Our next stop was Page, AZ. We spent 3 nights at a rental house and explored the area. One of our first stops was Horseshoe Bend.
You can't really tell from the pictures, but we saw people in kayaks or canoes at the bottom.
Our rental house was near a small airport. The kids walked down to watch planes.
We made reservations for a tour of Antelope Canyon. I was so excited to go in a slot canyon. Shortly after we arrived at the tour company, a storm quickly blew in. They canceled all remaining tours for the day due to flash flooding. They did not have any openings for our remaining time in Page. Jim and I booked a boat tour that went in part of Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell. It was a neat tour, but I was bummed not to see a slot canyon (can only be seen on foot).
We learned that the water in Lake Powell is critically low and has been decreasing for more than 20 years.
In an attempt to see a slot canyon, Jim and I sought a hike the next day that would take us to one. We hiked along the Wire Pass Trail to Buckskin Gulch. We had to drive about 8.5 miles off the main road to get to the trailhead. The ride was rocky (4WD vehicle recommended) and took us an hour. Then, the sun was hot, hot, hot for the first mile of the hike. After that, we were in the shade for most of the hike.
The slot canyons were beautiful! It was probably my favorite hike ever!
We had to climb down a ladder in the canyon.
The kids liked climbing anywhere they could!
There was a little water left from the previous day's flash flood. You do NOT want to be caught in a slot canyon during a flash flood.
My favorite hiking buddies!
Charlie loves to climb!
Maggie is next to some petroglyphs we saw.
We hiked almost 6 miles. The kids were troopers. Here we are climbing the ladder out on our return hike.
On the way back from the hike, we stopped for a couple pictures by Glen Canyon Dam. You can see a little of Lake Powell on the other side of the dam.
Patrick taking a picture of the dam the next day. We did go in the museum in the dam.
