Gateway
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to Canyon Country
A guide to Page, Lake Powell, Kanab and the Grand Circle
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FOLLOWING IN POWELL’S FOOTSTEPS
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SLEEP INN & SUITES SLEEP INN & SUITES
Set against the dazzling Glen Canyon Overlook off Highway 89, the Sleep Inn & Suites® hotel in Page puts guests close to gorgeous Arizona landmarks like Horseshoe Bend and Rainbow Bridge. This non-smoking affordable Page hotel is also near attractions like: • Antelope Canyon • Lake Powell • Wahweap Overloook • John Wesley Powell Museum • Water Holes Canyon We want you to feel refreshed when you stay with us, that’s why our indoor heated pool and whirlpool is a great place to relax. Our exercise room is the perfect place to keep your endorphins going. Other amenities include: • Free full breakfast • Free WiFi • Free parking • Guest laundry All guest rooms offer a 40-inch HDTV and desk. Some rooms feature a balcony, coffee maker, whirlpool, microwave, refrigerator, sofa sleeper and in-room tea and coffee. Dream better at the Sleep Inn & Suites. Hotels in Page, AZ offer cozy, modern rooms at a great value. Book now!
673 Scenic View Drive, Page, AZ, 86040, US Phone: (928) 645-2020 Fax: (928) 645-4950
Page, AZ
Gateway
There are numerous opportunities for grand adventures within hours of Page and Lake Powell.
to Canyon Country
is produced three times a year by the staff of the Lake Powell Chronicle, P.O. BOX 1716, Page, AZ 86040. Phone 928.645.8888 Fax 928.645.2209
There’s always time for a new adventure
A
fter living for a year in Page, one thing I have learned is a new adventure is always just around the corner. When my family and I moved here last year, we spent a lot of time acting like tourists in an effort to get to know the area. We hiked to Horseshoe Bend, spent days at Lake Powell and explored Rimview Trail and other easy hiking trails close by. Within a few months, we began to venture out even more. We took a day and went to the Grand Canyon and went to Lee’s Ferry three times over the summer. As summer turned to fall, the real fun began. Almost on a lark one weekend, we decided to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The North Rim is not the most popular tourist destination, but locals talked about it a lot, so my wife and I loaded the kids up and made the drive to see what all the talk was about. Here’s my findings. The North Rim itself is awesome, just like you would expect. But with much smaller crowds, the opportunity to really explore — not so much the scenery but the area itself — was much greater. We spent hours walking through Kaibab National Forest, something those of us living in the desert rarely get to do. And it was incredible. Huge pine trees, whiteskinned aspens, mushrooms galore and moss were just a few of the treats. We saw a wild fox, deer and signs of bigger animals that lurk in the forest. On the way, we stopped at Marble Falls and walked across the Colorado River. Shorlty thereafter, our trip stalled at the Cliff Dwellers, giving the family an idea how the Native Americans and possibly other early settlers found shelter in Northern Arizona many years ago. Just look at the photo above, it wasn’t fancy, but they made it. But ultimately, the biggest fun was the forest — Kaibab National Forest. We enjoyed it so much we went back for a second visit just a week after our first. Moving from the desert to the forest in just two hours is quite a treat and just another example of the opportunites for exploring nature’s treats when visiting Page and Lake Powell. David Rupkalvis Gateway to Canyon Country
4 Gateway to Canyon Country
Publisher/Editor David Rupkalvis lpcpub@lakepowellchronicle.com editor@lakepowellchronicle.com
Contributors Steven Law Jamie Brough Laurel Anderson
Composing Marty Sisk msisk@lakepowellchronicle.com Advertising Ed Pease epease@lakepowellchronicle.com Norma Tsinnijinnie ntsinnijinnie@lakepowellchronicle.com Kim Clark kclark@lakepowellchronicle.com Circulation Mike Nation
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One of the newest hotels in town. The Comfort Inn & Suites® hotel in Page, Arizona
offers easy access to a variety of outdoor activities along the Colorado River, including water skiing, hiking, biking, fishing, golfing and raft trips. This Page, AZ hotel is also convenient to Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon.
Comfort Inn® has the only indoor heated pool & Jacuzzi in Page!
Guests of the Comfort Inn & Suites will appreciate our many amenities including: • Free wireless high-speed Internet access • Business center • Heated indoor pool & Jacuzzi! • Complimentary hot breakfast • Fitness Room
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The Rodeway Inn® is located close to Powell Museum and Lake Powell National Golf Course.
Downtown Page, AZ Recreational amenities include an outdoor pool. Those traveling on business have access to a business center at this hotel. Complimentary wireless Internet access is available in public areas. Self parking is complimentary.
Additional property amenities include free WiFi, laundry facilities, and a picnic area. Some accommodations have balconies or patios if available. Free hot breakfast. All rooms with flat screen TV’s, microwave, refrigerator, coffee pot and hair dryer.
Great Wall of China Restaurant inside the Rodeway Inn
107 S. Lake Powell Blvd., Page, AZ • 928-645-2406
Canyon Country
Spring 2017
On top of the World Page 45
Gateway
FREE
SPRING 2017
A guide to
Page, Lake
Powell, Kan ab
FOLLOWING
RIDING IN
and the Gra nd Circle
IN POWELL’ S FOOTST
SOUTHERN
EPS
UTAH
6 Gateway to Canyon Country
Cover illustration courtesy of John Wesley Powell Museum John Wesley Powell and his crew overcame many hardships. Page 9
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Inside 9 25 26 27 28
Deep Respect Lake Powell map Canyon Country map Page area map City of Page map
30 32 36 37 45
City of Kanab map In the Saddle Simply Amazing Heading North Birds Eye View
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 7
Lestin Fuller performs a traditional Native American dance during Page’s new Sounds of Summer concert series held in City Park.
Gateway to Canyon Country publisher Tonja Greenfield’s expression says it all about being inside Canyon X.
DEEP RESPECT
Following the path of John Wesley Powell
J
story AND PHOTOS by STEVEN LAW/STAFF
ohn Wesley Powell began his courageous journey to map the canyons of the Green and Colorado Rivers on May 24, 1869 leaving from Green River Station, Wyoming Territory. He started with nine men, besides himself, and four boats. He finished the expedition 99 days later with six men and two boats. It was a dangerous, harrowing, physically and psychologically arduous journey. The Colorado River Exploring Expedition — a grand expedition calls for a grand title — is famous for being the first white men to explore and map the canyons of the Green and Colorado Rivers, which in 1869 was the last unexplored spot in the
United States, a geographical area the size of Texas. The expedition spent the first 54 days of its journey traversing through the canyons of the Green River where they met with numerous minor mishaps, and two serious accidents, all that would later compound into dire, life-threatening problems. Powell undertook his dangerous endeavor because he wanted to go down in history as the man who mapped the last blank spot in the United States; a most romantic notion Indeed. But before Powell had even reached the Colorado River the romance of their grand endeavor had long since worn off. For everyone but Powell.
The first in a non-stop series of mishaps and accidents occurred on June 9, the 17th day of the expedition, when one of their rafts, the “No Name” sank, and with it a third of their food and provisions. Powell named the rapid where the “No Name” sank Disaster Falls. The name would also have made a suitable title for the expedition itself, for after the No Name sank on day 17, the trip wouldn’t go more than a week at a time without some new disaster falling on the expedition. Their food, blankets and tents, their prospects for success and morale all steadily diminished. A week after losing the “No Name,” a fire spread through their camp and consumed clothes, blankets, nearly all
their cooking gear and the last of the tents. On July 5, they lost the first of their crew, John Goodman, to fear and the unceasing anxiety of what unknown dangers lie ahead. He abandoned the trip, telling Powell “he has seen danger enough.” Each day of their expedition, more rations were lost to spoil and mildew than from eating them, a discovery they made on July 11. After making this vital discovery, one of their regular camp chores became laying out the apples, flour and coffee in the sun to dry after getting damp from their day on the river. From that day forward, Powell put his men on 1/6 rations, which wasn’t nearly enough calories or nutrition for the taxing work
“I find that the only things saved from the wreck were the barometers, a package of thermometers and a three gallon keg of whiskey. The last is what the men were shouting about.” - from Powell’s journal June 10, 1869, the day after the “No Name” wrecked in Disaster Falls. www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 9
they daily performed. The expedition had already suffered several catastrophic losses and they hadn’t yet even reached the Colorado River. They hadn’t yet even got to the hard part of their journey. Ahead of them they still had to traverse Cataract Canyon (home to four of the largest rapids in the world), Glen Canyon, Marble Canyon and the Grand Canyon (home to three granite gorges and more than 100 rapids) before they reached the mouth of Virgin River, which would mark the end of their journey. On July 18, Powell wrote in his journal: “The day is spent in obtaining the time and spreading our rations, which we find are badly injured. The flour has been wet and dried so many times that it is all musty and full of hard lumps. We make a sieve of mosquito netting and run our flour through it, losing more than
200 pounds by the process. Our losses, by the wrecking of the “No Name,” and by various mishaps since, together with the amount thrown away today, leave us little more than two months’ supplies, and to make them last thus long we must be fortunate enough to lose no more. “We drag our boats on shore and turn them over to recalk and pitch them and Sumner is engaged in repairing barometers. When we are here for a day or two, resting, we propose to put everything in the best shape for a vigorous campaign.” By the time Powell reached Lee’s Ferry, where he and his men camped on the night of August 4, their two months supplies had spoiled and melted down to five weeks rations. But here’s the thing. Their five weeks rations might not actually last them five weeks. Through loss and spoilage, it had taken them only two months to
burn through eight months rations. It didn’t take long for Powell’s crew to realize that if the food spoilage continued at that same rate their 35 day’s rations might last them only eight days. Thus any delay, whether it be the slow process of portaging or waiting for Powell to make his observations, grated sorely on their already frayed nerves. In the literal sense, they were starving. In every other way, they had bitten off more than they could chew. Powell and his group weren’t exactly lost, but they also didn’t know how much farther they had to go to finish the journey, or how long it would take them to do it, or what obstacles lie in the distance between. They were led by a man who had lost his right arm in the Civil War, and he was leading a band of exhausted, starving, desperate men who were rapidly losing their faith in his ability to lead them out
of the their hellish maze and their patience in the way he was managing the expedition. Their morale was melting faster than their sugar. Camped at the mouth of the Paria River on August 4, 73 days into his epic journey into the last white spot on the map of the United States, Powell and his men were on the brink of starvation and exhaustion, and some of his men were already on the brink of mutiny. Having survived the brutal hardships of Cataract Canyon, Powell and his crew hoped they were past the worst of it. Nope. Not even close. The worst of it would begin 76 miles downriver from Lee’s Ferry at Hance Rapid and it wouldn’t let up until they were below Lava Cliffs rapid, nearly 300 miles and more than 100 rapids and hellish portages later. Before they reached the end of their grueling journey, numerous newspapers throughout the nation would
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declare them dead and lost forever to the abyss. Before then, their nerves and patience would fray under the grueling labor or portaging rapids, the meager, starvation-rate rations and the nearly unbearable anxiety of what lay blindly ahead of them, all of which would lead to a fist-fight, drawn guns and a divided camp. Before they reached the end, the expedition would abandon one more of their rafts, and three more of their crew would abandon the expedition. From July 11 forward, the expedition was in a race against the clock. Could Powell get his expedition through those hundreds of miles and hundreds of rapids and other obstacles before his waterlogged rafts and waterlogged food rotted away? Before he and his men starved to death? Or drowned? Or shot one another? On July 11, still five days
Few things in life are more exhilarating than pushing off your rafts at Lee’s Ferry while embarking on a two-week river trip into the Grand Canyon. Siobhan McCann rows with a fleet of rafts with Wilderness River Adventures. Steven Law/Staff
before they had even reached the Colorado River, Powell and his men made the realization that able-bodied such as themselves found quite sobering: they were at the mercy of an unmerciful river.
