Lees Ferry~Glen Canyon

As Always if you double click pics they will enlarge -  feel free to shoot us an email @

donwshank@hotmail.com   or     carolbshank@hotmail.com

       Welcome back to Don and Carol's Southwest Adventure!

W left Kanab a week or so ago and have spent some time in Lee's Ferry at the bottom of Glen Canyon and then made our way down to our friends in "Pie Town" NM which is a couple of hours west of Albuquerque.  We are now on our way north for a week in Durango, CO where we have another timeshare week.

Our last day in Kanab was spent on a beautiful loop through Grand Staircase National Monument - up the Johnson Canyon Road to Skukumpah Rd which winds through some incredible country featuring slot canyons, gorges, and beautiful views including the south side of Bryce Canyon.   Our first stop was for a 6 mile hike down and back in "Lick Wash"  a beautiful pine lined slot canyon with unusual rock formations and lots of fall colors.

                                                    Carol  -  in a state of Rock Awe
 

                                                             Hanging out in an alcove

                                    A unique feature of the wash is Pine trees in the river bed

                                                                     the Narrows

                                flooding and hot temps create unique cracks in the river mud

Fall Colors!

The loop we made continued on past familiar areas including Kodachrome Basin SP, Bryce Canyon, & Red Canyon ~ and we saw some interesting future slot canyon hikes in Bull Valley Gorge and Willis Creek.
  It was great to spend a week in the Kanab area and we know we will be back!!

From Kanab our route took us to Lee's Ferry below the Glen Canyon Dam.  This is a very historic area as it was the first place that allowed Morman pioneers a ferry crossing of the Colorado River from Utah to Arizona.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee%27s_Ferry

                    Old Lee's Ferry Building along the Colorado where they made the crossing

                                                        The Cliffs behind Lee's Ferry

                                          The Beautiful Colorado below Glenn Canyon Dam

                   this is me at our campsite with trailer behind at our campsite overlooking the Colorado
                                           (playing with a neat feature on my phone camera)

                                               Carol relaxing at our Lee's Ferry Campsite

                                       Carol in a beautiful Wash on a hike up into the cliffs

                                Atlas Shrugged at Balanced Rock near Lee's Ferry

  Eventually a bridge was completed in 1929 and was a narrow 18' wide span over a 834' long and 437' above the Colorado River.  It is called the Navajo bridge ~ an historic pedestrian bridge, replaced by a wider bridge in the 1980s.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Bridge

This is also a beautiful area featuring the Colorado River, Vermillion Cliffs, and the beginning of the Glenn Canyon Reservoir and Lake Powell.

These pics are from a 5 mile wash hike into the cliffs above Lee's Ferry and the variety & color of the rocks was amazing~ blue, green, yellow, black, white, tan, etc.

From Lee's Ferry we headed south through Arizona to a one night stay at Homolovi SP where there are ancient Puebloan ruins and is a few miles from where we were able to be "Standin' on a corner ~ in Winslow Arizona" (Name that tune)

From Arizona we made our way to New Mexico and spent some quality time with our friends ~ Gary and Carol in "Pie Town" NM and just enjoyed hanging out with them in their beautiful home south of town and enjoying some local cuisine. 

                                                           Pie Town

                                                                           Off the Grid

 Adobe with open Beam Ceiling

                                                                  New Mexico Style

                Gary and I enjoying a Green Chili Burger at Cafe Largo in Quemado

                             The road less traveled (to the house) with Mount Alegre in background

                                  Gary and Carol's awsome dog ~  "Trekker"

well If you made it this far ~  Thanks!!!   You will hear from us again after we get up to Durango and explore that area!   Love to all....    Don and Carol

Kanab, Utah ~ A new favorite for us!

Hello Friends and Family!

We are in our sixth week of our Southwest Road Trip and have been spending the last week in Kanab, Utah.  From here there is so much beautiful country accessable that spending a week here feels like we are just scratching the surface.  We have seen lots of amazing places but the highlight was drawing a winning entry to "The Wave".
This is an area of the North Coyote Buttes ~ southeast of Kanab that is limited to 20 people per day (10 online entries and 10 picked the day before through a lottery.
We went 3 days in a row with an average of 100 other people and finally on Sunday we got the lucky pick.  So we set our alarms for 5:30 Monday morning and made the 1.5 mile drive to the trail head and hiked the 3 miles through an amazing variety of scenery to "the Wave" and spent the next several hours exploring one of the most unworldly areas we have seen.
Anyway ...... Come along for a peek at the beautiful area of North Coyote Buttes!

           Even though the temps in the afternoons are in the high 70's ~ a 7:00 start was 33 degrees

                                                             A Coyote Butte at Sunrise

                                           Taking a breather on the way into the Wave

                                                                      The Buttes                               

                                                                   Wave Reflection

                                                   Our friend Zack waiting for the moment

                                                                   Carol in Awe

                                                     looking down from above

                                              Sunrise through the Arch above the Wave

                                                                         Crazy!

                                                                  Other Worldly!

From Above

                                                                   Classic Picture

Hopefully I am not overloading on the pictures - but it is hard to stop the shutter clicking in this environment.   This hike was a highlight - but the whole area is pretty amazing and Kanab is just 45 minutes from Zion ~ an hour from Bryce Canyon, and a plethora of hikes through the Paria Wilderness and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  Slot Canyons are common here and the longest in world is Buckskin Gulch which is underwater right now - so we hiked Lick Wash instead which has its own unique topography!

We have also taken some great bike rides since coming to Kanab and other hikes into the Paria Wilderness.  The weather has been great with sunny days in the 70s - perfect for hiking, biking, etc.
I also have been on the local golf course "Coral Cliffs" which is a pretty 9 hole course - $15 including the cart!!

So this morning (Thursday 10/16) we are heading out to Lees Ferry Campground on the Colorado at the south end of Glen Canyon (south of Page AZ)  There are some great hikes and scenery there.  From there we make our way down to Pie Town, NM where we will stay with a childhood friend of Carol's that we have not seen for more than 25 years.
Thanks for looking and see you down the road!

Don and Carol