Sleeping problems? Well I suggest a daily walk at Coyote Buttes; you’ll sleep like a rock. It’s hard to wake up today; the dinner taken at the steak house near our hotel didn’t help much to get us up and sprint. Today we have a lot of things to do, the weather is splendid, and the visibility is perfect. If every thing goes straight this morning we will se the Lower and then the Upper section of Antelope Canyon, then in the afternoon we will march towards the Romana Mesa. A quick breakfast to realize that the Best Western in Page is probably the lodge suggested in the entire Italian travel catalogue; more then in the south west it seams to be in a bar at plaza Duomo in Milano. A little short chat with a few teenagers on vacation and I realize that people come to the States without the widest idea of what to do or where to go, just for the taste of being their. It can also be a good reason, but if I spend so much money I’d like to go further on, then the usual visit points suggested by the travel agency. It amazes me how so many few people know the existence of Antelope Canyon or Horseshoe Bend and when I show the pictures of “The Wave” I understand that people take me for a Martian or fanatical excursionist. The worst thing is going back home and realizing, that on a special detailed guide, I’ve seen little or nothing.
Ready and relaxed we take a tour around Page, a small town that live mostly on tourism; every activity is oriented to satisfy the tourist; clothing stores with casual wear, tour centers for reservations photo and poster stores. One only word “tourism”. The reason is that the territory offers a lot. But the strange thing that I noticed is the endless succession of churches, one for every creed, lined up on the Lake Powell Boulevard. I didn’t imagine the existence of so many religions; I counted about twenty different structures used for different culture. We take the US98 towards Kayenta and within a few minutes, the shade of the giant horrible electricity center appears, reaching the parking area of the Upper Antelope Canyon. Starting with paying the parking, then go reserve the tour for 12am, pay the truck that will take us to the entrance of Slot Canyon. The natives aren’t really cheap, but every single dollar spent is an investment for my eyes and soul.
The Upper I have already seen in 2002, they are a real spectacular of nature, now we run to the other side of US98 and make the tickets for the Lower section. A native guide introduces us the recent story of this part of Antelope Canyon, illustrating us a memorial tablet that remembers a serious accident were a few years ago a group of excursionist died. Not paying attention of the recommendations the local guide gave, they adventured in the Slot Canyon when a flash flood surprised them; their where no emergency stairs and came swept away from the mass of water flowing. It was a disaster. About ten (10) years have passed from that event the natives have invested a lot to improve the security without ruining the naturalistic vision. The excursion starts going down threw a small tight crack in the ground, like going down to hell; long sequence of metal ramps makes us reach the bottom of the canyon, still humid from the recent precipitation.
There is much difference respect the Upper section; here the passes are very narrow, at times there is the only space to put one foot in front of the other. The colors are less bright, but the sinuosity of the rock is more fascinating. Every step opens new things; the sun is not strong as on the other side of the US98.middel morning is the best time of the day to visit this section. The small trail lasts an half an hour and you arrive at few hundred meters from Lake Powell, where the Lower section becomes almost a flow during the rain. While we continue, we realize how the ceiling gets higher; we are still going down towards the center of the earth. The excursion is pleasant, even tough it is not easy placing the tripod here and their. The positive part of this visit is that the greatest number of visitors prefers the Upper section, so there is no rush during the visit. Once reached the end of the trail you can choose if going back the way you came instead of going out crossing an open air trail. Without realizing, over an hour has passed during the visit, its time to run for our tour to the Upper section. [See page Upper Antelope Canyon]
What a morning! Seeing both sections was a grate idea; after the heavy day yesterday something more relaxing was needed. Now the climate is changing, like every day; today seems more threatening. The sun starts disappearing behind the clouds; it’s ashamed for who reserved the tour for Antelope, without the sun light the colors are dull. My problem is that I have to go visit Romana Mesa. Lake Powell is like covered by a light fog, and behind you start seeing the typical gray spots that indicate a rain storm in act. The road to Romana Mesa is a dirt road. I don’t think I’m going to risk that the excursion gets me in trouble. We notice that on the other side its poring rain. So we take the direction to Paria Ghost Town, a small group of houses created years ago as a movie set for western movies. For the umpteenth time I take the US98 in direction Kanab, while at half way we are invested by a terrible storm. Not to easy we reach a small plaza from where a dirt road takes you towards the Ghost Town. Waiting stuck in the car hoping the rain slows down. This afternoon started wrong and is going on worst; I realize that if Romana Mesa was not to visit, I cannot get on the muddy street of Paria.
In the mean time the storm is getting even more intensive, with lightning all over; it is spectacular to see Vermillion’s Cliffs in some moments dull from the clouds and suddenly all illuminated from the lightening. Beautiful! Dangerous meaning that we can hear the shaking of the lightning strike. In these cases the best thing to do is sit in the car and not move. In the mean time the few car passing on the highway move impressive waves of water; in a half an hour a lot of rain ha feel. The only reasonable thing to do is go back to Page, hoping that the weather there is better. I’d have a small excursion that can be possible, the Toadstools placed almost in front of the BLM after Coyote Buttes. Returning towards Page the sky seems clearing up once arrived to the beginning of the trail entrance we remain in the car waiting for the last shower to end. The atmosphere outside is unreal, the traffic is zero on the street and there is absolute silence. The only thing that can be sensed is the sour aroma of the wet red dirt. Permitting that this trail is under the jurisdiction of the BLM, there are no tickets to pay and no maps at the entrance. After a few meters the sun starts pushing threw the clouds and lights up a peak of the red Vermilions; like a fluorescence lamp that turns on with marvelous red and brown tones. Not far from us many other sunrays light up small spots that light up this small valley, hidden to whom passes on the street. In front of us a small tableland with some small white hoodoos, similar to the formation of Goblin Valley at Bryce. The surprising thing of the southwest is that if you just divert a little the normal touristy points you can discover scenery’s that are unique; a life time would not be enough to see all.
he day has given us our prime; the sunset has started mixing the reddish colors of the rocks with a pale rainbow born who knows were in the valley. Happy even if I missed the Romana Mesa and Paria Ghost Town, we retune towards Page while the shades start coming. A little before reaching the Dam on Lake Powell, I remember there is a nice point near Wahweap where you can admire the view of the lake. The ranger permits a few minutes to take pictures; the visit point situated on the top of the small hill closes at sunset. Well for today is enough; the program was changed, but the not programmed visits turned out to be the most enjoy. Romana Mesa? Well better like this, at least I have an excuse to return in the splendid land.
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