I
had the amazing good fortune to spend eight seasons as a Grand
Canyon river guide, from 2005 to 2012, during which time I completed more than 70 raft trips through the canyon. One hundred and thirty-eight years after Powell and his men spent a cold, hungry, anxious night camped on these banks, Lee’s Ferry is a much different place. Its atmosphere, rather than one of dread and despair, is one
of great joy and light-hearted exuberance, for this is where people from around the world gather to embark on what is sure to be two joyful weeks filled with adventure and surrounded by unrenowned beauty. And they’re right to feel that way. I’ve pushed off from Lee’s Ferry 74 times in my career as a Grand Canyon river guide, and I’ve felt that
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explorer’s exuberance every time. When pushing off from Lee’s Ferry, my spirits are always so buoyant wearing a life jacket seems redundant. Our trip leader, Jeff Touchette, finished giving the safety talk to our eager passengers, then we boarded the rafts and shoved off from the bank. Into the beautiful, amazing Grand Canyon! On this trip I was rowing a baggage boat with my fellow guide and good friend Zach Chappell. It was just the two of us on a raft loaded with so much gear there was no room for passengers. The other boatmen were Brett, Christine, Debo and Amanda. They’re irreverent, foul-mouthed, good-humored and my best friends to boot. Like Powell and his men, they were drawn to the Grand Canyon for the adventure it promised. It was late September and my last river trip of the season. After six months on the river, I
Powell’s crew portaging a boat around a rapid. Portaging the gear and 400-pound oak boats around a rapid was grueling work. The expedition saw several days when, after a hard day of portaging,they had progressed only two or three miles down the river. Illustration by Rudolph Wendelin, courtesy of the John Wesley Powell Museum.
— like the walls of the Grand Canyon — was river worn. It was my 12th trip of the season. My 92nd day on the river, and during that time I had endured a lot of 110 degree days, a lot of monsoon downpours. I’d hiked hundreds of miles to the tops
of hundreds of clifftops. After six months of rowing through wind storms, and schlepping Dutch ovens, cots and camp gear I was tired to my marrow and in pain from numerous injuries sustained from six months on the river. During my previous 91 days on the river, I
had suffered a sprained ankle that, due to all the walking up and down sand dunes and cliff walls, still hadn’t healed. It was still painful and the size of a grapefruit. My dry heels were split, my hands were cut, my spine was compressed. From the knees down, my
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legs bore dozens of bruises, scabs and scars. At night, while lying in my sleeping bag my shinbones throbbed with pain from six months standing in the cold Colorado River. The lines on my tanned face had deepened considerably, until it looked like an aerial photo of the Colorado Plateau itself. By my last trip of the season, I had at least two things in common with a chicken fried steak: I was battered and deep-fried. Which was cool with me. The writer Edward Dolnick, who penned the biography about the 1869 Powell Expedition, described the 120-pound, wiry Powell as looking like “a piece of beef jerky adorned with whiskers.”
Z
ach and I let the other rafts get a little bit ahead of us before we pushed off. I offered to row first so I sat at the oars and Zach pushed us off. And there it was again! That electric zing!
that comes from crossing over into the adventure side of the threshold. On this trip I was rowing a baggage boat. A hundred feet after pushing off from Lee’s Ferry, we crossed another invisible threshold, this time into Grand Canyon National Park, and just beyond that we reached a tiny riffle of slightly turbulent water known as the Paria Riffle, the spot where the Paria River empties into the Colorado River. lt was adding about 1,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) of muddy gray water and where it entered the clear, green waters of the Colorado it gave the whole a nacreous marbling. Past the Paria Riffle, the river became flat as canal water. In the lead, Jeff was pushing oars steadily, but not urgently, with plentiful pauses when we just drifted along at the pace of the river, let the raft spin as it may while we leaned back and contemplated the light playing on the cliff walls. Already the
like it’s a marker on a Ouija board, which pivots my raft a little sideways to the next wave. With a quick scissorstroke I pivot the raft back to center. Rafting the Grand Canyon has changed a lot in the century and a half since Powell first mapped its unknown depths. The technology has advanced from bulky, hard-to-maneuver wooden boats to rafts constructed from light-weight rubber or feather-weight dories. And the techniques have advanced from backward rowing to
cliff walls had risen 500 feet above us. Five miles later, we stopped for lunch and two miles past that we came to our first rapid of the trip: Badger Rapid, a medium-sized, read-and-run rapid with a few whoop-deedos and a frolicsome course of tailwaves. I rowed the raft into the tongue of the rapid, where we dropped into a wave trough and burst through the wave behind it like a bull lowering its head and charging through the cape. Though still rowing forward, the waves and currents push the raft about
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forward-facing rowing. But the thrill that boatman and passenger alike feel as they bomb a raft through a huge, playful rapid hasn’t changed a bit. Powell wrote in his journal from June 22, 1869, that the teeter-totter, soaring motion of his raft cutting through a rapid felt very thrilling. “What a headlong ride it is! shooting past rocks and islands. I am soon filled with exhilaration only experienced before in riding a fleet horse over the outstretched prairie.” I continued rowing and Zach, who had made a comfortable nest among the gear in the stern of the raft, returned to his nest. He and I continued chatting about our upcoming winter adventures while l rowed down the river. A couple miles later we reached Soap Creek Rapid, which is a photocopy of Badger Rapid but enlarged by 20 percent. We roll and drop over the waves like a skier over moguls. The sky had grown overcast while eating lunch and about a mile below Soap Creek Rapid a cold, autumn rain began to fall. Zach and I put on sweatshirts and covered those with raincoats. I worked for a company called Wilderness River Adventures based out of Page. I spent my first two years with them working as an apprentice boatman — a position known as a swamper — during which time my fellow boatmen taught me how to read water and pilot the raft, a distinct advantage over Powell who didn’t have any actual boatmen in his crew. It was during my third year as a river guide that I gained a deep, almost reverential, respect for John Wesley Powell and the edge-of-impossible feat he accomplished in navigating the unmapped stretches of the Green and Colorado Rivers, which he did
16 Gateway to Canyon Country
with terrible boats and novice, inexperienced boatmen. Powell himself never rowed a single stroke for the simple reason that he had only one arm. His right arm was hit with a Minie ball during the Civil War’s Battle of Shiloh, and had to be amputated. I gained my respect for Powell and his amazing journey from three different tributaries. First, I read two books about Powell’s first descent of the Green and Colorado Rivers. I first read Powell’s memoir of the trip titled “The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons” first published in 1875, six years after the expedition. Powell’s writing rarely turned poetic or overly descriptive. The descriptions he used were spare, used only that his readers might see in their imaginations what he believed they’d never see in real life. His nightly journal entries were usually only two or three sentences long, touchstone sentences to jog his memory later. When I finished reading Powell’s memoir, I read a biography about his journey called, “Down the Great Unknown,” written by Edward Dolnick, which shed great light on the difficulties they endured. Dolnick’s biography also included journal entries from two members of Powell’s expedition, Jack Sumner and George Bradley. Their journal entries painted a fuller, less-biased account of the journey. It was only after reading these two narratives that I understood just how raw and exposed Powell’s journey had been. It was harrowing, dangerous, arduous, and it was made all the more so because of its remoteness. If Powell ran out of food or supplies, no one was coming to resupply him. If he ran into trouble, no one was coming to rescue him. My second source of
respect for Powell, and what he and his men accomplished, came from my first two years on the river working as a swamper, during which time the boatmen taught me how to read water and safely navigate a raft through the rapids. But a swamper’s primary duty is to do the drudge-work and heavy-lifting. But the drudgework and heavy lifting I had to do will never compare to portaging three 400 pound boats around a rapid. I grumbled when the trip leader sent me and my baggage boat to camp early and I had to unload the camp kitchen alone, which would take all of 40 minutes, after which I’d drink a cold beer and play Bocci ball with the guests. My third source of respect for Powell, and more so his boatmen, came during my third season, when I was promoted from swamper to boatman and given command of my own raft, after which I better understood the anxiety and trepidation that came from being the man responsible for getting the raft and its passengers safely through hundreds of obstacles. Of course, any trip I take will never compare to Powell’s expedition. The major difference between the two experiences is that almost anything that will happen on one of my trips will simply be a matter of inconvenience. If I screw up and have a bad run through a rapid my ego may get bruised or my reputation as a steely-eyed boatman may get a black eye. Yes, accidents still happen. When we’re on a river trip, we can pretend that we’re secluded, and indeed it feels that way down on the river, but if things get too rough, if the injury is too severe, we can tap out and help is just minutes away. We can pull out a $3,000 satellite phone, carefully protected inside a Pelican case, and call in a National Park Service
helicopter to come save us. It certainly takes the edge off the danger. But, having said that, I still know how it feels to lie sleepless in my bed, filled with the anxiety born of knowing that the next day I have to run Hance Rapid, or Crystal Rapid or Lava Falls.
