After 4 days in Moab, it was time to head south. We wanted to see another part of Canyonlands called the Needles so we hit the road and picked up a few things in Moab as we left. Much less people in this national park and we saw a heap of rock climbers at a section of the big red cliffs. One highlight was seeing an old cow boy camp next to a spring that also had some ancient petroglyphs. Spent another night goon docking at a sweet little spot out of Blanding (but it was cold!)
At these free camping spots we generally gather some wood and start a fire after tea. The Yanks love their fires so there is always plenty of fire rings to choose from when we pull up to a spot. And with the higher elevations of over 2000m on the Colorado plateau we need the extra heat source before bed!
In the morning (Tuesday) it was to be a long day of driving checking out the Natural Bridges and driving down off the plateau on a steep, switched backed road. I had heard from a fellow traveller that the slot canyons in Page, Arizona were stunning so we took a dog leg route to get ther only to find that it would be $160 for the family to go on a guided tour! So we flagged that, headed to the local info centre and got some great free options including another boon docking camp site.
Page is on Lake Powell, a huge man made reservoir for the Glen Canyon dam. We went to check out the lake and set up camp near an old corral. We had been told there were some smaller canyons around there so we set off for an explore. Ended up being one of the best short walks so far. Some cool little canyons that we followed up while clambering up so tight squeezes in places. Jake even saw a fox!
Another cold night camping, another fire and even a shower of rain! The kids are certainly having a challenging experience. But the are up for it-Mia was first up this morning (Wednesday) to put the camp stove on to make some cups of coffee! I think she just likes playing with the stove. Today it was off to Grand Canyon with a short stop at horseshoe bend and little Colorado river on the way. After a long drive the sight of snow around our intended campsite didn’t fill us with great hope.
We decided to keep going through the snow filled surrounds to Grand Canyon. At the first view point there was no canyon to be seen through the thick fog although we did throw a few snowballs. As we came closer to the visitor centre the clouds lifted and we had a great view of this very famous sight. After a week of Utah rocks I wasn’t really expecting to be gob smacked by another canyon but this one is next level.
It was late in the afternoon so we decided to get a bit lower and a bit warmer (we have been promising the kids a warmer sleep for the last 4 days now…) for our camp. Jake hadn’t been feeling well all afternoon so he went straight to bed while the rest of us had tea and lit another fire.
Crikey, what a freezing night it turned out to be. I swapped sleeping bags with Jake and his is useless! Finally the dawn came with both tents frozen and I was up starting a breakfast fire to try and warm up. The rest of the family arose and we defrosted, packed up, and head back to Grand Canyon.
The day was fine and clear to be used the park shuttle bus to go to the Hermits Rest part of the south rim which has less people. The views were stunning and we could clearly see down to the Colorado river. Again, pictures do a better job than words.
After the kids collected their Junior Ranger badges from the visitor centre it was off towards Route 66. We wanted to descend in altitude to have a more comfortable sleep and also managed to drive about 40 miles of this famous road. Some kitschy gift shops with plenty of 1950s stuff. Boondocked once again at a place just out of Kingman, Arizona.
