Thursday, April 3, 2014

Page 6- Glen canyon dam tour, upper Antelope canyon and Horseshoe Bend

Our Lower Antelope canyon kayak ended with rough waters so it was no surprise that the conditions were too windy to kayak today.  We were prepared to kayak the slot canyons near Lone Rock but it just wasn't in the cards.  


Instead we headed over to Glen canyon dam, paying 5$ for a tour and a history lesson.   

This is one of eight original turbine runners which created electricity until 2007 when they were replaced for more efficient ones.  Turbine runners supply 5 billion kilowatt hours of power a year and serve 5.8 million customers in seven states. 

It took over 400,000 24 ton buckets and three years to complete the dam. 



There are about two acres of grass acting as a cooler to reduce temperatures in the powerhouse located directly below.    

Approximately 2,600 gallons of water per minute seep through the porous sandstone walls of Glen canyon.  


The bridge next to the dam has camera holes in the fence, for nice pictures of camera holes in the fence such as this one. 

We then signed up for the Upper Antelope canyon tour. 
Upper Antelope canyon is part of Navajo Nation Parks and Rec, and a tour guide through the canyon is required.
The ride in the back of the truck is rough at times but definitely added to the experience.  


Our tour guide, Henry, was full of interesting facts.  For example, Native Americans cannot eat snake or they will die (sometimes not until years later), and if they eat frog legs their legs will turn into frogs.  White people on the other hand can eat anything, even people.  
Even people.  




A bear.

I cannot imagine that there is a more touristy slot canyon than this one.  It felt like I was in line for a ride at Disneyland, but it is just 15 minutes of walking in the canyon and totally worth the money and time.  







Henry told me that this was a million dollar photo that he took for me.  I told him that he should give me a million dollars or I was going to eat him.  


On the way home we hiked to Horseshoe Bend which is about 5 miles downstream from Glen canyon dam.



We have had the ultimate Page experience.  

1 comment:

  1. Please tell me you are going to enlarge these photos and decorate your home with them. 'Breathtaking' is the only word I can find to describe them and even that seems inadequate.

    This quote, by Lawrence K. Fish, is so YOU.
    "Find life experiences and swallow them whole. travel. meet many people. go down some dead ends and explore dark alleys. try everything. exhaust yourself in the glorious pursuit of life".

    ReplyDelete

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