T
he cold, drizzly rain continued through the rest of the afternoon, evening and, deep into the night. We camped for the night at Silver Grotto, having rowed 29 miles that day, and while unloading the rafts discovered the trip’s first SNAFU. We’d left one of the tent bags behind. We had enough tents for our passengers but not enough for the guides. We pitched an E-Z Up over our camp kitchen and cooked a dinner of trout, asparagus and mashed potatoes. Dinner time is usually social hour on the river, but not that night. Our passengers stood in the rain and gulped down their food as quickly as they could, then rushed back to their dry tents, for which we envied them. Because the passengers had rushed off so quickly the seven remaining guides had room to eat our dinner beneath the E-Z Up, after which we washed our plates and the rest of the dishes. The guides — and a few of the heartier passengers — returned to the shelter of the E-Z Up where we passed around the whiskey and talked. It was dark by 8 o’clock. At 8:30, tired to my marrow, I snuck off to bed. I walked down to my raft and wrapped my sleeping bag inside a tarp, changed into dry clothes and crawled in. Before I pulled the tarp’s upper flap over my head, I reached over the side of the raft and trailed my fingers in the river. The knowledge that I got to sleep right on top of this ancient,
yet ever-refreshing river always fills me with deep awe, amazement and reverence. I drew my hand back in and pulled the tarp over my head. It was warm and humid inside my little cocoon, the first time I’d been warm in seven hours. I listened to the rain pattering soothingly on the tarp. I rolled onto my side and as lightly and suddenly as a fly landing on a Venus flytrap, sleep grazed my weary eyes and my eyelids snapped shut.
During a slow stretch of river, the author has time to sit on his oars and contemplate the beauty of his surroundings.
B
y August 10, Powell and his crew had safely traversed Cataract, Glen and Marble Canyons and were poised to enter the Grand Canyon. They spent two days camped at the mouth of the Little Colorado River while Powell fixed their latitude and longitude. Noting the exact latitude and longitude of major landscape features was an important, necessary duty to Powell’s mapmaking and the spot where the Little Colorado River meets the Colorado River was one of those spots that needed fixing. By Aug. 10, everything on the expedition needed fixing, but they had little to fix it with. To Powell’s crew, already on 1/6 rations and the rest of their food spoiling at an appalling rate, even necessary delays, such as mapmaking and positional reckoning, seemed unnecessary. Powell securely fixed their latitude and longitude on Aug. 12, and that night wrote in his journal what was to become the expedition’s most famous passage: “We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown. Our boats, tied to a common stake, chafe each other as they are tossed by the fretful river. They ride high and buoyant for their loads are lighter than we would desire. We have but a month’s rations remaining. “. . . We have an unknown
distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls rise over the river, we know not.” On the morning of Aug. 13, Powell and his crew untied their boats and for the 82nd time pushed off into unknown territory. During the course of the day, they ran three rapids and lined three more, advancing 14 miles, and camped just above Hance Rapid. They spent the next day portaging around it, and two miles later arrived at Sockdolager Rapid, which for many of the crew, would prove the most frightful experience of the expedition, and for Sumner the most terrifying event of his entire life. Sockdolager is a 19th century slang term meaning “Knockout Punch.” Powell gave the rapid that name because it was very nearly the rapid that did them in. The rapid is bordered on either side by sheer walls thus leaving them no option to portage or line their boats around it. And rowing through it seemed suicidal.
“I decided to run it,” Sumner wrote in his journal that night, “though it gave me a queer feeling in my craw, as I could see plainly enough a certain swamping for all the boats. But what was around the curve below out of our sight?” Indeed. What was around that curve? For Powell and his men, the mystery most speculated upon, and the source of their greatest fear, was the possibility of encountering a Niagara Falls-sized waterfall. And Sockdolager Rapid might be it. The rapid certainly roared like Niagara and from no place above it could they see the bottom of the rapid as it bent around a canyon curve. All the men knew if there was a falls at the end of the rapid they’d be helplessly carried over it, for once they entered the rapid there was no place to pull over. To push off into such total uncertainty took pure courage. Pure commitment. It was for situations such as this that Powell hadn’t hired boatmen, but had instead hired mountain men and Civil War veterans. These men had faced sure defeat before; and
charged straight into it. We now know there is no waterfall below Sockdolager but the waves it does possess are so powerful it nearly did them in anyway. Before any of the rafts had progressed 100 feet into the rapid all three boats had swamped, which made them completely unmanageable and the river sent them banging into rocks or sweeping into whirlpools. The men and boats were heavily battered. Rocks had knocked a hole in the side of the Emma Dean and they had lost one oar and broken another. For Sumner, it was the scariest experience of his life, and that’s saying a lot coming from a man who saw heavy action in the Civil War. He wrote about it that night in his journal. “I have been in a cavalry charge, charged the batteries, and stood by the guns to repel a charge. But never before did my sand run so low. In fact, it all ran out, but as I had to have some more grit, I borrowed it from the other boys.” The group spent the next day struggling through Grapevine Rapid and limped
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 17
their banged up boats downriver to a clear creek, that Powell named Bright Angel Creek. Today it’s the site of the famous Phantom Ranch. There they camped the nights of August 15 and 16 while they repaired their boats and cut new oars. During the two days they spent repairing the rafts, the expedition itself split in two after a fist-fight and drawn guns. They were already on 1/6 rations and had been for the last 36 days. And their remaining food was in terrible shape. The flour was moldy, the apples were mildewed and the little bacon they possessed was so rancid that on Aug. 16 Powell threw the last of it away. “We now have only musty flour sufficient for 10 days, a few dried apples, but plenty of coffee,” Powell recorded in his journal that night. That same day they lost the last of their baking soda — which had been left out to dry in the sun — when a swinging bowline swept it into the river. That meant no more bread.
This event stood as the perfect metaphor for that point in the journey: the expedition had been one with few joys, and Aug. 16 marked the day when the last of the trip’s levity got swept away. Then, for a reason not mentioned in Powell’s, Sumner’s nor Bradley’s journals, Powell lit into Dunn for losing his [Powell’s] watch, something that had happened nearly two weeks earlier. Dunn heatedly replied to Powell that he’d “whoop his ass if he wasn’t a one-armed cripple.” Powell’s brother Walter leapt to his brother’s defense, and Hawkins and Hall jumped to Dunn’s aid. Walter began unlashing his gun from the deck of his boat, and Hall punched him in the head. When Walter whipped around he found Hall’s pistol leveled at his face. Hall told Walter to back off before he got his head blown off. After that the camp was divided in two, between those who sided with Dunn and those who sided with Powell. And not just for the night, but for the duration of the trip.
From Bright Angel Creek, the expedition could have rowed through the remainder of the canyon in just three or four days, and Powell’s men wanted to do it; cut loose and row, damn the portaging and the consequences for they had reached the point in their terrible journey where it was either go safely and slowly and starve doing it, or go fast and get the bloody thing over with, and risk drowning in one of the dozens of rapids that still lay ahead of them. The ever-prudent Powell was able to restrain his men a little longer, but playing it safe meant portaging, which simply ate up too much time. Until finally, after a few days of that, even Powell couldn’t continue with the slow and safe course any longer. The situation of their severely dire rations compelled them to row. From that point on, they would portage only when absolutely necessary. Which brought them to an interesting conundrum on Aug. 27 when they came to a rapid that looked truly terrifying, and unnavigable. It was the worst
rapid they’d seen yet. This rapid, they all agreed, must be portaged; it was the only sensible way around it. Except the cliff walls on either side of it were sheer, giving them no purchase to portage, nor line, their boats around it. Is this where the Grand Canyon would force the expedition to quit? Powell knew he was close to the end of their long expedition. His barometers showed their current elevation very nearly matched that of their end point. He’d come a thousand miles through uncharted, rugged territory. He’d endured so much: starvation-rate hunger, monsoon rains, 115 degree heat, portaging, wounds, injuries, abandonment, threats of mutiny. After all that, he simply couldn’t bear to quit when glory and immortality lay just a few canyon curves further. “To leave the exploration unfinished, to say there is a part of the canyon which I cannot explore, having already nearly accomplished it, is more than I am willing to
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acknowledge, and I determine to go on,” Powell wrote in his journal that night. But for two members of the crew, who had ended their loyalties with Powell after the fight at Bright Angel Creek, this was the end. On the right side of the river, a canyon advanced away from the river. Maybe it would go all the way to the rim, and from there perhaps they could find their way to a Mormon settlement. They certainly intended to find out. The two men were Bill Dunn and Seneca Howland. And since Seneca planned to leave, his brother Oramel said he’d go with them. Powell tried to talk the three men out of abandoning the trip. The three men tried to talk him and the other men into coming with them, telling them they’d all be dead on the far side of the rapid. The next morning, Dunn and the two Howlands left the
trip, and the scout boat, the “Emma Dean” was also left behind, abandoned on the beach, because with only six men they didn’t have enough crew to bring all three boats. Dunn and the two Howlands were never seen or heard from again. It’s believed they were either killed by Shivwits Indians, who occupied that area of the rim in 1869, or perhaps by Mormons who thought them to be “Gentile spies” sneaking in to destroy their newly founded empire. Powell and the remaining men piloted the two rafts through the rapid without incident and continued on. That evening they passed out of the last granite gorge and the following day emerged from the Grand Canyon. Mission accomplished! Much as the Colorado River has cut through multiple layers of ancient rock revealing what lies beneath, so did the river expose Powell’s strengths and
flaws. Powell was a skeptic who believed all religions were mere mythologies invented by men. But though he lacked religious faith, he had total faith in himself and his abilities. Dolnick, Powell’s biographer, described him as
“pathologically optimistic,” a great quality in an explorer. Powell was brave. The canyon he entered on May 24, 1969 was completely unexplored, completely unmapped, completely unknown. And once he entered it, there were only
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www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 19
three known avenues from which to escape it. He was ambitious. Though he lacked the schooling and credentials to back it up, he nevertheless considered himself a scientist, and he hoped that mapping the last blank spot on America’s map would put him on the map, too. It worked. Powell went on to become a professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, director of the U.S. Geological Survey and the first director of Bureau of Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution. I admire Powell greatly for his optimism, his courage, his faith in himself. But the Powell quality I admire most was his curiosity. It was his bedrock layer, and it was inexhaustible as the Colorado River. “And the purpose of this shoestring expedition?” wrote Wallace Stegner, regarding Powell’s expedition. “Only to discover. To find out. To observe, analyze, map,
comprehend, know?” Despite the expedition’s crushing hardships, Powell never lost his ability to be awed by the majesties he witnessed in the canyons he traversed. Even during some of the trip’s most harrowing, worrisome, tense days Powell’s journals sometimes sing with the majestic scenes he witnessed during the day. And certainly, after some contemplation, did his memoir. He ends his memoir with this beautifully written observation. “The glories and the beauties of form, color, and sound unite in the Grand Canyon . . . A year scarcely suffices to see it all . . . You cannot see the Grand Canyon in one view, as from which a curtain might be lifted, but to see it you have to toil from month to month through its labyrinths. It is a region more difficult to traverse than the Alps or the Himalayas, but if strength and courage are
sufficient for the task, by a year’s toil a concept of sublimity can be obtained never again to be equaled on the hither side of Paradise”.
