Travel Recap #10: The Grand

 

Page, Arizona was a lovely little town with a number of points of interest. We didn’t brave Antelope Canyon this time around, which apparently requires a tour guide and would have been fairly spendy for our party of six, but we did pay the $10 to park outside the hiking trail to Horseshoe Bend overlook. It was a nice little hike and another minor heart attack location (steep cliffs + jumpy little kids = instant gray hair), but of course the Bend was totally gorgeous! We played around the cliffs for a little while, people-watching and attempting to find a decent (but safe) location for pics, then made our way back. We drove up over the Glen Canyon Dam and made a quick stop at the Wahweap Overlook for a great view of Lake Powell and the surrounding area before wrapping up our night with dinner and laundry. 

The next morning we headed out early for a scenic drive down Hwy 89 and up through Marble Canyon with awesome views of the Vermilion Cliffs. We made our way to Jacob Lake and enjoyed the smooth road toward the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, with its well cared-for meadows and autumn-colored forests on either side. We chose a spot on a Forest Road with enough space for the rig and enough sun for our solar, then had fun zooming along the various dirt roads on the e-bike and exploring the surrounding area which seemed to go on forever. The Forest Service had recently brought down a good number of trees to control the density, and had left behind an abundance of shredded wood which richly supplied the fuel for our daily campfires. It was an incredibly peaceful spot and we saw very few other campers in the week we were there. Of course, we had to visit North Rim to take in the Grand Canyon Views from the lodge, and take a hike down toward the Canyon itself via the North Kaibab Trail (though, not too far with little ones; we stopped at the Coconino Overlook 1.5miles in). It was fairly shrouded in clouds/fog most of the time, but still incredible. 

We did make the mistake of attempting to find another viewpoint, not realizing how long it takes to drive on rough forest roads. We were re-routed due to controlled burning efforts, then proceeded to drive a full 17miles on washboard-ridden roads, only to finish on an extremely pot-holed and tight loop leading to Fire Point viewpoint. It was a gorgeous viewpoint for sure, but my goodness it was the longest drive of our lives, because after sunset over the Canyon (perfect timing), we had to turn back and do it all over! It was great, but, never again! 

If it wasn’t for the need to dump our tanks and refill our freshwater, we would definitely have stayed there longer. The woods were wonderful! But it was time to move on, so we packed up and made our way to Kanab, Utah. North of the town, we found a fun dispersed camping spot off of a dirt road just off the highway; a large area had been cleared out by construction equipment and left unattended. The kids had a blast climbing the piles of gravel, and we lost a number of leggings during that stay due to the shredding effect of the rocky slides they created. 

The first place we chose to explore in the area (a location with abundant natural activity options, being not far outside Zion National Park) was the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. It catered heavily to ATVers and dune buggy fun, but we still kicked off our shoes and climbed our share of giant sand hills. A sweet family let us borrow their sand boards and the kids had a blast sledding, diving, running and tumbling down the slopes over and over again. It was yet another hidden gem for the books! 

(To Be Continued…. I bet you can guess what came next!)