Around Page, Arizona on the Utah Border

Lone Rock Beach and Dispersed Camping

Page is one of our favourite places in the southwest. The Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell are all here, as well as the now infamous tourist attractions Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend which draw tourists from all over the world (that it's only a few hours from the Grand Canyon is a bonus). We came here for our first time in 2008 - pre-retirement, pre-trailer. We keep coming back. We usually camp on Lone Rock Beach (got stuck here in 2013 with our son), and for the first 2 days of this year's trip, we set up home on the shores of Lake Powell again. But then we find a hidden, secret gem. Just across the highway and about 1 mile up a dirt road under the formation known as Wild Cat Tank, we find free camping. So for the first 2 months of our trip, we pay for camping for only 2 nights, and that only cost $24. We only expect to stay near Page for 2-3 days to replenish our supplies, but we find so darn much to do that we stay 2 weeks.

Stud Horse Point

The rock cliffs where we camp are called Stud Horse Point. I don't know why. These hoodoos or "toadstools" adorn part of the rim, and we spend hours hiking around them and down the rock ledges to Wild Cat Tank.

It always amazes me how these layers form. The ones that Brad is inspecting look like a painter's brush strokes swept off the canvas.

White Pocket

White Pocket in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument is another area we loved the first time we visited in 2013, but that day was uber-windy, so we planned to return, and that day is here.

The crazy swirling, undulating, cross-bedded shapes and colours are what draws us to this place. It's a long, sandy drive out here and last time we rented a jeep, but this year we make the drive in our own truck with the tires deflated to 25-30 PSI to give us better traction (the tires are usually at 80 PSI when we're pulling the trailer). None of the roads present a problem for us, but we always hear stories of folks getting stuck in the deep sand.

The caprock (the rock on the top) is white, giving White Pocket its name. Those white rocks remind me of pillows because of the way they are cut into rectangles and rounded on the edges. The low, eroded basins hold water when there is rain, and there's quite a bit this fall.

To many of you, it's just another picture of rocks. To me it's my favourite dessert with whipped cream, pecans and fudge on top.

A waterfall of colour. Here you can see the "pillow effect" nicely.

Wiregrass Canyon and Crosby Canyon

A sign on the way to the western shores of Lake Powell remind us there are no lifeguards here. Such a strange sign to see in this dry landscape. The lake is still many miles away.

Great camouflage Jack! We scare this jackrabbit out from under a bush, but then he freezes. We talk to him and take pictures and even move around him, but he stays still for a long time. Then he hops towards us! Weird. Hope he isn't a rabid rabbit.

More local wildlife. This is a Common Buckeye. Those spots really confuse predators. Beautiful, isn't it?

One of 2 natural bridges that have formed inside Wiregrass Canyon. Streams on both sides of the rock wall pounded at a central spot until cracks in the wall cause the rock to break free, forming a hole.

Wiregrass Canyon is a hiking trail, but we are able to drive down Crosby Canyon to Lake Powell where there are several dispersed campsites along the water's edge. Not a place we could bring our trailer, but great for car camping.

Kelly Grade and Burning Hills

Can you see the road that climbs this mesa? Me neither! Even as we are driving the Kelly Grade, part of Smoky Mountain Road that runs some 80 miles between Big Water and Escalante, we can't for the life of us figure out where Mr. Kelly built this road with his beloved grader. But it's there - heads off to the right for a bit then cuts back to the left climbing this 1,500 foot high cliff; it then winds around the back and up on top of the mesa. It's so steep in some sections that our wheels spin (not in 4WD), and it's long, several miles from bottom to top. But the view of Lake Powell and the surrounding benches is beautiful.

Just a few miles after reaching the top of Kelly Grade, we find these burning coal seams - these are called the "Burning Hills". Apparently, this area is rife with coal (would never have suspected that), but somehow a few spots in this area have lit, and the coal is smoldering underground.

The seams aren't very long nor are they deep, and the stench is so bad I cannot stand upwind of them. But to Brad they smell like money because it smells just like where he used to work - coal is used in steel-making and it's the sulphur and tar odours that are released when burning. Yuck!

Alstrom Point

Alstrom Point is about a one hour drive from Big Water, Utah on pretty good dirt roads, and Glen Canyon NRA signs point the way. The views of Lake Powell, Navajo Mountain and the surrounding red rock formations are spectacular.

Sunset from Alstrom Point.

Horseshoe Bend and Other Scenic Spots in Town

Page is a great town because there are so many scenic spots right IN TOWN. Here is the Glen Canyon Dam as seen from Scenic View Drive behind Denny's Restaurant. There is also the Rim Trail which circumnavigates Page supplying views of Lake Powell, Glen Canyon and the surrounding red rock desert.

Brad hanging over the Colorado River and Glen Canyon at Horseshoe Bend. When we first came here in October 2008, there were only a few other tourists. Now, there are at least one hundred - the parking lot is almost full. Page advertises as far away as Asia, and it's paying off - for them. We prefer hidden, unknown gems, but Horseshoe Bend is beautiful in its symmetry and well worth the visit.

Glen Canyon West Rim

Page is on the east side of the Colorado River and Glen Canyon. On the west side are hydro towers and power lines, dirt roads and open air. We spend a day hiking along the west rim opposite town. The walls are 700 feet high. The Colorado River is emerald green and a constant 48F. Tourists take raft trips down and back up the river, even this late in the season.