I
n my eight years at Wilderness River Adventures, I too was privileged to witness many of the canyon’s splendors. I would begin my river seasons in early April and finish them in October. In that window, I’ve seen the spring flowers bloom and die in the heat of summer, and I’ve seen a new batch of flowers bloom in August after the monsoons, and watched them die in the autumn chill. In April, I’ve seen the Bighorn sheep lambs trailing their mothers, and in September watch the rams butt heads. I’ve watched Orion disappear and return, and all the constellations shift. I’ve seen ducklings no bigger than ping-pong balls in April, grow a little bigger every trip. I’ve seen flashfloods change the formation of side canyons and beaches over and over and over again. Sunsets, shooting stars,
waterfalls, rainbows. Scarcely a trip went by without some wonderful moment. When my alarm clock went off, I sat up in my sleeping bag and let some of the sleepiness percolate out of my head. My brother, Dallin (who hiked in to join the trip at Phantom Ranch), left his Louis L’amour novel laying on the ground between us when he fell asleep last night. This morning, a chilly autumn wind ruffled its pages. While the sleep percolated out of my head, I watched the paperback expand and contract, its fanning leaves looked like the gills of a gasping fish. I changed clothes, shoved my sleeping bag into my dry bag, then carried it down to the rafts and walked to the camp kitchen where I sparked the blasters and started heating water for coffee. Above me, just above the opposite cliff wall, I could see Orion, just returned from his summer travels, juxtaposed against the opposite cliff wall in such a way that it gave the appearance he’d lost his
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20 Gateway to Canyon Country
footing and was tumbling backward off the cliff. The activity of cooking breakfast restored my alertness to 90 percent and by the time I’d drunk my second cup of coffee, my energy had been restored to 100 percent. We ate breakfast, washed dishes, loaded boats and pushed off. lnto a new day of adventure! What amazing wonders will we see today, I always wonder as I embark into a new river day. I didn’t know it then but it wouldn’t be long before I saw one of the most amazing sights of my life! It was a Sunday. I remember because as we pushed off from shore Dallin and Zach started singing church hymns. The sun was shining, the autumn air was perfectly crisp. The day proffered us the apple of grandeur and invited us to take a bite. It was juicy! We soon passed out of the
sunshine and into a stretch of the canyon where, on the last day of September, and at this early hour of the morning, the river still lay in the shadow of the cliff wall. And the dark river acted as a mirror. The mile deep cliff walls above us reflected in the smooth, mirror river creating the illusion that the canyon was actually two miles deep. And what’s more it gave us the feeling that we were instead floating through the canyon in a hot air balloon. The illusion was so magical we stopped singing hymns and leaned forward to take it in. I quit rowing so as not to ripple the river mirror and to prolong the magic. The cracks and water stains at the base of the cliff walls mirrored in the river became Rorschach ink blots forming pareidolia resembling rockets, arrows, trilobites and butterflies. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of
my life. From 2005 to 2012, I spent about 100 days each year on the river inside the Grand Canyon, and I was well aware of the amazing, lifechanging opportunity it was to wake up there more than 800 times. I have a deep respect for Powell and what he and his men accomplished in 1869. After completing more than 70 river trips of my own, I have a deep respect for the river and Grand Canyon as well. But I’ll never reach the level of raw respect that Powell had for the river and the canyons he struggled through, for the simple reason that I’ll never have to endure what he endured. The Grand Canyon is no longer as difficult to traverse as the Alps or the Himalayas. But there is one regard where Powell’s level of respect for the Grand Canyon will never reach my own, for the simple reason that I have
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spent eight river seasons inside it, watching it change and change and change. Changes both subtle and dramatic. The Grand Canyon is a massive place with hundreds of side canyons, most of which contain some beautiful, little treasure. Or twenty. It’s always a great adventure to sling on a daypack and go find them. But the Grand Canyon is so immense it hides most of its splendors in plain sight. You just have to be present when the magic unfolds. During my eight years as a Grand Canyon river guide, I rowed my raft and set up camp and cooked dinner and led hikes and swam in plunge pools. I played Bocci ball and read poems and made a hundred new friends. But mostly I tried to be present and ready for those moments when the Grand Canyon unfolded her magic.
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www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 21
635 Elm Street Page Az 86040
(928)645-2140
22 Gateway to Canyon Country
KEN’S TOURS Just east of Page, Arizona is the entrance to one of the most exciting slot canyons in the Southwest United States. Our tour guides will help you experience the beauty, serenity and wonder that is Lower Antelope Canyon. We are located approximately 2.5 miles east of Page, Arizona on HWY 98. See the map on page 29 in this magazine. GPS Location: N 36 Degrees 54’ 9” W 111 Degrees 24’ 39” Take highway 98 toward Kaibeto and turn left on Navajo Route N22B (Antelope Point Road) for about 1/4 mile. The entrance sign is on the left. Bus Tours are Welcome! We have plenty of parking space.
• $28.00 per person (ages 13 or older) and includes Navajo Park Permit • $20.00 per Children (ages 7-12 years old) and includes Navajo Park Permit • Children ages 6 and under are FREE -If you have paid the Navajo Parks fee (i.e. Toured with UPPER Antelope Canyon, ON the SAME Day) we will disregard the $8 from our admission prices. $20 (Ages 13 and older), $12 (Ages 7-12). MUST HAVE RECEIPT
The views in Lower Antelope Canyon change constantly as the sun moves across the sky, filtering lights softly across the stone walls. These ever moving sun angles bounce light back and forth across the narrow canyons’ walls, creating a dazzling display of color, light, and shadow.
SUMMER HOURS:� March 1 – First Week in November. � 8 AM – 5 PM� Tours begin at 8:20 AM, leaving every half hour; last tour leaves at 4 PM.
Rates and fees are subject to change.
WINTER HOURS:� Second Week in November – Last week in February� 9 AM – 3 PM� Tours begin at 9:30 AM, leaving every half hour; last tour leaves at 2 PM Important items: • Bottle water • Sunscreen • Hat� • Comfortable footwear. Hiking shoes are preferred. • Tips are Appreciated for Tour Guides Remember that Flash Floods are a real danger throughout the year. Always heed your guide’s advice about when to leave the canyon.
Tours run every 20 minutes . Tours are 1 (One) HOUR & 15 (fifteen) minutes in duration. You are welcome to take pictures, but tripods or mono pods are not allowed on this tour.� Tour Groups are a Maximum of 15 people
We are OPEN 7 Days a week, All year long!�
928.606.2168 Bus tour reservations: kens.tour.booking@outlook.com Box 117, Page, Country Arizona 86040� . For Information: keny@aztrail.com 24 P.O. Gateway to Canyon
FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS: $50 Per person (ages 16 and Older ONLY) ($42 for pass fee and $8 for Navajo Nation Park Fee) Professional/Avid Photographers REQUIRED EQUIPMENT: SLR camera or DSLR camera, medium or large format WITH a tripod for each individual that is joining the photo tour. This is now a guided Photo Tour of Lower Antelope Canyon. (Group size of 8-10 People)
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 25
Colorado River
Glen Canyon Dam
Hwy 89 to Flagstaff is OPEN. See road maps on pages 26, 27 28.
