KUHL Weekly Musings

We all crave adventure…in some form or another.  It is hardwired into our DNA, part of our very being.  We search for a life filled with the beautiful and unknown.  In this life we evolve, change…grow and outgrow.  Change is good, yet we fight it with all our might.  Holding onto the familiar.  Complacency sets in and we are challenged by the world around us.  A world that is constantly moving, constantly changing…and then, all of a sudden we feel compelled to jump on and go for a ride.

Life is moving by like snapshots in my mind, individual pieces that I attempt to put together and make sense of…but they don’t.  This one moment in time…right now…right here is where I need to exist.

Page, AZ

Exploring the rawness of Utah and Arizona was almost a spiritual experience.  There is something about these 2 states that can move you to tears.  Besides the fact that the beauty is unsurpassed, there is something else that I struggle to put my finger on.  We made our way from New Mexico across to chilly Flagstaff and then up. Flagstaff was beautiful and would be worth spending some time in that area. The drive across Route 66 between NM and Flagstaff is known for being windy..that would be an understatement.  At one point we pulled over to have a fairly intense debate as to whether we should continue, which I lost. We arrived in Page safely but discovered the highway was closed later that day due to a rig blowing over.  Our plan was to make our way up to Page, AZ and use that as a launching point for exploring all the canyons that the area boasts.  We made it to only a few.  If you do visit this area, give yourself at least a week if not 2.  We actually could have spent a month here.  Utah and Arizona are heavily permitted hiking areas.  Make sure to do your research well in advance so you are not disappointed.  We had to let go of a number of hikes.

Horseshoe Bend is such a grand reward for a short and easy jaunt. We aimed for sunset, but the cloud cover was not in our favor. Still a magnificent sight mid day. Make sure you bring a wide angle lens of some sort in order to capture the broad expanse of the canyon. There are no fences or barriers (thankfully) which means hang on to your busy little ones.

Antelope Canyon!!! There are slot Canyons all over Utah and Arizona. Antelope just happens to be guided and easily accessible. With a bit of a cost to get in, it is guided by the Navajo Nation. We visited the Lower Canyon which is a little less expensive and apparently not as busy?????  The Lower Canyon has numerous stairs, ladders and narrow openings which we enjoyed. However, if mobility is an issue, the Upper Canyon may be a better choice. It was quite busy when we visited in April and was sometimes a bit overwhelming with the number of people.  We would be curious to know when off season is in this area as it would be a much more rewarding time to visit. We did manage to grab a few shots and enjoy the history lesson from our entertaining guide.

If you can time your tour just right (we aimed to be in the Canyon around noon at the end of April) you can get a spectacular photo of the sun directly above you.

We had planned on coming into the Grand Canyon from North Rim. Again our choice to just wing it steered us in another direction. The North Entrance does not open until May 15th. It was only the 7th. 🙁 A 2.5 hours drive back down south allowed us to enter the park from the South Rim which still blew our minds. When we pulled up to the first look out, we discovered that there was an inversion that day and you could not see 2 feet in front of you at the Canyons edge. Fighting off disappointment, we waited and waited. People came and went, grumbling about the waste of time and disappointment. Just as we were about to give up and head back to Page, a wind blew in and parted the clouds almost like it was just for us. It literally took your breath away. There is a plaque on the wall that reads “All the Earth worships Thee, They sing praises to Thee, sing praises to Thy name”. In that moment there came an understanding of the meaning of that plaque. We spent 2 hours driving and stopping at every view point possible. The clouds moved in and out and almost created an eeriness that covered like a blanket. It ended up snowing near the end to top it all off. What an experience. Someday we would like to do the North Rim that allows for more hiking and adventuring as opposed to just driving and stopping.

Page, AZ sits amongst some of the most amazing lakes and varying rock formations. We enjoyed water font beach camping at Lone Rock Beach Primitive Campground. Make sure to ask where you should and shouldn’t park a large trailer.  We saw a number of people getting stuck.  Lake Powell is great for fishing. Our neighbor on the beach gave Jo a fishing rod which for Jo was the greatest gift of all times 🙂 Jo’s love of fishing grew that day and continues to grow.

We discovered a number of Ancient Dwellings in our travels. One of our favorites was the Vermillion Cliffs. This area is so rich in history.

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