We have really lucked out with the weather on this trip. The forecast called for showers the morning of our Navajo Canyon boat tour, but the sun was out, and the temperature was perfect.
That is Tower Butte in the distance. You can take a helicopter ride and land on the top, which gives you a 360° view of the surrounding area.Navajo Canyon The Navajo Tapestry. If you look carefully, you can see animals and Native American chieftains in the patterns on the rock face.We were told that the white rock and the red rock are the same type of rock. However, the white rock has been calcified by the water. Where white changes over to red is the demarcation line of where the water level used to be.Heading back to Wahweap Marina, which you can see in the distance.
Lunch at Wahweap Resort and Marina
After returning from our tour of Navajo Canyon, we had lunch at the resort. It was very good!
Wahweap Overlook
On our way back to the campground after lunch, we stopped at the Wahweap Overlook.
Other scenic overlooks
Since we had the time, we stopped at the other overlooks along the way. Lake Powell is basically a wide section of the Colorado River created by the Glen Canyon Dam. It has more than 96 water-filled side canyons, of which Navajo Canyon and Antelope Canyon are two.
Scenic Drive
Next, we took the short Scenic Drive, which provided an overlook of the Glen Canyon Dam and the Colorado River.
Our next stop after Arches and Canyonlands was supposed to be Mesa Verde. We even had a tour of the Cliff House scheduled.
Sadly, the government shutdown nixed those plans. Mesa Verde is closed.
We decided to drop Mesa Verde and Monument Valley off of our itinerary and head straight to Page, Arizona.
Of course, that meant that the tours of Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon had to be rescheduled.
The only time we were able to schedule a tour of Upper Antelope Canyon was Friday morning, when the weather forecast was predicting that we would be experiencing the height of Tropical Storm Priscilla. We went ahead and booked the tour anyway. Time will tell whether we get to go on it.
Horseshoe Bend
We decided to visit Horseshoe Bend early this morning. What we didn’t realize is that the sun rises an hour earlier in Page than it did in Moab, so by the time we arrived at the parking lot for Horseshoe Bend, the sun was annoyingly high in the sky.
Oh, well. We will have other opportunities to visit it at better times of the day. We are only 15 minutes away.
This was the best photo I could get, considering the position of the sun.
Glen Canyon Dam
Next up was a stop at Glen Canyon Dam.
Once again, the government shutdown interfered with our plans. The Carl Hayden Visitor Center was closed.
However, we were able to access the overlook behind the visitor center. We were not able to walk across the dam, which I had been hoping we could do.
Antelope Canyon boat tour
Today was the last hot day we will have in Page, so I was eager to get on the water and experience Lake Powell.
The marina where we are staying offers boat tours, so after visiting Glen Canyon Dam, we headed over there to book one for the afternoon.
We had been told by someone who lives in Page that the storm was due to arrive around 5:00 p.m., so we figured we would be safe as long as we got our boat tour in before then.
Wrong!
No sooner had the boat left the dock than the heavens opened up.
Lightning flashed. Thunder cracked. We were hit by a deluge of rain.
I was sure the tour boat captain would immediately turn around and head back to the dock, but all she did was advise us not to touch the metal railings on the boat.
It turned out to be a great tour, despite the fact that our tour guide wasn’t able to deliver her spiel because the sound of the rain hitting the metal roof of the boat was too loud.
Look at those waterfalls! They are solely due to the amount of rain that was falling.
When we got back to the marina, we had to wait about half an hour for maintenance workers to clear the rocks and debris off the road from the flooding before we were able to head back to the parking lot.
I feel like we made the most of the day, in spite of the impediments put in our way.
On our way into the park on Wednesday, we encountered another gaggle of cars, which we instantly knew meant there was wildlife to see.
It turned out to be a bull moose, who was feeling trapped by all the tourists. He kept darting one way and then another, trying to find some way past all the people. He finally managed to dash across the street into a field.
Our first stop of the day was Schwabacher Landing, which is a popular location for taking photographs of the Teton mountains.
Maybe we got there too late in the morning, but I did not like any of the photos I took. The mountains looked like cardboard cutouts, and they were overshadowed by the foreground.
Jenny Lake
Next, we headed to Jenny Lake. We purchased tickets for the ferry ride across the lake, where we hiked to Hidden Falls.
My photos of the falls turned out terribly, but I managed to capture a photo of this artist painting the falls en plein air. He was painting in oils and was quite good. I was kind of jealous, to be honest.
After Hidden Falls, we continued our hike up to Inspiration Point.
Yes, I actually climbed up the side of that rock cliff!
Coming down was another story. At one point, I sat down because I was so terrified. Some gentleman at the bottom offered to come up and assist me, but I managed to complete it by myself. Yay!
The size of the ferry boat on the lake in the photo below should give you an idea of how high up we were. The sign Greg is standing behind says Inspiration Point el. 7200 ft.
After climbing down from Inspiration Point, we chose to hike around the lake rather than take the ferry boat back.
Another hiker asked if she could join us on the hike back since she was worried about encountering a bear on her own.
On the hike back to the Jenny Lake visitor center, we got to see another moose. Unfortunately, he was shy and didn’t want to have his picture taken.
Shortly after that, someone else we encountered on the trail told us that they had seen a moose at Moose Pond, so we took a short detour to check that out.
It was a beautiful day for a hike, but by the time we finally got back to the Jenny Lake visitor center, we were beat. Greg said he was more tired from that hike than he had been from any other hike we’ve ever taken.
Scenic Boat Tour
Back at the car, we inhaled our lunch (it was 3:00 p.m. by this point). Then we decided to head over to Jackson Lake Lodge to see whether we could buy tickets for a scenic boat tour.
The girl at the concierge desk told us that the very last scenic boat tour for the season was leaving at 5:15. We booked our tickets and then headed to the bar to relax until it was time to head to the marina.
Five-fifteen is a terrible time to take a scenic boat tour if the goal is to get lovely photos of the Teton mountains rising over the water. The first 45 minutes of the tour involved traveling directly into the sun, which made taking photos of the mountains impossible. By the time the boat captain finally turned around to head back to the marina, the sun was setting behind the mountains, leaving them in shadow.
Despite that, I did enjoy the tour, and I learned a lot. Our tour guide was delightful.
Sunset
Since the sun was setting when we arrived back at the marina, Greg and I quickly hopped in the car and headed to another popular spot for taking photos of the mountains.
It was a beautiful sunset, but I don’t feel like I got very good photos of it.
I love all of the beautiful fall colors in the foreground of this photo. Fall has definitely come to the Tetons!
We encountered another traffic jam on the way back to the campground. This time it was a herd of bison on the side of the road.
When we finally arrived back at the campground at 9:00 p.m., we promptly collapsed into bed.
Meanderings & Mind Munchies 