Page, Arizona – Civil servant’s curiosity

After passing Cortez and the Four Corners Monument that we already know we enter unknown territory. On hwy # 160 we enter Arizona and the extensive Navajo and Hopi Indian Reserve. Commercial trucks have to stop at a weigh station at each “border crossing” from one US-state into the other. To our great surprise the civil servant beckons us. If he thinks we are a delivery truck or it is pure curiosity only the big Manitou knows. “What kind of vehicle is it?“, he wants to know. “An RV.“ He wants to look inside, so Joerg unlocks the cabin. “Wow is that beautiful. What are you doing? Studies?” “We travel and write about it.” “About nature? About animals?”, the Navajo asks. “Yes, also.” He means following a flash of inspiration: “And about people in Arizona who stop you?” “Exactly.”

Two well-known slot canyons are situated three miles east of Page, Arizona. It’s too late for today, the light is much better in the morning, but we’ll come back. Instead we visit the Horseshoe Bend of Colorado River just south of Page. The perhaps most beautiful elbow of Colorado River can be reached with just a half-mile walk. Further north we can see the whole Glen Canyon Dam, one of the big dams of Lake Powell, wedged in Glen Canyon, from a viewpoint. We go to the Carl Hayden Visitor Center, right after the bridge over Glen Canyon, right beside the dam. They offer a lot of visual aids to understand Lake Powell and the functioning of the dam system. Actually they offer tours into Glen Canyon Dam as well, but the end of work draws near.

Now we have to go quickly to the BLM Field Office in Kanab to apply for a hiking permit for Paria Wilderness. Tomorrow is Friday, and they are closed on the weekend.

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