A local guy who walks his dogs near our trailer every morning tells us about the Cable Trail. We stumble across this trail during our hike along the rim towards the dam. Long abandoned by the Glen Canyon NRA, the cables that used to run through the top of these metal poles are gone, but we can still follow the poles.

Brad drops down the 8-foot crevice using the supplied rope, and walks along the fin to the end, where another 8-foot drop is but this one without a rope. We did not bring our own rope today, so this is as far as we go and we hike back up. We'll come prepared to do this trail from top to bottom next time.

Bucktank Draw and Birthday Arch

A lesser traveled trail about 20 miles north of Page, Bucktank Draw leads to Birthday Arch and a couple of short slot canyons. Brad manages to climb around and get on top of the arch.

Me goofing off in one of the slots.

Brad pretending he can climb vertical walls, and he gets pretty far.

Lake Powell, AZ and UT

Because Brad and I want to make this trip a memorable experience for Brandon, we rent a boat to explore the canyons in Lake Powell, and we rent a jeep to go to White Pocket which is on a very sandy 4x4 road.  The first part of the experience is to camp on Lone Rock Beach along the shores of beautiful Lake Powell.  We were here last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The water is clear and blue; we have campfires on the beach; it's great.

Lake Powell is much lower this year than last, so we head to an area further down the sandy access road where we can camp closer to the water.  Let's remember, our trailer weighs about 14,000 pounds (sorry - I'm not converting that to metric, but it's a lot).  Our truck has amazing pulling power with it's 6.7 litre diesel engine, but we get stuck in deep sand anyway - because our tires are pumped up to 80 psi which is as tight as a drum!  In soft sand, tires are best around 10-15 psi.  Anyway, Brad does about two tries of backing up a bit and taking another run at it, and presto like magic there's a guy with a jeep beside us ready to pull us out.  And he does!  Now we owe him beer!

But wait, the fun doesn't stop there.  When we rent the boat, we get about 40 minutes from the marina when we beach on a sand dune in Navajo Canyon, only to start sinking!  The boat takes on so much water that the bilge pump can barely keep up.  Brad is sure that the plug isn't in, but he can't find the hole.  He takes a ride back with a group on a rented houseboat to call the guy we rented the boat from so he can arrange a rescue.  Only 15 minutes after Brad leaves, our boat rentor comes speeding by in another boat, sees us on the sand dune and rips up to us.  He had realized within 10 minutes after launching us that he forgot to put the plug back in the boat after he last used it and came to rescue us, with images in his head of us drowning in the middle of one of the VERY DEEP canyons.  He was very grateful we are all safe and I'm grateful that I told him which canyons we planned to explore.  He has to tow us back to the marina, where we meet Brad who is full of "cheer" having spent the hour's trip on the houseboat partying with the group of engineers who rented it.  Brandon and I are a little less happy.

We rent the jeep from the same guy who rented us the boat - perhaps a mistake.  But I insightfully ask Scott and Patty - our new bff's with the jeep who pulled us out when our trailer got stuck - to join us.  We are unfamiliar with the roads to White Pocket which come with all kinds of warnings about soft sand and preparing for a several day stay in case you get stuck because rescue won't be coming quickly, and Scott is an expert 4-wheeler.  We are disappointed that our rental jeep is a Jeep Cherokee, but no matter.  After bumping along Houserock Valley Road for a while, Scott stops us and "airs down" our tires to about 15 psi.  After that, the journey is much more smooth, and the deep sandy spots are no problem at all.  We make it there and back quite safely, EXCEPT that when we stop to take a photo on the way back, our jeep keeps stalling when Brad restarts it.  It takes about 20 or 30 tries for it to keep running, after which we book it back to Page, Arizona where we picked it up.  Adios boat and jeep!

But wait, there's more.  After we drop the jeep off and have dinner in town, we get back to our beautiful camping spot on the beach and there's a wind/sand storm blowing!  The sand is drifting around our trailer.  Scott and Patty have already moved their RV off the beach into the parking lot, as well as pulled someone else out of the sand.  Most RVs have moved up the beach where the sand is hard packed.  Scott and Patty are leaving tomorrow mornings, and we don't want to be stuck out on the beach with no help, so we do the same after we air down the tires in the truck, since Scott has a big compressor and can put the 80 psi back in when we're done.  We manage to get our trailer off the soft sand without any surprises, except that the truck and trailer are now full of fine sand which gets through every crack and blows in every time the doors are opened.  Well, who's cleaning that up?  Oh - me!

As for Brandon, he thinks this is all great fun, especially getting stuck in the sand - well, getting unstuck.  He and Brad also use the truck to pull someone else out of the soft sand, which Brandon thinks is awesome.  Boys!

So I think we created the "memorable experience" we were going for here.  Brandon sure won't forget these last few days.

	Scott in his jeep towing our truck AND trailer through the soft sand on Lone Rock Beach.
	Brandon and Marilyn standing on the edge about 1,100 feet above the Colorado River at Horseshoe Bend, just south of Page, Arizona.
	Being towed back to the marina through Navajo Canyon on Lake Powell.
	Brad and Brandon at White Pocket, a strange rock formation with incredible colours.
	All three of us at White Pocket. This is a truly fabulous spot, but it is so windy this day, it's hard to enjoy.
	Colourful piles of clay and dirt that have formed in the Vermillion Cliffs, Arizona.