Glen Canyon Mild Water Rafting & Hummer Desert / Secret Canyon Tour

Wow, what a day we had today! I was up at 3:30am and woke Richard at 4:00am. The reason for our extremely early rising was the 2 hour drive to Page, AZ where we would begin our Colorado Discovery Tour. Richard did well, he got up right away, showered and dressed so that we were out of the hotel and on our way by 4:30am. There was a beautiful sunrise as we headed north up Rt 89. Richard was already back sound asleep so it was only I who enjoyed the sun's rise and the distant storms silhouetted on the haze in the west. It's amazing, with so much open land...you can see storms that are miles and miles away even if the sun is shining bright where you are.

My morning ride was going very well, barely any cars on the road, smooth sailing. I got about 14 miles outside of Page when I saw the scenic vista overlook for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I had time so I stopped and took some photos...Richard just turned over and continued in his slumber. I was back in the car maybe five minutes when I looked down at my GPS and it said I would arrive at 9:56am. Wait, 9:56am!! I was supposed to be there at 7:00am! I looked at my cell phone, the time read 7:43am! Holy crap!! I wasn't aware of any time change between Flagstaff and Page AZ!! How stupid could I have been! Frantically I searched for the phone number of the Colorado Discovery Tour office. I had to pull over and dig out my reservation form. What was I going to do! I've paid for the tour already, we've driven two hours and I totally messed this up! I found the number and called. I quickly explained my situation and oversight to the young woman who answered the phone. Am I too late? I didn't realize there was a time difference? I'm about 12 miles out, can I make it? Her response? Relax, you have plenty of time, she said, it is only 6:43...then the connection ended. I quickly called back. The next person who answered assured me of the same thing, I was on time and there was no time difference. I later found out that Page is on the Utah and Arizona timeline and cell phones often switch back and forth between the two. Utah is one hour ahead. My GPS is still on EST! I continued my drive...very relieved but also upset that I didn't check the timezone issue beforehand.

 

The tour company was very busy. There were two busloads of people taking the rafting tour. We loaded up on buses after leaving behind firearms, hand grenades, knives, liquor and sharp instruments in our vehicles. We were going to the Glen Canyon Dam and it is a secured area, so security was very tight. The ride to the bottom of the canyon at the dam was 4 miles long, 2 of them in a tunnel with only intermittent light. We donned hard hats at the bottom while walking down to our rafts as we were right below the rock falling zone. Not sure what good the hat would have done should a boulder topple down upon us.

Our tour guide was Matia, a very friendly, knowledgeable young woman. There were about 20 of us on the pontoon raft. We slowly glided down the Colorado, beginning at the dam, going around Horseshoe Bend and ending at Lee's Ferry. Along the way we saw blue herons, touched the canyon walls, waded in 47 degree water and saw 2000 year old petroglyphs. We glided over the smooth water with folks from China, Cuba and New Orleans. I took way too many photographs, but every direction I looked at beckoned me to push the shutter button. It was a very relaxing, informative and social 3-hour tour.

We then took the bus back to the Discovery store where our bistro lunch of turkey and cheese sandwich, chips, water, apple, chocolate chip cookie and a couple of snacks awaited. Not everyone was going on the Hummer tour so those that weren't left. It was only Richard and I sitting out front at the picnic table, eating our lunch and then driving a half-mile down the road to the Hummer center for the second part of our journey.

Our guide for this tour was Jason, a young man who lives in Dallas, TX  the rest of the year...but is a tour guide in the summer. For this tour Richard and I and an older couple from Israel, Shosana and Ramini, were the only folks in the Hummer. We drove down the road about 2 miles and turned onto Navajo territory. We learned from Jason that a Navajo family, the Manson's, owned the land where Page is now. The government wanted it so offered them this land, three times the size of their original landholding, in exchange. I think it amounts to about 6000 acres. From the moment we left the main road, we were on Manson-owned land. The Manson's are cattle farmers with a very large herd...which we were to meet very soon..

We 4-wheeled over the desert, did some crazy climbs and turns before finding ourselves at the entrance to the Secret Canyon, a smaller version of the Antelope Slot Canyons. When the government traded the land to the Manson's, they did not know this canyon was located here. The tour company we were with has exclusive use of these canyons for tours. The swirling, wavy walls are truly incredible.

The lighting wasn't perfect but I'm sure the photos will be okay. Richard especially liked this and was very talkative with the tour guide. We went through the canyon, walked around the desert a bit and then headed back. Jason took a photo of a Black Widow Spider for us...it was high up in the canyon wall. Richard followed him up to see it first-hand. On the way back from the tour, Ramini asked Richard if he wanted the front seat which Richard was very happy about...me too, as I know he wanted to sit there in the beginning. On the way out, the cattle decided to block the road and were not keen on getting out of the way. They looked at the Hummer like it was a nuisance. Soon they moved and we were on our way.

After organizing ourselves and getting something to drink, Richard and I were on our way south to Flagstaff. All in all it was an awesome day. A half-hour in the hot tub by the pool soothed the aching back from so many hours behind the wheel. Tomorrow we have a leisurely day planned; hanging out on the Southern Rim.