Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is just gorgeous

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is just gorgeous.

It's shared by both Utah and Arizona and it's a very special place whether enjoyed from the land, the water or the air (I thoroughly recommend that way as detailed in a previous post).

The signs around Glen Canyon National Recreation Area are almost as impressive as the natural beauty which they highlight.

I left my campground and went for a drive around part of the lake until I came to this spot at the Coves. The painted part of the sign is mirrored in the stone which supports it.

Very creatively designed to make a statement about the place.

Photographing signs on a trip actually defines where the photos were taken, breaks up the series of photos taken e.g. all landscapes, and some are just worth photographing anyway.

Click on the photo to enlarge it and enjoy both the sign and the scenery behind it.

I can definitely feel the urge to create some interactive jigsaw puzzles about Glen Canyon and Lake Powell. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, check out my "Canyon Country" post.

Rainbow Bridge To Monument Valley: Making The Modern Old West

Rainbow Bridge To Monument Valley: Making The Modern Old West, by Thomas J. Harvey looks to be an interesting read if you can get past the cover. Stunning photo of one of the Mittens in Monument Valley.

I just had to visit Monument Valley after seeing the Red Bull Air Race on TV. No wonder so many movies have been made in this area. Flying over Rainbow Bridge in the early morning was also one of the highlights of my trip to the Southwest. Put this area on your bucket list. A bit of reading beforehand, like this book, wouldn't go astray to add to the appreciation of these significant places.



Rainbow Bridge to Monument Valley: Making the Modern Old West

The Colorado River Plateau is home to two of the best-known landscapes in the world: Rainbow Bridge in southern Utah and Monument Valley on the Utah-Arizona border. Twentieth-century popular culture made these places icons of the American West, and advertising continues to exploit their significance today. In "Rainbow Bridge to Monument Valley," Thomas J. Harvey artfully tells how Navajos and Anglo-Americans created fabrics of meaning out of this stunning desert landscape, space that western novelist Zane Grey called "the storehouse of unlived years," where a rugged, more authentic life beckoned.

Reviews
"Thomas J. Harvey's work on the Utah-Arizona border region . . . will stake out new intellectual terrain for scholars seeking to explore the relationship between geography, cultural nationalism, and Occidentalism in twentieth-century America. . . . Harvey shows quite clearly how layers of meaning continue to be attached to the region and how modern mythmaking is perpetuated."Carter Jones Meyer co-author of "Selling the Indian: Commercializing and Appropriating American Indian Cultures".

Lake Powell, Arizona/Utah, has the Seal of Approval

Lake Powell, in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, has got the "Seal of Approval"! However, you do have to use your imagination a bit.

At Wahweap, I managed to take two boat trips on Lake Powell, exploring the canyons, visiting Rainbow Bridge and cruising around this vast and magnificent lake. Perhaps the attraction isn't so much Lake Powell itself but the rock formations around the edge.

This particular rock formation is really only visible from water level whereas many of the others are more obvious from the air when gaining a bird's eye view.




You will have to zoom in on the photo to enlarge the "seal" on the right hand side of the picture just above the water's edge.

Cruising on Lake Powell and manoeuvring through the canyons is one activity you have to put on your list of "must do" tours. The boat captains are very skilled and well versed in the history, culture and geology of their patch. They also have a great imagination, a wicked sense of humour and an eye for the unique beauty of the area.

Looking up at these great hunks of rock really brings home the fact that we're just tiny specks compared to the vastness of nature. Quite a humbling experience.

Here's more information on Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Flyabout to Rainbow Bridge over Lake Powell, Utah/Arizona

Rainbow Bridge National Monument, Utah, can be reached by boat, on foot or on horseback but my preferred method of viewing is from the air.

I got up very early to go on a scenic flight at 6am while the sun was rising. We took off from Page Airport and headed over Lake Powell and Glen Canyon National Recreational Area. It's better to go flying early in the morning when it's cooler and generally calmer. The light is quite intriguing as well.

Rainbow Bridge is the largest natural bridge in the world at 290 feet tall and 270 feet across (about 90 metres) and is considered sacred by the Navajo Indians.





When viewed from the ground Rainbow Bridge looks as though it's in the open but from the air you can see that it's tucked away amongst the rocks. Zoom in on the photo so you can see the top part of the bridge in the bottom right foreground.

Fortunately there's no visitor centre on the ground to degrade the spirituality of the place.

After my flight I headed back to Wahweap to catch a day cruise which took us over the large expanse of the lake, into some of the canyons, and to Rainbow Bridge itself. It was a short hike from the jetty but on such a hot day a hat, sunscreen and plenty of water were essential.

This is one place to put on your bucket list but see it from both the ground and the air like I did.

For further information check out Rainbow Bridge National Monument and Glen Canyon National Recreational Area.

Cruising the Canyons, Lake Powell, Utah/Arizona

One of the many activities to do at Lake Powell, in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, is to take a cruise around the lake and into the canyons.

Usually there are half day and full day cruises, with lunch provided on the full day ventures. On a hot day, if you choose to be on the top deck, drink plenty of water (provided) and take a hat and sunscreen. Just make sure that the hat ties on because someone on our cruise had to wave his hat goodbye as it blew off into the lake.

As you can see from the photo, the boat is right in the canyon.

Before we boarded for our cruise I was eyeing off the nice big boats moored at the jetty and was disappointed when we embarked on our smaller vessel.


However, as we proceeded through the canyons, I soon understood that a smaller vessel was more manoeuvrable. Even so, on one of the cruises, the boat was so close to the canyon wall that one of the loud speakers was smashed. The cruise captains were just so skilled, they were fantastic.

Houseboat Heaven on Lake Powell, Utah/Arizona

The previous post was about houseboating Aussie style on a river. Here's another view of houseboating on a lake. Not just any lake, but a huge manmade lake, Lake Powell, in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

The lake overlaps Arizona and Utah and provides both space and secluded spots in the canyons to find your own piece of Heaven.

I only spent a short time in the southwestern corner of the lake where the houseboat moorings are at Wahweap and Antelope Point.

To say that the area is beautiful is an understatement. The huge cliffs, magnificent rock formations and striations of the canyons are not to be missed at lake level or from the air.

Here's more information.

Fran West Flyabout over Lake Powell, Arizona/Utah

One of the best holidays I organised for myself was a trip to the Southwest of the USA last year.

Lake Powell and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area need to be viewed from both the ground and the air. So I rose at 5am for a 6am joyflight, with the pilot flying a route which took in some of the picturesque canyons, Rainbow Bridge and the dam.

The air was smooth and the rock formations were gradually being bathed in the early morning sunlight.


Dangling Rope Marina, on the Utah side of the lake, was worth getting up early for, wouldn't you agree? Sometimes the early bird gets more than just a worm!

Here's more information.