roadquill1

We’ve come a few miles since Zion! On Friday, we left Zion after the early birds began to gather as early as 7:30 a.m. These are the campers who are on the prowl for the best spots that become vacant early in the day. If you make any moves around your site, they stop and ask if they can have your site. This is normal and the accepted practice. It is essentially what we were doing four days before that, however we were only looking at vacant sites…we were not aware that you could aggressively campaign for sites that would be vacant within an hour or two. Now we know the drill! Our site, being prime, was snapped up before 8:00, and water jugs left in front to “boogeyize it”!

Our road climbed and switched back up to the east until we were stopped at the mile-long tunnel. (Our $15 fee for blocking traffic was already paid.) The canyon cliffs and rock formations are truly spectacular, and they became even more unreal as we climbed even further east. The swirls and patterns of the sandstone are stunning, and worthy of many photos. (No wonder Kodak went belly-up with the advent of digital!)

At Kanab, we swung south on 89A (Alternate) since we haven’t travelled on that road before, and it was marked as scenic on the map…and it was…in a bleak sort of way. It had none of the spectacular beauty that we had been seeing to the northwest, however it was notable in that there was a skiff of snow on the ground at Jacob Lake. (The road south to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon from Jacob Lake was still closed due to winter conditions.) We finally dropped down and down from the high country into the sandstone cliffs that fence in the Colorado River. These are also very photogenic, but there aren’t a lot of places to pull over and take photos. We drove on by Lee’s Ferry, but someday, perhaps I shall make a stop there. John D. Lee is a prominent character in Utah history and was the captain of the Mormon Militia at the Mountain Meadow Massacre. He hid out for a time and operated Lee’s Ferry across the Colorado River, but he eventually returned to Utah and was captured by US military, tried and elected death by firing squad.

At Page, AZ, we found Page-Lake Powell Campground and stayed for 2 nights. On Saturday morning, we explored the Glen Canyon dam site (amazing engineering that created Lake Powell).

Then we headed up Hwy 98 to Antelope Canyon where we paid entry to the Navajo Park, and then bought tickets for the tour of Upper Antelope Canyon – along with many other folks! A fleet of pick-up trucks seating 10 in the back under a “ramada” frame carry the visitors up to a fissure in the canyon wall that goes for over a mile – open at the top so light comes in to provide incredible scenes of rock formations and sandstone carved by wind and water. Once again, photo opportunities are everywhere, and the guide, who seemed to know everything about everyones’ cameras, helpfully assisted with picture-taking throughout the winding fissure climb.

Today after fuelling, we headed back to Hwy 98 and carried on to 160 and then to 163. This route took us through Monument Valley – more breathtaking scenery – this time of distant flat-topped mesas and sometimes rolling sandstone hills through the Navajo Nation. We turned towards the entrance to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, but decided that we would, instead, stop and take roadside pics. I pulled over, Sandy took a photo, and when I started to pull ahead on the shoulder, our right rear tire blew out with a BANG! I slowly pulled ahead to where a road access entry provided a bit more level ground, and, partially blocking the access, we began the process of changing a flat tire – something I have never done on the GMC!  BTW…I had driven over a stub of a sign pipe that had been broken off above ground level. The tire is ruined!

Out comes the manual! I managed to get the jack components out from their storage in the extended cab, but the small jack was going to be a problem with the camper listing to starboard. So…off come the bikes and as I was beginning to take off the bicycle rack two vehicles had to pull around me to get down the access road. The young man (and wife) in the second vehicle offered to help, so after checking out the situation, he made a quick run home to get some more tools. (My new rims won’t accept the standard wheel wrench!) He returned shortly and within 1/2 hour had the truck up, the wheel off and the spare on. We were so grateful to Xavier for his (and his wife’s) assistance.

Although the spare is a bit low on air, we made it to Bluff, UT, and are now at Cottonwood RV Park where we used our Canadian Tire electric pump to add a bit more air to the spare tire. The town is most likely named for the sheer sandstone cliffs that surround us in this valley. Tomorrow (Monday) we will try to get a replacement tire in Blanding, and then begin our next adventure through Central Utah – Plateau Country to Bryce Canyon before heading east again through Arches National Park, and Moab. Snow showed prominently on the mountains to the northwest today. I hope that the weather warms before we hit the high country again in a couple of days.