Rafting the Colorado River

Page, Arizona

I'm not much in a writing mood, which is anathema for a blogger. I put it down to nicotine withdrawal and my umpteenth attempt to kick the habit. I find myself with shortness of breath walking uphill at 7,000 feet. It's time to quit.

The drift down the Colorado starts in Page, at the Glen Canyon Dam,  and ends about 30 miles downriver at Lee's ferry. After Lee's Ferry it's another 220 miles downriver, though the Grand Canyon to Lake Mead.

This part of the country is mostly Navajo Sandstone. It's old Jurassic sand dunes, solidified with minerals. It's full of fossils, dinosaurs and other strange creatures.

The walls of the river here average between 1,000 and 1,500 feet of elevation, mostly straight up.

View from the Navajo bridge near Lee's Ferry.

More Lake Powell pictures.

Sunday morning! Time to get the show on the road and depart for parts unknown.

Maybe it would be a good day for the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument? The Vermillion Cliffs National Monument?  Zion National Park? It's hard to find wine up in Utah, but they have pretty geology. I remember a tennis court outside Zion.

From a few miles away, the Colorado looks like a little crack in the desert.

Lake Powell

Wahweap Campground, National Recreation Area

After hanging around Sedona three more days, we decided to head north to Lake Powell and Page, Arizona.

I've got hundreds of amazing photos of Antelope Canyon. It's a slot canyon on the Navajo reservation. You need a guide to go there. On sunny days it's wall-to-wall with tourists like me trying to take pictures.

The Navajo offer another trip to "Canyon X". Only six photographers a day are allowed in. It's a six hour trip, lunch included.

We ran into a bus full of Japanese tourists in Sedona. They were kind enough to pose for me.

Mrs. Phred is talking about renting a houseboat or a motorboat to explore the more remote parts of Lake Powell.

Page, which is nearby has six public tennis courts.

You can raft 40 miles down the Colorado from the dam to Lee's Ferry. The week long trips though the Grand Canyon launch at Lee's ferry.

We might stay here awhile. It's a pretty place.