance. It was a bumpy, exhilarating ride, so we arrived fully awake and ready for the splendor of the canyon.

Our tour guide, Jamie, did a fantastic job getting all of us, and our camera phones, through the most photogenic location in North America. She let us know when we were approaching a particularly interesting or famous view, and offered to take our phones/cameras in order to take the shot the right way. I guess she studies this stuff and she’s very good. Probably all of the best photos of the canyon were taken by Jamie on my iPhone. I will let the hundred pictures do the talking, but just know, this is the real thing. No filters – except Jamie took a few in black and white that I later rejected. She also took some of us where we were told to look up and to the side. I guess that is how wedding photos are supposed to be? Anyway, they all looked dorky to me, so I rejected those as well.

Among the coolest named shots are: Heart, Dragon’s Eye, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Corkscrew, Bear, and the famous wave that sold for over a million dollars and was used by Microsoft as a screen saver. I would do this again in a heartbeat. You cannot enter the upper canyon unless you are part of a tour, so don’t miss this if you are in the area.

That afternoon, we did another paid tour thing by hopping a boat on Lake Powell. We booked the Navajo Canyon Tour, which is …. a three hour tour. Tell me you repeated that and sung it in your head.

This was also fun, but a greater commitment of time, to be sure. There are parts where the boat goes slow, and parts where it can get up to speed. If you are sitting on the upper deck, you’re going to get wind blasted. We did that all the way out to the canyon. We moved downstairs for the trip back, and that was less of an assault on the senses. They cart you (literally) from the lobby of the resort, down onto the pier. It’s a well run operation and fun to do once. Don’t think I’d do it again.

Page is a super fun place for a stop while heading East. There is a lot to do and see, plus full shopping to stock up. It can get brutally hot, so even with the AC running, you will want to try your best to time any visits to avoid the worst of the summer heat. Good stop at a nice place within the borders of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Total miles from Mather: 141.2, 20.7 mpg, 5 hours 19 min, site C21 full hookups. Plenty of solar. Great service for ATT, but not Verizon. However, we could both easily hit the campground wifi, which was very fast. Good dump. Campground store, marina, close to Lake Powell Resort.