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water wings About 1 1/2 miles into Last Chance Canyon on Lake Powell, according to witnesses, you could hear the roar of engines and see this twin-engine plane fly toward the back of the canyon before making a hard U-turn and landing in the middle. Curious onlookers steered their boats up to it as the engines slowed to a stop and people emerged from the plane, jumped in the water and climbed back onto the plane. After about 45 minutes of jumping off wings, swimming and climbing, the passengers got back into the plane, started the motors and gently but loudly took off.
ED PEASE/STAFF
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ropes trail
BLUE 8.375 x 10.875
A ‘wonderfully terrifying’ hike by blake tilker/staff
The Ropes Trail is one of those hikes that even though it’s free, you’re still going to pay. The National Park Service doesn’t maintain the trail nor do they recommend attempting it. Even though the Ropes Trail is just over three miles roundtrip, it packs more kick than a Czechoslovakian mule. It’s not so much a trail, but more like a natural route that follows cracks and outcroppings down the 700-foot sandstone walls of Glen Canyon to the ice-cold water of the Colorado River. The hardest part of the trail is finding the trailhead from the parking lot. Most of this hike is actually getting to the canyon’s edge, and there aren’t any marked trails that do so. This can make for a much longer hike and more exposure under the unforgiving summer sun. The parking lot for this fasttrack to the Colorado River is just west of Glen Canyon Dam off of U.S. 89. From Page, take your first left after crossing the dam. The road will shortly split, stay to the right and then take your first left. The primitive parking lot is at the end off this road. Where there’s sandstone, there’s sand and lots of it. The old service road is a reminder of just how wild the canyon lands are. Lizard footprints with a groove down the middle from a dragging tail weave around the stretches of extremely fine sand. Snake tracks roll across the sand like a bicycle wheel. Rabbit tracks hop around the coarse vegetation. All to be erased like an Etch-ASketch during the next day of wind. Locate the sandstone butte with the communication towers on top of it and the butte to the right of it. Rock hop and sand bog your way through the two
angie tilker/contributor
Blake Tilker descends the Ropes Trail to the Colorado River. buttes. A field of transformers surrounded by a chain link fence can be seen once you’ve hiked over the buttes. Follow the faint remnants of a sandy service road on the west side of the transformers in a southeastern trend to the canyon’s edge. At about 1.5 miles into the trip you will walk under a pair of gigantic power lines. Start looking for the trailhead, which is marked by a metal pole hammered into the sandstone and the even more obvious 700-foot drop from the
edge. In under a half mile you will descend 700 feet of canyon wall. The exposure is immense and at times you will be walking within feet of the edge. A series of metal pipes with eyelets that once had a safety cable threaded through them, will keep you descending in the right direction…down. Keep an eye out for Native American petroglyphs and the not so ancient graffiti. Toward the last third of the descent you will have to use a
steel cable that is anchored into the sandstone wall to assist. At the end of that cable is the Colorado River and its constant 48 degree water. There’s plenty of shade and even a campground with a bathroom at the bottom. Keep in mind the way out is harder than the way in and one slip could be fatal. But when it’s all said in done, you will have just completed one of the most wonderfully terrifying hikes around; a story you’ll tell over and over again.
18 KAYAK from page 17 And it’s not just a paddling excursion. Their trips include slickrock hikes to slot canyons and vantage points that are only accessible by kayak or boat. Hidden Canyon Kayak also has a custom-made, 32-foot, twin-engine pontoon boat that can carry up to 13 passengers and their kayaks on full-day, overnight and multi-day trips throughout Lake Powell. “We offer a painless Lake Powell experience,” Dave Panu says. “We handle everything from the time you get on the boat to the time you get off; it’s just enjoyment.” There’s no waiting in line for a rental boat or having to worry about returning it on time. “Everything is provided. You show up with your personal stuff and a sense of adventure and we handle everything else.” Panu, whose skin is as tanned as the Navajo sandstone, has guided more than 350 multi-day trips in Grand
Canyon and Glen Canyon. “The beauty of the full-day and multi-day tours are that you get a boat tour, a kayak experience, and you get to hike a slot canyon without having to change venues.” The full-day and multi-day trips start off with a unique boat tour aboard Hidden Canyon Kayak’s dual-motor boat as it gracefully roars deep into Lake Powell at top-speed. “We go to a lot of places people don’t know about, and they are gems of Lake Powell,” says Panu. Depending on water levels and crowds, it takes about an hour arrive at the hidden canyons Dave, Clint and Craig have spent decades finding. “Water levels open and close doors to the canyons of Lake Powell and they’re beautiful at every level. You just need someone who knows where to take you,” says Panu. Once the boat is docked at a base camp, the restaurant
Panu and guests gliding through the smooth waters of Lake Powell.
opens for business. The boat’s restaurant is a four-foot cooler packed with fresh food and cold drinks to keep guests fueled for the kayaking adventure of a lifetime. “The majesty of Lake Powell and Glen Canyon is best experienced slowly,” says Panu, adding that the ability to slowly soak in the beauty of this place is so much better on a kayak. Page is well known for Antelope Canyon’s stunning sandstone slot canyons, and by paddling in kayaks, guests get to experience slot canyons just as unique and beautiful as Antelope Canyon. The kayaks can squeeze between narrow passages larger boats can’t fit through, thus opening parts of the lake in total seclusion. The slot canyons spread out like fingers all over lake and eventually transition into some of the most rarely done hikes around. Each trip is a new adventure
that depends on the group’s dynamics and desires. The support boat lets people relax in the sun if they are done paddling for the day, while others can continue to kayak with the crew nearby. The trips offered by Hidden Canyon Kayak are all-inclusive and effortless. The guides will set up tents, sleeping pads and bags as well as a camp kitchen that cranks out some of the best meals in town. Kayak rentals are also available from Hidden Canyon Kayak. Their staff will help you load the kayak on your vehicle and send you in the right direction for an awesome day at the lake. Visit their website www.hiddencanyonkayak.com for more information on their tours or to view some of the amazing photos from one of their recent trips. Hidden Canyon Kayak is located at 916 Vista Avenue, Page, AZ 86040. The phone number is 928-660-1836.
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LASTING IMAGE
Point Sublime
at the Grand Canyon
by judy graham