Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend

Hello Readers!  I hope you had a chance to look at the post on Zion NP.  If not, go back and see it!

     This post covers the two days we were in the Lake Powell area.  We had the good fortune to be still hanging out with our good friends, Dom and Martha, plus new friends John and Renee.  This time we were at the same RV Park, and were all beside each other.  What a view!  You know how cameras just can't capture grand views, well, this was like it.

   First a few pictures of leaving the Zion area.  Below is the view I had walking the dogs every morning.  To the right is one of the many buttes we see driving along this part of Utah.  So pretty.

Driving in the red rock areas of the country are really beautiful to me.  The picture on the left was my first view of Lake Powell.  WOW.

This flower is from the desert willow.  From the Picture This app; "Ranging from 4.9 ft to as much as 26.2 ft in height, it can take the form of a shrub or small tree.  This is called a willow because the leaves look like willow, but it is not a true willow."  This plant was a small bush.  After reading about this I noticed big trees of desert willow all around. 
     What about the animal?  Our friend, John is a hunter.  That's a small mink.

 This is the view from the grille at the resort main building.

I know some of you will be interested in these displays.  They were about 5'"x7".  Showing fiber the natives used, the plant the dye was from, and the colors created.  I thought that $25.00 was way too much to pay, but then I found them at a different store for $55.00!   Please click on each picture to enlarge it.

 OK, this was a momentous occasion that made my friends ridicule me in good humor.  You see, this was the first time ever I bought a beer.  Ooops, I just remembered one I ordered one at the Silver Gulch.  Well, anyway, I don't usually drink beer, but this was all the bar had.  And what good beer it was!  It is true that beer tastes very good when it is hot outside!  We all sat around the pool and drank our beer.  Martha had to finish mine!  lol.   But I am rather proud of this picture.

 This is what our view is from the campground.  Ahhhh

Antelope Slot Canyon, near Page, AZ.  According to Wikipedia a slot canyon is A slot canyon is a long, narrow, deep and tortuous channel or drainageway with sheer rock walls that are typically eroded into either sandstone or other sedimentary rock.  Earthtrekkers.com say it's A slot canyon is a narrow canyon that is formed from water rushing through rock. What starts off as a tiny crack steadily grows larger from repeat flash floods and erosion over millions of years. The end result is a narrow canyon with very high walls.   

Antelope Canyon is in two parts, an upper and a lower.  We choose the lower.  It is overseen by the Navajos in the area.  You can only go in with a guide.  We had a young man named Daniel who lead us through telling us many stories and facts about the canyon.  You don't really know what is there by looking at the terrain.  Thank goodness for stairs and ladders.  We were put in groups of 10, each group with a guide.  Each group went down a few minutes apart.

 I thought the views were stunning at the beginning, but the guide kept saying it gets better.

      At the beginning Daniel asked for my phone.  He changed settings and filters and came up with the below picture.  It is the "eye."

 I had fun the rest of the day playing with the settings.  And for several days after.......

 The "bubbles" on the rock were of air.

      Every so often Daniel would take someone's camera and photo the group.  Here is Dom, Renee, Martha, John, Richard, and Bridget.  John is in witness protection so he can't be photographed, so he says.  lol.

 Up top here is an owl's nest.

 We were told that no one was allowed to bring in bags, backpacks, purses, just cameras.  Martha asked Daniel why that was.  Once someone brought in their deceased relative's ashes and dumped them in the canyon.  According to the Navajos, they can not be near death or they could have spiritual, physical, and/or mental issues.  So they had to call in a Navao priest to cleanse the area.

      The picture on the right is called something about woman with wind in her hair.  This is the emblem on the jackets of the workers in this business.

Perspective of the crowds.

I know this is a lot of pictures, but it was amazing.  I took so many more.  Up we come!

After this we went to Horseshoe Bend.

This is where the Colorado River curves around like a horse shoe.

And here it is.  

Another picture where the immensity doesn't really show.  Picture a city sitting on it with skyscrapers.  It's huge!  There were tiny little boats on the river down below.  

     I played with my filters again.  My friend in Fairbanks said it had too much orange.  But it made the water very blue.  This was actually at a different angle.

I didn't care for the walk to the Colorado River.  It was made up of sand, not hard packed, but loose sand like at the beach.  It was almost a mile walk.  It was exhausting for me.  Richard said he was fine, it didn't bother him a bit.  This was another touristy spot with hundreds of visitors.  

Back to Lake Powell.  

 Here is a picture of desert marigold.  Also, can you find the rabbit in this picture?  Leinen did.

 Walking the dogs, viewing scenery, and keeping fit.  Ameena, the cat, has finally found the front.

 The queen of the coach.

     This plant is called desert globe mallow.  Interesting how so many of these plant's names begin with desert.

 These two pictures show a dragonfly I found with clear wings.  You may need to click to enlarge.

Good night and good bye, Lake Powell

 As we leave the Lake Powell area, we travel over a dam that I can't remember the name right now.  The power lines are from that.  I do remember it is Glen Canyon.  Here are views of the drive.

 I think these are the Vermillion cliffs.  And here is a portion of the road right before we went on the 3 thousand foot descent that took about 20-30 miles.

Thanks so much for reading, please feel free to comment here or on facebook.  I get

 about 23 readers, and only 2-3 commenters.  Richard gives me live comments.  

Next post is going to be about the Grand Canyon.