We spent part of the afternoon in Page bowling and playing billiards at a local hangout. The kids needed a distraction from all the sightseeing, and a good time was had by all. Later, we made the short drive and hike to Horseshoe Bend, where we were just in time to catch the sunset.
Our tour takes us inside the dam and down to its base where we tour the power generation station. Pictured here are 7 of the 8 generators which produce a maximum of 1,296,000 kilowatts. The concrete arch dam is 710 feet high and contains 4,901,000 cubic yards of concrete. It is 25 feet wide at the crest and 300 feet wide at the maximum base.
Lake Powell on which we will spend the day tomorrow was formed by the Glen Canyon Dam. Despite a lack of general enthusiasm for the idea everyone really enjoyed the tour we took of the dam. This turbine was removed from service two weeks ago and is now on permanent display atop the dam.
I got up early for a sunrise view of Monument Valley before we head to Page, AZ.
The drive to Monument Valley takes several hours and we do not arrive until early evening. Jeanine and the kids are satisfied with the views as we approach the park from a distance. After dropping them off at the Goulding’s Outpost, I venture into the park to catch the final rays of light and a compelling sky.
Before departing for Monument Valley we made one last stop to enjoy Tower House. Although visitation is not permitted their is a nice lookout from which to view this iconic dwelling.
Throughout our trip, Jeanine has been doing a lot of macro photography of flowers. While on our hike she captures this simply exquisite photograph of an exotic bee of some sort.
Here is Balcony House as viewed from the other side of the canyon on which it is located. Jeanine and I took a short hike where we enjoyed great vistas of the cliff dwelling and their surroundings.
Egress from Balcony House is through a small and narrow tunnel which require you to crawl on hands and knees to reach the exit.
The circular pits are called kivas which were used for religious ceremonies. They wood have been covered by roofs which were flush to the ground so that surface area could be utilized. Each kiva was constructed with a dedicated air intake to ensure that smoke from the fires within would vent properly out a hole in the middle of the roof. Religious ceremonies were held in the round and were never apapted to the rectangular structures used as living quarters.
Our second guided tour is of Balcony House, which requires quite a bit more climbing to reach, including this 32-foot ladder, only a portion of which is pictured here.
Visiting the dwellings made it very easy to understand what life here must have been like and one can only marvel at the architecture and ingenity of the people who created these dwellings.
This wider angle view of Cliff Palace reveals the magnitude of this dwelling which has 150 individual rooms and 23 kivas. It is still not known what motivated the Anasazi to build their homes in the cliffs and to subsequently abandon them for the plains. Access to the Cliff House is only allowed during a ranger led tour and we were fortunate to have a very entertaining and well informed guide.
Today finds us in Colorado at Mesa Verde National Park for an entirely different experience which features man made beauty rather than natural wonders. Here the ancestral Puebloans built a series of cliff dwellings to accommodate entire villages. It is easy to mistake this photo for a diorama size model but as you will see in the next photo these structures were built into the side of a mesa.
On the way back I make a short detour to visit Pine Tree Arch which was well worth the additional quarter mile. The boys have seen enough arches for one day and opt to return to the RV where lunch is waiting.
The boys and I continued on to Double O Arch, which required a strenuous 5-mile roundtrip but was worth the effort. Most people view the arch from the other side since that is where the trail ends. I find this reverse side view to be even more spectacular.
Our primary destination this morning was Landscape Arch which required a modearte hike to reach. It is really hard to imagine how this structure sustains itself under its own weight. I think it is quite possible that it will collapse within the kids lifetime and am very happy that they had a chance to see this wonder of nature.
Delicate Arch is perhaps the most widely recognized in Utah. It is a subject I could spend hours photographing and would like to return on a future trip to do this subject justice during evening light.
This hot air balloon provided a nice element to lend scale to the photograph.
Today makes our second day at Arches and we get an early start to avoid the tourists and mid day heat. We are greated by the Three Gossips.
As the park became emmersed in golden light and the kids had retreated to the RV I took my time to photograph Double Arch using a multiple exposure technique that brings out all the dynamic range of the scene.
All three kids enjoyed striking a pose framed within one of the windows and I enjoyed the challenge of setting up the shots. Although we saw a lot today the grandeur of these windows were not lost on the kids who enjoyed them all the more for their ability to combine climbing with viewing.
As the afternoon was coming to an end we headed into Arches National Park where we spent a few hours in the Windows Section. As evening approached the temperature decreased and the crowds abated. Pictured here are the North and South Windows taken from Turret Arch with the kids posed in the foreground on a large outcrop. The perspective conceals the fact that the window openings are easily 30-40 feet tall.
Before leaving the park, we stopped at the visitor center just in time to hear a naturalist speak about the indigenous animals. We were able to handle the skulls pictured here, which included a long-horned sheep, mule deer, coyote, and raven as well as a bobcat and a mountain lion.
Mesa Arch offers a beautiful window into the canyon below and is embelished by the beauty in front.
It is easy to understand why the Anasazis favored this location, which offers naturally carved enclaves in the side of the butte. The temperature within is moderated, and the views are spectacular.
Our next stop is the Canyonlands National Park where we climb the Aztec Butte to explore the Anasazis built granaries located around the perimeter just below the mesa top.
After spending the night in Moab, we make an early morning trek to Dead Horse Point State Park, which offers a spectacular overlook of the Colorado River.
See if you can locate the baby elephant among the goblins. Given enough time, you begin to see faces and animals at every turn, and if temperatures were not so extreme, we could have easily spent the entire afternoon here.
The 105-degree temperature does not dissuade me from descending into the valley in search of great photo opportunities.
This park could easily pass for the surface of Mars and one could spend hours walking among the thousands of goblins created by the forces of water and wind.