Day 8 Part 2 - Page, Arizona
Three years ago, I was only here long enough to refuel and recharge my camera battery.  Now I had the entire afternoon.  Page has a substantial airport.  There are two FBOs and a terminal building.  After landing, I had Classic Aviation refuel the plane, and I rented a car from Avis in the terminal.  The motel I was staying at was only a couple of minutes away from the airport so I stopped and checked in.  Then I was on my way to Lower Antelope Canyon which has been on my bucket list for a long time.
   
Antelope Canyon is on Navajo Land so you have to take a Navajo-guided tour to see it.  It wasn't very expensive -- well worth the money -- and I recommend it to anyone.  I liked our guide who was named Eric.  There is an Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon.  I had heard Lower was the best one so that's the one I toured.  I had no complaints.
 
Here our group is walking to the canyon entrance.
   
 
   
You descend down these stairs into the canyon.
   
As soon as you get to the bottom, you start taking pictures like crazy.  But after a few minutes, our guide Eric said, "Let me see your camera".  I handed him my Canon Digital Rebel and he expertly put it in manual mode, overcast setting.  Then he said "OK, now you take the money shots!"   My picture quality immediately improved greatly.   Here Eric is setting up another person's camera.  He knew all the types.
   
I took almost 100 pictures in the canyon.  These few are the best.
   
 
   
Your's truly.
   
 
   
 
   
Eric playing some Navajo music for us.
   
The canyon was actually quite crowded with tourists; however, because you were almost always taking pictures with the camera pointed up, it wasn't a problem.
   
Emerging from the canyon.  They shut the tours down if there is even the slightest chance of rain.   If you were in the canyon and a flash flood came through, that would be the end of you!
   
The next morning I took this aerial picture of Lower Antelope Canyon (I think).  You can see how close it is to the airport as the crow flies.
   
After Antelope Canyon, I checked out the Powell Museum in Page.
   
It was a small, but interesting and well done museum.  Worth your time.  When Powell ran the Colorado River in 1869, they didn't have kayaks or rubber rafts.  Powell used what boats existed at the time, which were mainly wooden launches used to go between large ships.
   
On the Page western outskirts is the Glen Canyon Dam which created Lake Powell.  I checked out the Dam's visitor center and was surprised to find out that the Glen Canyon Dam is only 26 feet shorter than the Hoover Dam and actually has more volume of concrete.   It's a damn big dam.
   
Another must-do thing when you are in Page is go see Horseshoe Bend which is a couple of miles south of town.  It was a half-mile hike from the parking lot to the scenic overlook, and it was very hot.  It had been a long day and I was pretty tired but I summoned the energy to go for it and I was very glad I did.  The view was spectacular.  There is no guard rail and I did not go right to the edge to take this picture!
   
 
   
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