Thursday, 18th of April 2013 at 09:03:49 PMI had booked the 1/2 day Colorado River Discovery tour in Page. The tour started at 7.30 am with the bus transfer down to the Glen Canyon Dam base. That was quite interesting to drive endlessly down a dark narrow tunnel of 2 miles length. Due to the damaged US89 south the Raft tour had changed its programm. They not only drive down the river, but also bring the people back upstream with the rafts.
entry to 2 miles long Glen Dam tunnel
Down at the Dam base we had to wear hard hats until we were seated in the rafts. We started timely. A total of 7 rafts and approx. 8 people per raft.
entering the rafts
It was no real rafting experience because the Colorado was very calm. Right at the start, below the Dam we could observe several Great Blue Herons feeding their cubs in a nest high in a tree and fishing in the Colorado.
a peaceful Colorado river
We stopped close to the Horseshoe Bend for a small Hike to the Anaszasi Petroglyphs.
Anaszasi Petroglyphs near Horseshoe Bend
The Rafts turned at the end of Horseshoe Bend. It was possible to see the people up in the Horseshoe Bend Viewpoint from below. I visualized the turning point of my GPX track in Google Earth on the next photo.
GPX track of Colorado river turn point at Horseshoe bend visualized in Google Earth
We were back at 12 am at the Colorado River Discovery agency, and I drove to the Hotel for a nap. Afterwards I wanted to stay at the pool until Dinner. But after 2 hours it got boring and I decided to visit the Nautilus. It is a sandstone formation near the White House trailhead 20 miles west of Page which I have had seen promising fotos in the Web. It is a small hike only to reach the so called Nautilus and I took some photos.
Nautilus
Nautilus detail from top
Being already near the Cottonwood Canyon Road I took the chance to revisit Yellow Rock, which is approx. 25 miles north of US89 on the CWCR. It was a spectacle to see the amazing colors at the late evening light.
Yellow Rock on the Cottonwood Canyon Road
From the CWCR I drove directly to Dam Bar & Grille in Page where I had a fantastic Prime Rib with vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes. Afterwards back to the Hotel to write my day log and go to bed. Tomorrow the loop will be closed. I drive back to Las Vegas.
Hiking Mileage today: 7.3 km / 4.5 miles
(Petroglyphs 0.4 km / 0.25 mi + Nautilus 1.8 km / 1.1 mi + Yellow Rock 5.1km / 3.2 mi)
Hiking Mileage total: 163.3 km / 102 miles
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