It seems like every mile we go, another scene unfolds! Northeast Arizona is arid, largely free of greenery, and characterized by hills, mesas, buttes, cliffs, and canyons. We’ve seen all of these as we travel down the highway! What a beautiful changing landscape – so full of adventure!
Up ahead is Page, AZ and Lake Powell! We have reservations to camp at Waheap Campground at Lake Powell – but we’re planning to stop at the Horseshoe Bend overlook just before Page!
Horseshoe Bend is a horseshoe-shaped “incised meander” of the Colorado River located near the town of Page, AZ. – just downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam. We stopped to hike the 1/2 mile to the rim overlook. Whew…it was gusting at about 50 mph that day – actually pretty scary being sand-blasted with the fine desert sand – and we could feel the power capable of blowing us over the edge! For tomorrow…we booked a half day float trip down the Colorado River and around Horseshoe Bend – about 1,000 feet below!
While crossing the bridge we were amazed at the size and structure of the Glen Canyon Dam (completed in 1963) that created Lake Powell. It is a concrete arch-gravity dam and is larger than the Hoover Dam at Lake Mead near Las Vegas, NV. in every way with the exception that it is 16 feet shorter. Lake Powell is 186 miles long and has nearly 2,000 miles of shoreline – longer than the entire west coast of the U.S.A! Around it’s perimeter there are 96 major canyons to explore! This dam was the last one of its size to be built in the United States. Today, because of severe draught and water needs, there is a plan in place to eventually breach the dam and let the Colorado River run free.
The picture that Lorree is holding on your left shows the lake/dam at its fullest capacity in 1980. The picture on the right is a current 2022 picture. You’ll see more of the lake’s current emptiness coming up.
Here’s our latest adventure, a river raft float trip through Horseshoe Bend!
After checking in at River Headquarters in Page, AZ. (and being cleared that we were not terrorists) we enjoyed a motor-coach ride through a service tunnel carved through two miles of solid rock! We descended approximately 500 feet to disembark at the foot of Glen Canyon Dam. We had to wear hard hats (in case someone from up above dislodged a pebble or tossed a stone) for protection from the Bridge or Dam view point that was about 700 feet above us!
We enjoyed having Holly as our tour guide – she was a lot of fun and full of information. At times, the sheer walls lining the Colorado River were 1,000 feet or more above us – impressive!
As we traveled downstream we learned more about the importance of the Colorado River, the explorations of John Wesley Powell, and the life of native tribes. Other historic activities we learned about included periods of government expeditions, Indian wars, Mormon settlements, gold mining, mineral exploration, and finally today’s recreational use (rafting, camping, and fishing).
We stopped and disembarked at Petroglyph Beach. We were able to hike a short distance to see century’s old petroglyphs and other fascinating artifacts. They say the petroglyph’s on the wall of the rock may have given specific directions to the only passageway through this area of the canyon, across the river, and back up the other side. It made good sense to us – fascinating!
After setting out again we entered the iconic Horsehoe Bend of the Colorado River.
We were just here yesterday looking down from above in a fiercely gusting wind but now enjoying a warm calm gentle float. We saw beautiful rock formations and plant life – literally growing out of crevesses in the rock. What a contrast, this is a beautiful canyon! We’re coming to the end of this 15 mile trip down Glen Canyon. Soon it will transition into the Grand Canyon. How do we get back up from this river?
In 1870 John D. Lee was sent to establish a ferry crossing across the Colorado River. Fast forward to the very same location it is still a busy place today! There are boaters, rafters, fishers, and backpackers all starting or ending therir adventures here every day!
We landed at Lee’s Ferry for our motor coach ride back to Page, AZ. Lees Ferry is the only place within Glen Canyon where visitors can drive to the banks of the Colorado River in over 700 miles of canyon country! Because of that, Lees Ferry is the only launch site for a river trip through the 277 miles of river in the Grand Canyon. We saw adventurous river runners getting ready to launch their rafts for day, week, and month long trips into the mighty Grand Canyon (someday – maybe????). This was another super adventure, so glad we took advantage of this opportunity!
Yikes! On the other side of the dam, we’re missing some water! At Lake Powell – so strange to see sand and desert brush growing instead of the massive full lake of water we had visited with the kiddo’s in 1996 (bottom left picture). Back then, we spent a whole week exploring the lake in a houseboat going through canyons, swimming, and sleeping on shore – great memories!
We had a good time staying at Waheap Marina, enjoying the scenery and the beautiful sunsets. The only thing we didn’t enjoy was that it was very windy most days and evenings. We’ve got more to see and do…it’s time to head out to our next stop on our Arizona/Utah canyon’s adventure!