Day 14, Kanab to Lake Powel, UT and Page, AZ - Oct 3, 2008 - Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah, United States

GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, UT Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in general, and Lake Powell specifically, really surprised us with unparalleled geologic beauty. Lake Powell is huge, and is known as a houseboat lake because of all the houseboats either kept or rented there.

Houseboats on Lake Powel

The lake not only provides substantial hydropower, but provides water for large cities in Arizona and Nevada. It fluctuates over 100 feet, and today is down about 60 feet. The tour boat we rode would seat about 100 people, with 40 being able to sit on the open-air upper deck, and 60 people in the enclosed lower deck. Formations forming and along the lake’s shoreline were incredible, highlighted by cross-bedded sandstone (windblown sand having formed dunes, then becoming petrified), and manganese stained vertical cliffs. We actually rode into a side canyon with high, vertical walls and no more than 3 or 4 feet of clearance on either side for the almost 60 foot boat.

Exploring a Side Canyon

Donald, on the upper deck to take photos, was in awe.

RAINBOW BRIDGE NATIONAL MONUMENT Our ultimate destination via the boat tour was Rainbow Bridge, a geologic formation considered one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. We took a side canyon to a National Park Service dock, unloaded, and hiked the ¾ mile to the landmark. It was great! After several photos,

Kay at Rainbow Bridge

we returned to a box lunch aboard the boat and made our way back to the tour boat dock. The Elderhostel Tour then visited the Glen Canyon Lake Visitor’s Center. This was no Corps of Engineers visitor center; the Bureau of Reclamation must get lots of money, cause it was staffed to the maximum, kept long hours, and had all the bells and whistles. Glen Canyon was dammed when it was found that Lake Mead (Hoover Dam) was filling with sediment at a much faster rate than projected, and consequently could not provide the storage needed to meet water supply requirements.

NAVAJO VILLAGE, PAGE, AZ Following our visit to the visitor’s center, we stopped at Navajo Village in Page, AZ, for a Navajo taco (fry bread topped with chili and beans, lettuce, tomato, cheese, onions, and blue corn chips), and a program on Navajo tradition and culture. This was the terminal event for our Elderhostel Tour, and we returned to Kanab after 10 PM. Who said life-long learning was easy? We did learn that the Navajo prefer to be called the Dine (pronounced de neh). They believe four is a sacred number and believe all important things in life come in fours - the directions, the seasons, life cycles, quadrant man, etc. It was very interesting. We visited a hogan, a weavers area, a sweat lodge, and a teepee. We were really tired by the end of this day after starting at 6:00 and getting home around 10:15 p.m.