Day 35: How we floated down the Colorado River

Colorado River Float Trip

Glen Canyon Dam to Lee's Ferry

We signed up for the Colorado River Float Trip. It was not a white water trip. It was a leisurely float down 15 miles of the Colorado River from the Glen Canyon Dam access to Lee's Ferry. 

It was beautiful.

You should have seen Nana going down the 2 mile tunnel access to get to the bottom of the Glen Canyon Dam, where the boats were located. 

She had her eyes closed.

We took a tour bus from the parking lot of the Colorado River Rafting Co. to the tunnel access rd. It was a steep 6% grade downhill in the dark. Like a roller coaster. Except in slow motion.

Every 500 feet there were side tunnels that entered the canyon walls. 

Pretty amazing. 

When they were constructing this tunnel access, they had 2 groups working on it 24 hours per day. One group at the top, while the other group worked from the bottom and were lowered down with ropes. Instead of hauling all the debris to the top, they built these side tunnels and dumped the dirt and rocks out the side. 

We counted 18.

Here's Nana and Paw. She looks relieved to be out of the tunnel. 

We're settled into our raft. It has a motor, so now oars.

Here's a look down the canyon.

Here's a look back at the Dam.

The happy couple with Adam in the background.

He was pretty happy. He met a friend, from Kentucky, who was out on fall break. They hung out together the whole time.

The sides of the canyon.

Natalie looking happy too.

Our only white rapids. Class .05!

Meaning not much there.

The black sides of the canyon are called desert varnish. It's the oldest part that has been baked in the sun. The newer parts are more tan colored. 

Day 33: and How We Gained Another Hour

Zion National Park, UT to

Lake Powell @ Page, AZ

Total Miles: 110

Total Distance: 4635

Our Route:

We left Springdale, UT heading  back through the Mt. Carmel Tunnel Rd. on hwy 9, which is the scenic drive through the hairpin turns and switchbacks.  This is where Nana closed her eyes and put her head down til we reached  level ground again. 

RV backup traffic. They have to close part of the tunnel whenever an RV goes through the tunnel. It's not wide enough for 2 way traffic. 

Looking into the next tunnel on Mt.Carmel Rd.

Fascinating layers of sandstone and mudstone.

When we got on the other side, we turned south on hwy 89 heading to Kanab. 

Still lots of hills and curves on this hwy.

Dad doing his thing behind the wheel. Both eyes on the road. 

This is what he wanted to look at.

We crossed over the AZ state line and gained one hour. We didn't know that AZ doesn't follow the Daylight Saving Time. So when we went into the Visitor's Center the time was all off for us. Took us a while to figure it out. They are in Pacific Time zone til the rest of the area falls back one hour then they are the same?? But the Navajo Indian Reservation does follow Daylight Saving, so they keep with the rest of us. Clear as Mud?? I'm confused too. 

A view of Lake Powell.

Natalie took this picture from Wahweap Lookout. She's doing a great job!

Our campsite at Wahweap Marina RV park.

Finally, we had hamburgers for supper. They were excellent.

Sunset view.

Day 31: How Adam became a Junior Ranger

Bryce Canyon National Park, UT 

and Bryce to Zion National Park, UT

We parked our car at the shuttle parking outside the entrance to Bryce Canyon.
Today was a free visitor day and park entrance was free for everyone. 
We watched a movie of the history of the canyon and then headed out to see the sights.
The shuttle dropped us off at Bryce Point. 

People can imagine all sorts of things in these fins and hoodoos.

Cathedrals, church spires, the Terracotta Warriors....

Bryce Canyon was named after a Mormon settler, Ebenezer Bryce, who built his cabin near the canyon and people started calling it after him.

We were impressed. Everywhere we looked, we were amazed at the scenery and how far we could see.

We decided to walk the rim trail between Bryce Point and Inspiration Point.  About 1.5 miles. It was a beautiful day. Sunny skies, some clouds, warm temps.

Some of the trail took you pretty close to the edge.

Natalie learned it freezes 200 out of 365 days per year here in Bryce Canyon. That causes much of the erosion that takes place and forms the fins and hoodoos. 

Adam learned that Bryce Canyon isn't really a canyon after all.  It's a plateau. A river cuts through the ground to form a canyon and there is no river here. 

Adam participated in the Junior Ranger Program and earned his pin. He was a happy camper. We sat through a Ranger led talk on the geology of the area. Very interesting.

After spending most of the day exploring Bryce, we hooked up "little whitey" (the name of Nana and Paw's car that has been towed behind the motor home with us) and set out for Zion National Park. It was a 2 hour drive and one of the best we've encountered.

Total Miles: 85

Total Distance: 4,525

 Our Route: 

We drove back out of Bryce Canyon on hwy 12. We then turned on hwy 89 south toward Kanab. When we got to the town of Oderville, we took hwy 9 into Zion National Park.

This was one of the first formations we encountered.

Look at these striations in the rock

Look at this ROAD!

When we got to the second tunnel, we pulled over and handed our special $15.00 permit to bring a 31' motor home through the tunnel. The ranger stopped oncoming traffic for us to drive through by ourselves.

The RV is too large side to side for oncoming traffic, so we had to drive in the middle of the lane. 

It's a one mile long tunnel. Pretty cool. 

We found a pull-out and took a break.

You can see the Arch.

Then we had to navigate on several hairpin switchbacks to get to the other side of the park, where our campground was located. 

We arrived safely at the Zion Campground and RV Park in Springdale, UT. Right outside the south entrance of the park. Being a weekend, it is pretty crowded.

After getting the RV settled in our spot, we brewed some coffee and took a walk around the campground. 

We met a large group of campers from an Ohio University, who are participating in a Geo Journey program. It's a nine week class where they travel through many national parks. Sounds pretty cool. 

They looked like they all we enjoying it too.