Page, Arizona
Antelope Canyon
Antelope Island
Wahweap Bay
Wahweap Marina
Hwy 89 to Kanab, Utah
Wahweap Marina
Antelope Point Marina & Launch Ramp
Padre Bay
Navajo Canyon
Warm Creek Bay
West Canyon
Last Chance Bay
Rainbow Bridge National Monument
Dangling Rope Marina
Rock Creek
Hole-InThe-Rock
Escalante River
San Juan River
Halls Creek Bay
Halls Crossing Marina
Bullfrog Marina
Bullfrog Bay
Hite Marina
Colorado River
Utah Highway 276 to Monument Valley
Antelope Point Marina
Lake Powell
Utah Highway 276 to Hanksville
107 S. Lake Powell Blvd., Page, AZ • 928-645-2406
Downtown Page, AZ
Utah Highway 98
26 Gateway to Canyon Country
214 78 401 275 434 201 247 365 203 121 145 92 381 161 119
202 321 283 357 206 169 287 125 137 301 261 520 303 211
321 68 77 268 331 197 64 79 204 78 202 278 203 380 126 196 318 151 74 67 21 303 88 41
559 199 484 111 40 162 278 216 299 408 318 397
447 189 230 464 524 356 186 168 268 275 283 203 559 595 77 407 525 365 272 225 182 413 110 153
149 431 393 221 122 285 427 445 365 434 357 380 199 595 518 89 158 161 232 419 401 380 461 420
376 121 162 388 450 282 119 101 307 201 206 126 484 77 518 330 447 288 191 148 105 336 36 76
118 163 126 269 217 394 284 242
122 238 256 339 368 410 363
214 242 230 133 192 246 239 257 140 203 125 151 162 365 161 288 163 122 61 226 172 435 239 200
285 149 151 204 262 262 174 154 136 121 137 74 278 272 232 191 126 238 61 141 91 376 153 115
291 35 24 340 320 144 32 50 267 145 301 67 216 225 419 148 269 256 226 141
342 101 107 299 352 219 97 115 205 92 261 21 299 182 401 105 217 339 172 91 88
238 250 260 580 304 224 253 250 503 381 520 303 408 413 380 336 394 368 435 376 376 324
341 85 126 383 414 246 88 53 273 161 303 88 318 110 461 36 284 410 239 153 115 67 303
88 236 324 115 67 303 74 62 309 43
ZION N.P., UT
ST. GEORGE, UT
SALT LAKE CITY, UT
PIPE SPRINGS, NM
PANGUITCH, UT
129 301 284 185 81 147 299 317 221 365 287 318 40 525 158 447 118
PAGE, AZ
159 280 278 171 145 196 277 295 176 247 169 196 111 407 89 330
NAVAJO, NM
MESQUITE, NV
MESA VERDE, N.P., CO
LAS VEGAS, NV
LAKE POWELL, HITE MARINA 168 248 223 210 116 123 245 263 252 401 321 278
NATURAL BRIDGES, NM
208 78 204 252 268 365 307 176 221 140 136 267 205 503 273 241
425 298 292 257 439 312 295 313 78 214
MONUMENT VALLEY, UT
322 176 313 79 263 168 445 101 295 317 257 154 50 115 250 53 59
399 161 155 347 409 275 158 176 208
KANAB, UT
419 292 302 181 282 277 304 322
GRAND CANYON S. RIM
288 32 78 365 354 199 21
GRAND CANYON N. RIM
21 304 158 295 64 245 186 427 119 277 299 239 174 32 97 253 88 93
FLAGSTAFF, AZ
CEDAR BREAKS N.P., UT 285 5 56 351 352 178
CEDAR CITY, UT
CAPITOL REEF, N.P., UT
249 62 145 331 350 179 294 327 120 175 551 230 175 551 230 351 352 178 365 354 199 181 282 277 347 409 275 257 439 312 268 331 197 210 116 123 404 524 356 221 122 285 388 450 282 171 145 196 185 81 147 133 192 246 204 262 262 340 320 144 299 352 219 580 304 224 353 414 246 298 372 204
CANYONLANDS, UT
278 270 56 56 331 294 350 327 179 120 5 56 32 78 292 302 161 155 298 292 68 77 248 223 189 230 431 393 121 162 280 278 301 284 242 230 149 151 35 24 101 107 250 260 85 126 90 84
CANYON DE CHELLY, NM
BRIANHEAD, UT
278 270 249 62 145 285 288 419 399 425 321 168 447 149 376 159 129 214 285 291 342 238 341 328
BRYCE CANYON N.P.,UT
ARCHES N.P., MOAB, UT ARCHES N.P., MOAB, UT BRIANHEAD, UT BRYCE CANYON N.P.,UT CANYON DE CHELLY NM CANYONLANDS, UT CAPITOL REEF N.P., UT CEDAR BREAKS N.P., UT CEDAR CITY, UT FLAGSTAFF, AZ GRAND CANYON N. RIM GRAND CANYON S. RIM KANAB, UT LAKE POWELL, HITE MARINA LAS VEGAS, NV MESA VERDE N.P., CO MESQUITE, NV MONUMENT VALLEY, UT NATURAL BRIDGES NM NAVAJO NM PAGE, AZ PANGUITCH, UT PIPE SPRINGS NM SALT LAKE CITY, UT ST. GEORGE, UT ZION N.P., UT
328 90 84 298 372 204 93 59 241 119 211 41 397 153 420 76 242 363 200 115 74 62 309 43
FIESTA MEXICANA FAMILY RESTAURANT
928-645-4082 • 125 S. Lake Powell Blvd., Page, AZ
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 27
89
A
B
e h Av 12t
Ave.
e Butt
Dr.
iew
V Rim
11
.
S t.
ral Ave
.
he d
Vist
Rimv i
Pine
a Av e.
r.
ew D
Hem lock St
d.
Cat t. oS onin a hin Coc Kac
Bure au S t.
d.
a S. L
ke
Po w
Hopi Ave Ct. Veronica
L
K
Vista Ave.
3
Aqu
r. Village D
St.
t. Diane C
F
5
a
Av e .
S. La
ell B e Pow S. Lak K
Cam
ero n St.
Sandpiper Dr.
R d.
Via Valdez
Appaloosa Rd.
Morgan Rd.
e Pow
. ll Blvd Powe Blvkde. eSll. La
Cam eron S
Palomino Rd.
Rd. Coppermine
Maverick Loop
Jerome St.t
Azure Rd.
Cascade St.
Cameron St.
C
Haul Rd.
4
. Osprey Dr
Newburn
Marble Rd.
San Francisco Rd.
Bran Rd.
I
Page Public Library Manson Rd.
Rd.
Cach
e Rd.
Falcon Ct.
Golden Eagle Ct.
Hawk Ct.
Haul Rd.
7
lvd.
C e metery
Elk Rd.
Kaibab Rd.
89
B uckeye Dr.
H a u l Rd. t.
Piute Ct.
Bass Ct.
Packer Ct.
Cliff Ct.
Clydesdale Rd.
Coppermine Rd.
Manson Rd.
lake powell
Bonita Rd. W
Aztec St.
To Antelope Point Marina Navajo Generating Station & Kayenta, AZ
98 To Flagstaff, AZ
Bonita St.
98
printing
Amado St.
5
Azure Rd.
98
C Sunset St.
San Francisco Rd.
Bonita Loop
Amand Cir.
Amado Rd. W
Shetland
Pinto Rd.
O’Neil Loop
Mustang Rd.
To Horseshoe Bend
Cameron St.
Sunset Rd. W
89
Ct. Lakeside
Newburn Rd.
d.
Granada
ke P owe ll Blv
.
ve. Cheryl A
A
3
St.
Ave.
Sage Ave.
e ll
Blv
2nd Ave.
3rd Ave .
Sunrise Antelope
9
1*
spe n
. Colorado St
6
k St.
r. jo D
2
Oa
a S. Nav
E
S. Navajo Dr.
e.
Dat
El Mirage St. S. 9th Av
Del Barrco Ave.
e.
. Ave 5th t. eS
r. jo D
John C. Page Park
C e d a r S t.
Sage Ave.
Crestview
Tower Butte Ave. Cll Hermosa
e.
Av 7th
. lvd
e. th Av S. 9
Av 8th
B ell
El
.
Pondersoa St.
Redrock St.
Willow St.
Vermilion Ave.
t. mS
S t.
Birch St .
Tamarisk St.
Tower Butte Ave.
Pow
E lm
Spruce
Re
esa Ave. dM
e Lak
va
r St
Fi
ve. tA
S.
Na
Dat eS t.
Cypress Ave.
Driftwood
S.
. Ave
4th Ave.
Gum St.
1s
Gunsight St.
Turquoise Ave.
6th
N. Navajo Dr.
United States Post Office
Glen Canyon Dr.
S c enic View
Dr.
Ave .
Gramdview St.
S. 7t h
89
ATM
on Glen Cany
Aero Ave.
10th St.
Juniper Ave.
Thunderbird Ave.
Park Golf Course
Pop lar S t.
8
Dr. Eagle
School
Golliard Park
N. 10th Ave.
Grandview St.
Church
0 th A ve.
Castle Rock St.
Lake Powell National Golf
N. 1
t St. Gunsigh
Fire Station
A
Page Municipal Airport
te Dr.
R
. Ave
n scala re E Pad
Police Station
th
Plateau Ct.
Ct.
w St.
Clubhouse Dr.
Glen Canyon Dam Overlook
Urgent Care
Ct.
y Valle
Knoll
Ave.
N Lake Powell Blvd.
Page Hospital
D Westview r.
B.
e Grandvi
13th
Lake Access
t. 13th C
. 15th Ave ve . 14th A
Marinas
. 14th Av e
Dr.
1 6th Ave.
Ave
.
Mesa
Dr.
89
Scenic Overlooks
2
4
17th Ave.
W. View Dr.
Pu e blo
Visitors’ Centers
. iew St
18th Ave.
20th
Grandv
19th Ave.
jo Dr. N. Nava
Must See
1
D
N. Navajo Dr.
To Glen Canyon Dam Wahweap Marina & Kanab, UT
KEY
C . 20th Ave
scottb@scottsprinting.com |Reproduction |Reproduction of the whole or any part of this publication, by any method for any purpose whatever, without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.
street index Aero Ave. C, D-2 Birch St. B,C-3 Amado St. C-4 Bonita Lp. C-4 Amado Rd. W. C-4 Bonita Rd. W. C-4 Armand Cir. C-4 Bonita St. C-4 Antelope Ave. D-3 Buckeye Dr. D-4 Appaloosa Rd. B-5 Bureau St. C-2 Aqua Ave. D-3 Butte Ct. C-1 Aspen St. C-3 Cll. Hermosa D-2 Aztec St. C-4 Cache Rd. B-4 Azure Rd. B-4 Cameron St. B-3, D-3,4 Bran Rd. B-4 Cascade St. C-4
Cathedral Ave. C-2 Cedar St. B,C-3 Cemetery Rd. B-3,4 Cheryl Ave. D-3 Cliff Ct. B-3 Clubhouse Dr. B-1,2 Clydesale Rd. B-4 Coconino St. C-2 Colorado St. D-2 Coppermine Rd. (89T) C-3,D-3,4,5
28 Gateway to Canyon Country
Cypress Ave. D-2 Date St. B-2,3,C-3 Del Barrco Ave. D-2 Diane Ct. D-3 Driftwood Ave. D-2 Eagle Dr. B,C-2 Elk Rd. B-3,4 Elm St. B,C-2 El Mirage St. D-2 Falcon Ct. B-4 Fir St. C-2
Granada Rd. Grandview St.
