After seeing the Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River from above while road-tripping to Zion National Park last month, I knew that I needed to figure out how to get down there and float it as soon as possible.
After a little bit of Googling, I learned that it really wasn't hard at all, just required a little bit of planning and a reservation. So I recruited my friend Nora, cranked up the tunes and we made our way there on Saturday after work.
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| If you look pretty much right smack in the center of this photo, you'll see a long, narrow little beach and pathway through the bushes...that was our campsite! This was the view that inspired the whole trip :) |
Soundtrack of the Trip:
We stayed the first night at the Marble Canyon Lodge - an adorable little motel nestled among the Vermilion Cliffs and right next to the river. It was so cute and quaint and reminded me of a motel somewhere in the desert off of Route 66 in a movie from the 60's. I can't believe I didn't take pictures, but you can Google it. We checked in just after dark, were handed actual keys (not those flimsy little cards that you have to slide until they beep), and were welcomed by a cozy room that looked like the set of a film. I flipped through the 3 channels on the tiny old tv settling on a classic Bruce Willis movie while Nora cuddled up with her novel, snuggled in with Mediterranean takeout, and tried to calm myself from the excitement of what the weekend would hold for us.
Sunday morning, we packed up and headed over to the Cliff Dwellers restaurant for a hearty breakfast and as much caffeine as we could bear. Then we made our way up to Page for our 8:30 tour of Lower Antelope Canyon and were totally blown away by what we saw.
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| I discovered that if I changed a setting on my phone from "day" to "low-light" mode, it would capture these amazing purple images |
It's the kind of place that makes you feel like you have to whisper because it's just so special and magical...it's almost overwhelming. Sam and I explored Upper Antelope Canyon several years ago when we were there for our wedding anniversary, but I think I prefer the Lower Canyon.
After a couple of hours, we stopped by the Horseshoe Bend Lookout to scope our journey from above and then went back to the motel to finish packing up and figure out how to get Nora's kayak that she was renting. We ended up back at the front desk and called the rental company who told us that they were located back in Page and that we'd have to meet someone there to load it up. With only 2 hours until we had to meet the back-haul, we loaded into the car and put the pedal to the metal. We made it there just as the guy was pulling in and I worked on loading up the massive beast of a kayak (I would venture to say that it was at least 17' long and that's not an exaggeration) and strapping it into the cradle while they talked paperwork. About 20 minutes later, we were high-tailing it back to Lee's Ferry (which is only about 5 minutes from the motel) with my eyes firmly fixed on the rental to make sure it didn't work itself loose in the wind. I noticed a little movement and stopped a couple of times on the way to make sure the straps were tight and everything was secure. As the clock ticked by, we got increasingly quiet and tense...I had a sick feeling in my stomach that we were going to miss our back-haul. By the time we pulled off onto the road to the launching area, the clock hit 2:30 and my heart sank. We pulled up on the ramp and saw the 2 massive boats, loaded up with gear, rounding the first bend of the canyon. I jumped out and ran down the dock, hoping that somebody would see us and come back for us, and sure enough, the second boat slowed and began to turn around. I couldn't believe it! Four guys jumped off and ran towards us, unloaded the kayaks and grabbed our gear while I sped up to the extended parking area. I parked and then ran as fast as I could back down to the ramp and jump aboard the shuttle.
It took about an hour to get up to the Glen Canyon Dam, and all the way our guide showed us little campgrounds, trails, nests, and beaches that we could enjoy on our trip downstream. There were even wild horses on the banks of the river...I didn't even know that there were still wild horses around. We were with 3 other small groups, but besides us, there wasn't a soul around. They dropped us off on a tiny beach just down from the dam, unloaded our gear, and wished us Bon Voyage on our journey.
Two of the other groups left before us and actually paddled up the river to the dam and were never seen again, and the other group left quite a while after us, so it felt like we had the whole canyon to ourselves. It was incredible. I even had to howl a couple of times just so I could hear myself echo between the stone walls...I was in love.
After a couple of hours, we found ourselves at Horseshoe Bend and decided it was the perfect place to set up camp and relax for the night. We pulled up on the beach, unloaded our gear and made ourselves comfy in a secluded little spot right on the water. Once we were all settled, I set off to explore for a couple of hours and see if I couldn't watch the sun set in paradise.
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| The little path to our campsite |
Once the sun went down, I got back to camp, started a fire, and cozied up for an evening under the stars. Eventually the other group (a Flight Nurse and a Wildland Firefighter) pulled up and decided to camp on the other side, but invited us over to their camp for a glass of wine. I ended up hanging out, listening to the cicadas and toads, talking and watching the full moon come up over the walls of the canyon and the bats flutter around for a few hours and had a pretty great time. After stumbling through the darkness back to my camp, I snuggled into my blankets and stared up through the screened ceiling of our tent at the stars, feeling thoroughly satisfied with the entire experience...and it was then that it occurred to me that I hadn't really even had a sip of alcohol in over a year and I'd just consumed 2 glasses of white wine on an empty and dehydrated stomach.
I woke up with the sun (and a couple of noisy birds) right around 4:30 feeling like I'd been hit with a Mack Truck and crawled out of the tent just in time to throw up the contents of the prior several days. My head was pounding, everything was spinning around me and I felt like each of my legs weighed 1000 lbs. After throwing up a few times, I started feeling much better, so we packed up camp, loaded the kayaks, and were back on the river by 6:00.
I thought that the canyon was peaceful and still the afternoon before, but early in the morning had it beaten by a mile. The water was like glass and the rays of the sun and the colors of the massive walls around us changed around every bend. Every time I peered into the crystal clear river, I saw dozens of Trout swimming past me, there was a chill in the air and everything was so quiet...it was perfect.
It took us about 3 hours to paddle back to Lee's Ferry, were we "attempted" to load the kayaks back up and take the rental back to Page. Unfortunately, one of the brackets that held the rental had lost a screw somewhere along the way and was barely balanced on top of the rack. After some finagling and assistance from a nice young gentleman that was loading up a massive raft for what looked like a 30-day whitewater extravaganza, we got the rental to a point where I could likely get it to Page without losing it in the middle of the road somewhere. We got it back safely and in one piece and after experimenting with a few different tie-down arrangements for my kayak (every time we would start moving the wind would catch the straps and it would sound like a massive bumble bee was attacking the car), hit the road back home.
Overall, I would highly recommend this trip to anyone looking for a perfect weekend getaway. I'm definitely going to take Sam back because having him there with me is the only thing that would have made the trip better. Some people spend several days camping along the river, but you can do just an overnight trip like we did and not feel rushed. I'm not sure if we just lucked out or what, but there wasn't anyone around...it was so quiet and still and peaceful. Pack light, soak it in, take your time...we have an experience that I'll never forget. Bucket List Item #359...ΓΌ