C-4 C-1,2 ,D-2 Golden Eagle Ct. B-3,4 Gum St. B,C-2 Gunsight St. C-1, D-1,2 Haul Rd. A,B,C,D-4 Hawk Ct. B-4 Hemlock St. C-2 Hopi Ave. D-3 Jerome St. C-4
Kachina St. C-2 Kaibab Rd. B-3,4 Knoll Ave. C-1 Lake Powell Blvd. A-3,B-1,3,C-1,2,3, D-3 Lakeside Ct. D-3 Manson Rd. B,C-3 Marble Rd. C-3 Maverick Lp. C-4 Mesa Dr. C-1 Morgan Rd. B-4,5
Navajo Dr.
B,C-1,2,3, D-2 Newburn Rd. C-3,4 Oak St. D-3 O’Neil Lp. B-4 Osprey Dr. D-3 Packer Ct. C-3 Padre Escalante Dr. C-1,2 Palomino Rd. B-4 Pine St. C-2
Piute Ct. Plateau Ct. Ponderosa St. Poplar St. Pueblo Dr. Red Mesa Ave. Redrock St. Rim View Dr. Rimview Dr. Sage Ave. Sandpiper Dr.
C-3 C,D-1 D-2 C-2 C-1 C-2 D-2 C-1 C-2 D-2,3 D-3,4
Scenic View Rd. B-1,2 Shetland B-5 Spruce D-2 Sunrise St. D-3 Sunset St. B-4 Sunset Rd. W. B-3,4 Tamerisk St. D-2 Thunderbird Ave. C,D-2 Tower Butte Ave. D-2 Turquoise Ave. C-2 Valley Ct. C-1
Vermilion Ave. Veronica Ct. Via Valdez W. View Dr. Village Dr. Vista Ave. Westview Dr. Willow St. 1st Ave. 2nd Ave. 3rd Ave. 4th Ave.
D-2 D-3 C-4 C-1 D-3 C-1,2 C-1 D-2 B-2,3 B-3 B,C-3 C-2,3
5th Ave. 6th Ave. 7th Ave. 8th Ave. 9th Ave. N. 10th Ave. 10th St. 11th Ave. 12th Ave. 13th Ave. 13th Ct. 14th Ave.
C-2,3 C-2,3 C-2 C,D-2 C,D-2,3 C-1,2 D-1,2 C,D-1 C-1 C-1 C-1 C-1
15th Ave. 16th Ave. 17th Ave. 18th Ave. 19th Ave. 20th Ave.
C-1 C-1 C-1 C-1 C-1 C,D-1
30 Gateway to Canyon Country
Not Uncharted. Just Unspoiled. Red Canyon, or as the locals call it Peek-A-Boo. Located just 10 minutes from Kanab, Peek-A-Boo is quieter, lesser travelled and just as spectacular as nearby Antelope Canyon. Whether you go it alone or with a guide, it’s easier than ever to make plans to see what so few others see. For more information on lodging and dining in Kanab, go to VisitSouthernUtah.com
DISTANCE from Kanab
Peek-A-Boo Canyon
8 miles 13 km)
DISTANCE from Kanab
Salt lake city Airport
317 miles (510 km)
coral pink sand dunes
23 miles (37 km)
las vegas airport
209 miles (336 kM)
Zion National Park
40 Miles (64 KM]
phoenix airport
350 miles (563 kM)
Lake Powell/glen canyon rec area
73 miles (117 km)
Bryce canyon nATIONAL PARK
77 miles (124 kM)
grand canyon north rim
78 miles (126 kM)
GET IN THE SADDLE BIKING AND RIDING IN SOUTHERN UTAH story and photos by Laurel ANDERSON/special to the gateway
The history of southern Utah is tied to the saddle. Early Vaqueros and the first pioneersettlers; the development of this region would not have been possible without the sporty mounts those early explorers relied on. Horse, mule, and donkey — they changed the face of the West and still do. Even today, if you really want to experience the bestof-the-west you need to do it in the saddle. Meaning — either on horseback or in the saddle of your bike. Both horseback riding and biking are increasingly popular in southern Utah. Anyone at all familiar with the “authentic western legends town” of Kanab knows that every single parade (and there are lots of
them here) have horsemen prancing down Center Street and strutting their stuff. It’s an inevitable part of the “reel” and “real” cowboy movie history here, dating back to when Kanab was known as The Little Hollywood of the West.” The style here means knowing how to ride a horse, or at least wanting to. For those of you who have never wrapped your legs around a saddle or those who feel born to ride there are many opportunities for doing it here. At the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, you can take a safe ride down to the Colorado River on a sure-footed mule, following an expert Wrangler who will fill your head with plenty of great stories. At Bryce Canyon, there are also
Mike Henrie of Kanab Western Adventures offers rides and lessons for all levels of riders.
Natural History Museum Inside A Sandstone Cave Fluorescent Mineral Display Native American Artifacts Dinosaur Tracks Fossils Pre-Columbian Artifacts Unique Gifts And Rock Shop
HOURS Monday - Saturday Summer Season 9:00 - 7:00 Off Season 10:00 - 4:00
THE COOLEST STOP ON HWY 89 - NEVER OVER 70˚ DEGREES ON THE HOTTEST DAYS.
Come celebrate our 63nd year of business Your visit to MOQUI CAVE will be educational and long remembered.
5 1/2 miles north of Kanab, Utah, Hwy 89 Phone (435) 644-8525 Leave Message
32 Gateway to Canyon Country
BUS TOURS WELCOME!
Copper Cloud Ranch Expands into Utah By Laurel ANDERSON
Mountain biking is growing in popularity across Southern Utah. horse/mule trips traipsing down through the fantastic hoodoos to the bottom of the great chasm. For more experienced riders, Mike Henrie of Kanab Western Adventures offers special classes in natural horsemanship as well as clinics. A long-time western horseman, Mike took his deep affinity for horses in a new direction and now teaches a form of western horsemanship that respects the horse and encourages a bond between horse and rider. For more advanced riders, bridle-less riding lessons are a possibility. Individual and group classes can be booked through-out
the year. For a schedule of clinics, check his website at www. kanabwesternadventures. com. Biking is finally taking off here in southern Utah. Two years ago the IMAB, International Mountain Biking Association, visited Kanab and went wild over the possibilities for developing a “responsibly developed” network of biking trails. Since then, a newly formed Kanab Cycling Club has been working on the approved network trail system with a passion. The number of exciting trails, all within an hour of Kanab, has grown and keeps growing. The local trails
Ever fantasize about learning to neck rein like a genuine cowboy, or even better — learn roping? Want to polish off your existing skills in western pleasure or simply spend days riding in a spectacular backcountry wilderness? Outside Kanab and close to Big Water off Route 89 is the newly expanded Copper Cloud Ranch. This horse haven alongside the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument offers about every horseback experience you could dream of. Amy and Dale own and manage the place. Between them, they will see you seated on a horse for the first time and make sure it is the adventure of a lifetime. Or, if you are already familiar with a horse and saddle, let them know and they will create a customized experience that may include anything from a lesson and short ride to a full training clinic with full-day or even multi-day adventures out into the glorious Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. One-hour rides are available or you can go out longer (highly advised) and have lunch on the trail, probably cowboy chili or a tasty BBQ chicken sandwich. For beginners, and even
the advanced, Dale makes sure you are with just the right horse for your level of experience and personality. Beautiful little Cinderella is a highly-trained cutting horse who just plain loves young kids. Big, black Zorro is as handsome as he is sweet. They are just some of the 30 horses in their well-trained, lovingly cared for herd. If you want to take the western experience further, sign up for roping. Learn the mechanics of swinging a rope, dummies pulled by ATVs will give you a run for your money and lots of fun. If you prefer sophisticated training, Amy will take you in hand and finesse your style in either western pleasure or dressage. Classy rustic cabins and a family bunkhouse, as well as the Hutch, provide lodging for those who want to stay. Limited, but very private, tent and RV spaces in the orchard are also available; guests are encouraged to bring their own horses if they have them and boarding is available. As the sun sets behind the red buttes, a traditional cowboy style dinner is served. Prepare to quiet down, listen to coyotes in the distance and look forward to another day of serious riding, hiking, ATV riding or whatever else your heart desires.
Join us for the #1 Ranked 4x4 Trip Advisor U-Drive Guided Side-by-Side Tour
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 33
are rated according to skill level using color-coding, and biking trail maps are available at the Kanab Visitor Center in the middle of town (78 South 100 East.) Very close to town, the Red Canyon and Road Runner trails are fun. Gooseberry Mesa is a classic for mountain bikers. In the Smithsonian Butte area, Gooseberry Mesa is a fabulous classic as is the Grafton Mesa downhill. The Rainbow Rim along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is a Must-Do that should be in every serious biker wish list. This 40-mile trail can be done in four hours by an experienced biker but if you wish to extend the journey pack up and camp out on one of the splendid overlooks like Jump-Up — no facilities, pack it in and pack it out. The Thunder Mountain Trail near Bryce Canyon is another adventure, as is the Virgin River Rim Trail.
While the terrain favors mountain biking, there are an increasing number of road biking possibilities. Not promising smooth sailing, the Johnson Canyon – Skutumpah/Cottonwood roads are beautiful and will promise some exciting terrain. Fat tire biking in the Coral Pink Sand Dunes is a special thrill you won’t believe until you have done it. Nearby Duck Creek Village, the alpine get-away in southern Utah, also has great biking. Choose-It and Do-It! The Kanab Cycling Club has a monthly ride open to everyone, and numerous special events that will make you feel at home in our local cycling community. For information, go to https://www.facebook.com/ kanabcycling/. Above four-legs and a tail or above two tires — or even on your own two-legs — this is a land that demands exploration.
Whether horseback riding at sunset or riding a fattired bike downhill, Southern Utah is the place to be.
We Book Tours for Most Local Companies
See Page & Lake Powell Today! • Individual/Families/Tour Groups • Same Rates as Local Guides • Tips & Ideas to Tour Area • Hike/Boat/Kayak/Whitewater Rafting Helicopter Rides/Swim/Fishing/Dining/Hotels
www.PageChamber.com
928.645.2741 5 Lake Powell Blvd., Unit 3
M-F 9-5
34 Gateway to Canyon Country
The South Ranch Rodeo is part of the annual Jacob Hamblin Festival June 17-18 in Kanab.
Mt. Carmel Junction, Utah Junction of Scenic Byways US 89 & SR 9 Hours: 7 am - 11 pm Zion Nation Park - 12 miles Bryce Canyon - 60 miles Grand Canyon - 85 miles
Restaurant (435) 648-2262 Golf Course (435) 648-2188 Gift Shop (435) 648-2203 (ext. 5)
www.ZionNational-Park.com
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 35
SIMPLY AMAZING Earthfest lives up to its name story by Laurel Anderson/special to the gateway
Amazing Earthfest continues to live up to its name — Amazing! Year after fascinating and fun, fantastic (amazing) year, this diverse family-style festival celebrating the land of the Colorado Plateau continues to provide a wealth of great and informative events about the Colorado Plateau. Active outdoor adventures led by regional experts, cultural and social events — this is the best assortment of events tucked into one special week anywhere in our rugged southwest. Like to hike, bike, learn about the stars, archeology or even petroglyphs? From May 14 through 20, in Kanab, Utah, over 35 amazing events will excite and inform anyone interested in this remarkable part of the world including our nation’s greatest national parks, national monuments, state parks and exceptional public lands. 2017 will be an extra-special year celebrating THE DARK SKIES OF THE COLORADO PLATEAU. Did you know that nearly 90 percent of the world can no longer see the Milky Way constellation in the sky above? Southern Utah is one of the very special global pockets where you can still see the constellations of our increasingly diffused night sky.
On the opening day, May 14, local photographer David Swindler will host a special presentation on photographing the dark night skies following a special invocation ceremony preceding the Earthfest. Bryce Canyon National Park, later in the week, will present a solar astronomy event and Bettymaya Foot from the Colorado Plateau Dark Sky Cooperative will be presenting as well. All this is included as well as the other signature Amazing Earthfest events — activities including arts and culture, documentary films and exceptional outdoor adventures. Imagine hiking/ biking or horseback riding behind an expert with a wealth of information you would never, ever find outside this week of the Earthfest. Archeology? A truly off the beaten path hike to a site with geologic or paleontologic features seldom seen? The menu of activities, lectures and films is always ambitious and exciting. The amazing thing (sorry for repeating that ‘amazing’ word) is that it really is an exceptional opportunity to explore the Colorado Plateau and rugged wilderness of southern Utah with the best of the best regional experts and connoisseurs of this country.
Viewing and photographing night skies will be one of the presentations at Amazing Earthfest.
There are places you would not usually find, insights and expertise that you’d never discover without the guidance of the experts who step up and lend their talents to the Amazing Earthfest. Think of the Amazing Earthfest as a very special treasure hunt held for just a few precious days beginning on Mother’s Day in May. Come, reach in and discover a
BIG WATER BOAT STORAGE & RENTAL
Beach Break Boardshop We’ve got you covered for all your lake needs. • Flip Flops • Sunglasses • Skateboards • Swimwear
Paddle Board Rentals!
644 N. Navajo, Page, AZ • 928-645-8050
36 Gateway to Canyon Country
precious time here when you can spend days on unusual outdoor adventures and come back here to Kanab and view a documentary film or enjoy a musical performance after. It’s a bundle of activities that will definitely be rewarding. For more information go to www.amazingearthfest.com. For accommodations and other information go to www. visitsouthernutah.com.
Lake Powell’s largest indoor facility • Serving Wahweap Marina
Launch & Retrieve • Cleaning & Maintenance
Marine Rentals Pontoon Boats Fish & Ski Boats Water Toys • Tubes Wake Boards • Skis
www.lake-powell-boats.com We can accommodate any size boat, yacht or houseboat • Complete Services
(435) 675-5863• Mile Marker 6, Hwy 89, Big Water, Utah
Heading North ADVENTURE AWAITS WHEN TRAVELING TO GRAND CANYON story and Photos by david rupkalvis/staff
The Grand Canyon was the draw, as it is for millions of people every year, but the adventure was far greater than we expected. Last year, my family and I decided to take a day and visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We had been to the South Rim and were blown away by the scenery that brings in tourists every day of the year. But in Page, the locals often talk about visiting the North Rim. So we decided to give it a try. I’ll be honest, when I take a trip — any trip — my goal is usually to load up and get there as fast as possible. The fewer the stops, the better. But for some reason on this Saturday, I decided to
do it different. Having never been to the North Rim before, I decided we would stop any time something looked interesting. And boy I’m glad I did. Let me be clear, the North Rim was exactly what I expected. It was breathtaking, a little frightening and a closeup look at one of the world’s most amazing creations. But for my family, the adventure was everything else. Traveling from Page to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon takes you through some amazing places. If you’re making the trip, take some time and stop often. When you get to Marble Falls, about an hour into the trip, stop and walk over the Colorado River. Yes, you can
A walk through the forest was one of the highlights of a trip to the Grand Canyon.
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 37
see it in Page, but any time you can walk over a bridge and look down at the river is a great time. So make the stop, spend a few minutes and check out the water that created some of most amazing scenery in the world. A few miles down the road from Marble Falls, I began seeing signs for Cliff Dwellers. I had never heard of it, but it seemed interesting, so we stopped again. Hidden in the sandstone of the Vermilion Cliffs are dwellings built hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Made of wood and sandstone, the dwellings give an idea of what things were like for early settlers and Native Americans trying to survive long before
things like air conditioning and refrigerators Celebrate arrived. a decade of It wasn’tlearning, an easy lifeadventure by our outdoor standards, and the dwellings and memorable experiences do give you anshared idea of whatin while exploring values life was like many years ago. conservation and land ethics at As you keep heading to Amazing Earthfest. the mountains, one of my favorite sights was seeing the landscape turn from sandstone to mountains. It may not sound like much, but it is a clear line where the sandstone ends and you begin to climb into the mountains. Those of us who live in the desert every day, enjoy any day in the mountains. Big trees, cooler temps and wildlife are not an every-day sight here. So climbing into the Kaibab National Forest is a treat.
Eating lunch and exploring a meadow was another fun stop during a trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
602-299-0171
Navajoguidedtours.com • Navajoguidedtrails@gmail.com
38 Gateway to Canyon Country
We made our next stop at Jacob’s Lake, getting cookies — do it, it’s worth it — and enjoying the sights we rarely see. But that was still just the beginning. Another half hour up the road, we ran into a series of meadows — rolling grass, flowers and a great place for a picnic. We ate lunch at a meadow and watched the kids run in the grass, climb rocks, pick flowers, things they can’t do at home. After spending some time at the canyon itself, we headed back, but decided to stop once more to spend some time in the Kaibab National Forest. And boy am I glad we did. Following a horse
trail deep into the woods, it was a different world. Everything was green, beautiful, cool, fun. For my children, they saw things they had never seen before. Colorful mushrooms, trees covered in moss. Words can’t describe the sights, the smell of pine trees everywhere, the white of aspens, the sounds of birds and wildlife, the quiet peacefulness. It was awe inspiring and very hard to leave. In fact, the next weekend we went back just to explore the forest some more. If you have a free day, visit the North Rim, but take the time to experience it all. The experience is the real adventure.
Deep inside the Kaibab National Forest.
FLYING M RESTAURANT
615 N. MAIN
PANGUITCH
UTAH
435-676-8008 www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 39
Photographers
Hikers & Sightseers (No Tripods Allowed)
1. Upper Antelope Canyon-2 hr 10:30am $130.00 (No kids, no tag-a-longs)
9. Upper Antelope Canyon - 1.5 hr 8:30am, 2:30pm, 4:00pm, & 5:00pm $50.00 (13 yrs & older) $30.00 (8 yrs - 12 yrs) $20.00 (7 yrs & younger)
2. 2 Canyon Tour: Upper Antelope + Rattlesnake Canyon - 3.5 Hr. 9:00 am $170.00 (No kids, no tag-a-longs)
10. Prime time in Upper Antelope - 1.5 hr 10:30am, 12:30pm $60.00 (13 yrs & older) $40.00 (8 yrs - 12 yrs) $20.00 (7 yrs & younger)
3. 3 Canyon Tour: Upper Antelope +Rattlesnake + Owl Canyon - 5 Hr. 7:30 am $210.00 (No kids, no tag-a-longs) 4. 4 Canyon Tour: Upper Antelope +Rattlesnake+Owl+ Mountain Sheep - 8 Hr. 7:30 am $250.00 (No kids, no tag-a-longs) 5. Night tour Upper Antelope Canyon Departure 2 Hr after sunset $208.00 (No kids, no tag-a-longs)
Photographers with Friends & Family 6. Upper Antelope Canyon - 2 hr - 2:30pm $90.00 (13 years & older) $50.00 (8 yrs-12 yrs) $30.00 (7 yrs & younger) 7. Upper Antelope + Rattlesnake - 3.5hr 2:30 pm $130.00 (13 yrs & older) $60.00 (8 yrs - 12 yrs) $40.00 (7 yrs & younger) 8. Upper Antelope + Rattlesnake + Owl Canyon - 2:30 pm $150.00 (13 yrs & older $70.00 (8 yrs - 12yrs) $50.00 (7 yrs & younger)
Adventurous Antelope Canyon Photo Tours is
a Navajo owned and operated company. Carol Bigthumb is the owner and a daughter of Pearl Begay. Her family has lived in this area for many generations and will for many more to come. They are proud to call these slot canyons their backyard.
11. 2 Canyon tour: Upper Antelope + Rattlesnake Canyon - 2.5 hr 9:30am, 1:30pm $110.00 (13 yrs & older) $60.00 (8 yrs - 12 yrs) $40.00 (7 yrs & younger) 12. 3 Canyon tour: Upper Antelope + Rattlesnake + Owl Canyon - 3.5 Hr. 8:30 am, 1:30 pm $130.00 (13 yrs & older) $70.00 (8 yrs - 12 yrs) $50.00 (7 yrs & younger) 13. 4 Canyon tour: Upper Antelope + Rattlesnake + Owl + Mountain sheep - 5.5 Hr. 8:30 am only $190.00 (13 yrs & older) $80.00 (8 yrs - 12 yrs) $60.00 (7 yrs & younger) 14. Rattlesnake + Owl + Mountain sheep 5.5 Hr. 8:30 am, 2:30 pm $170.00 (13 yrs & older) $70.00 (8 yrs - 12 yrs) $50.00 (7 yrs & younger)
Booking & Reservations www.navajoantelopecanyon.com
928-380-1874
40 Gateway to Canyon Country
928-645-4082
Experience the authentic atmosphere of Mexico and enjoy the best Margarita’s in town.
KAYENTA, ARIZONA The Gateway to Monument Valley and so much more!
Kayenta offers a cultural experience like no other. located in northeastern Arizona on the Navajo Nation, Kayenta is the fastest growing community on the Navajo Nation. Today, Kayenta is world renown as the “Gateway to Monument Valley.” The Kayenta community is a host to travelers from all over the world who recognize the town as a place that offers quick access to all of the majestic tourist attractions from sunrise to sunset. tourism attractions are all within a one or two hour drive. Kayenta is surrounded by the Four Corners Monument to the east, Canyon de Chelly to the south, Lake Powell, Navajo National Monument, and Grand Canyon to the west and Monument Valley and Canyon Lands to the north. As a central location with welcoming small town hospitality, Kayenta offers many friendly places to eat, sleep, and visit during your stay. For more information please visit us online! www.facebook.com/kayenta.township.5 www.kayentatownship-nsn.gov
July 2, 3 & 4, 2017 Kayenta 4th OF JULY RODEO The annual Kayenta 4th of July Rodeo is the premier event to attend. Today, Kayenta is known as the “Bull Riding Capital of the World” for Indian Professional Rodeo.
June 30 & July 1, 2017 Kayenta 4th OF JULY Pow Wow this annual event draws 100’s of Native American Pow Wow dancers from many different tribes across North America for a spectacular two day event not to be missed!
July 1, 2017 Kayenta 4th OF JULY Song & Dance The annual Kayenta 4th of July Song & Dance is a social event that features traditional Navajo songs where navajo dress in the best traditional attire and compete in a round dance.
June 24, 2017 Kayenta Field Day Kayenta Field Day is a free community event that began back in the early 1930’s and continues to present day offering various field games, music, food & more! best of all, the event is still free and open to all to attend!
US
163
Kayenta Flea Market Vendor Village
US
160
The Kayenta Flea Market is one of the best and largest on the Navajo Nation. It is held at the Kayenta vendor Village every Wednesday 8am to 6pm year round and offers a variety of Authentic handmade Navajo items directly from the artists such as rugs, baskets, jewelry and much more. Treat yourself to traditional Navajo cuisine from one of the many food vendors. Also, Enjoy Free Pow Wow shows May 10 & 24, June 7 & 21, July 5 & 19 2017. Located just south of the junction of US highways 160 & 163.
BIRDS-EYE VIEW View from atop Tower Butte breathtaking story AND PHOTOS by STEVEN LAW/STAFF
Gateway country abounds in some of the world’s most spectacular scenic vistas, and the view from atop Tower Butte is even more superfluous than most. I’d place it in the top 1 percent of the top 1 percent of the world’s great vistas. Tower Butte is one of the most iconic landmarks in the vast deserts that surround Page. Just a few miles east of Page, it can be seen rising a thousand feet out of the stark Navajo Sandstone. Its sheer walls have never been climbed. There’s only one way to get to the top of it: Grand Canyon Helicopters. Myself and five other passengers climb aboard the comfortable EC-130 helicopter for our tour. The EC-130 was specifically built for touring.
The top of Tower Butte is about the same size as two football fields. Visitors have about 20 minutes to explore it and take in the amazing 360-degree views it offers.
MARBLE CANYON LODGE
OPEN YEAR ROUND
At the End of Your Day ...
www.marblecanyoncompany.com
Located on the Colorado River Established 1926
125 Miles North of Flagstaff On The Colorado River at Lees Ferry
Fishing • Hiking History GROUP FACILITIES & RATES
Motel • Restaurant Fishing Supplies • Landing Strip Boat Storage • Trading Post Indian Jewelry & Rugs Gas Station • Convenience Store Coin-op Laundry • U.S. Post Office
• Deluxe guest rooms with fridges, • Convenient location coffee pots, irons & ironing boards • Free wireless internet • Boat parking/AC power • Breakfast • Guest laundry
LAKE POWELL
1-800-726-1789 1-928-355-2225 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6001, Marble Canyon, AZ 86036 Call or Write
(928) 645-2800 www.daysinn.net Property Direct (877) 525-3769 Toll Free
Lake Powell Days Inn & Suites 961 Hwy 89, Box 3910, Page, AZ 86040
Nationwide Reservations 1 (800) DAYSINN
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 45
It has more windows to offer it’s passengers a fuller view of the area through which they are passing, and its sides are a little wider to allow photographers aboard a fuller range of motion. The EC-130 also includes noise-cancelling Bose headsets, which block the noise from the helicopter’s engine and rotors and allows the guests and captain to communicate with each other freely. After our pilot Matt has gone through his pre-flight checklist, he lifts us off the ground and taxis down the runway. Not far beyond the runway, the ground drops away at the end of the mesa. Since we’re in a helicopter, I assume our pilot will begin lifting us over the terrain, but there I am mistaken. Instead, when we reach the edge of the mesa, he dives off it like a skateboarder dropping into a halfpipe, which awaken the butterflies in my stomach.
Great Wall of China Chinese Buffet
Looking east off Tower Butte. Tower Butte is located on the Navajo Reservation and offers unparalled views of its stark beauty.
Open Monday through Sunday 11 am - 10 pm Daily Lunch Buffet 11 am - 3:30 Daily Dinner Buffet 3:30 - 10 pm
Full Menu & All You Can Eat Buffet ALL DAY LONG!
Inside Rodeway Inn at 107 S. Lake Powell Blvd., Page, Arizona 928-645-0094 46 Gateway to Canyon Country
A favorite stop for clients of Kanab Western Adventures is a set of dinosaur tracks embedded in Jurassic mud approximately 145 milliion years ago.
When we encounter the Colorado River, we bank right and follow its beautiful blue curves for several miles upriver only a few hundred feet off the deck. It’s a very exhilarating ride! Our pilot follows the river until Tower Butte is at our two o’clock, at which point he veers away from the river toward the butte. When he reaches it, he climbs to its top while doing a full circle around it, a kind a corkscrew maneuver, then let’s us down gently on top of it. The passengers are given about 20 minutes on top of the butte. The top of the butte has roughly the same footage as two football fields. And the views, as you’d expect, are simply spectacular! Especially Lake Powell, which lies just north of
us, it’s blue bays gleaming in the afternoon sun. My only complaint from the trip — and it’s a very slight one — is that the 20 minutes spent atop Tower Butte passed too quickly. My time there was so peaceful and tranquil. It’s absolutely quiet, except for the occasional sound of the wind coursing over the edge. I would have liked to have spent a few days there just bathing in that rare silence and solitude. After we’ve taken our vista shots and selfies, we reboard the helicopter and buckle back in. This time, had I known what was coming, I would have buckled in my butterflies as well. When our captain again brings us airborne he hovers us just a few meters off Tower Butte’s surface and
sidles us toward the edge, not forward but leading with the helicopter’s portside. I’m on the helicopter’s portside, and I watch the edge of the cliff approaching. There’s a brief moment where we hover beyond the edge and kind of pause — just like Wile E. Coyote does before he realizes he’s traveled past the edge — and then our pilot performs — and quite beautifully — a downward portside pitch while simultaneously tailwhipping the craft around back to a forward-facing position. From there our pilot gives us an exhilarating ride to Horseshoe Bend, hugging every contour along the way. When we arrive at Horseshoe Bend, our pilot performs several loops around it to give the photographers on both sides of the craft an
optimal angle. The tour lasts about an hour. My helicopter trip to the top of Tower Butte and the scenic flight over Horseshoe Bend and the southern part of Lake Powell was a perfect combination of adrenaline and tranquility. Grand Canyon helicopters offers three different scenic tour packages in the Lake Powell area. Trips leave from the Page Municipal Airport. • The Tower Butte Landing with scenic flyover of Horseshoe Bend: $299 per adult, $279 for children. • Landing on Tower Butte only: $249 per adult. $229 for children. • Scenic flight to Horseshoe Bend and Glen Canyon Dam: $159 per adult, $139 for children.
The EC-130 juxtaposed against Navajo Mountain. www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 47
SKYLITE BOAT RENTALS
RENTALS • STORAGE • SERVICE
100 N. Ethan Allen, Big Water, Utah • 435.675.3795 • 1.800.355.3795 • skyliterentals@gmail.com
Enjoy your Lake Powell experience with
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BOAT RENTALS
Our boat rental and gas prices help you enjoy your Lake Powell vacation even more. You can launch our boats at Wahweap Marina, Stateline or Antelope Marina, but you won’t have to fill up at the higher-priced stations. We provide affordable power boats, open bow and cabin cruiser boats, jet skis, water skis, and wakeboards.
WATER TOYS
From $20/Day Rent any of our boats for 7 days and your water toy is free (subject to availability)! All water toy rentals include rope, safety flag and ski vests for hours of water fun. The teens in your group may want to give our wakeboards, kneeboards, and wakeskate a try. And everyone should try skiing. All ski rentals include two skis, one can be used as a slalom. Make a reservation: https://skyliteboatrentals.com/ reservations.php Offering Inside Boat Storage and all marine service needs.
THE BEST WAY TO SEE LAKE POWELL
AND GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
Under new Ownership
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48 Gateway to Canyon Country
LOCATED AT MILE MARKER 85 IN ORDERVILLE, UTAH
Bob & Diane Lane, owners of the “Orderville Mine Rock Shop,” have been in business for 21 years. They have the largest selection and variety of rocks & gems in Southern Utah. Their museum collection includes:
Jewelry • Rough Rock • Beads • Mineral Specimens • Meteorites Crystals • Fossils • Petrified Wood and more including decorator items... Mention this ad for a free Geode!
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50 Gateway to Canyon Country
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 51