Day 4 - A rain free day

The title reminds me of that old (bad) joke about 2 aged Harley riders who spent too much time saving lives (and damaging ears) with their loud pipes:

“Today was a rain free day.”

“Friday? No it’s not; it’s Thursday.”

“I’m thirsty too, when does the bar open?”

This was our shortest leg of the trip at about 100 miles over to Kayenta.

It was a beautiful morning, hot and sunny, as we stopped at the Page overlook to get a view of the Glen Canyon Dam. With clear skies the panorama option on our cameras got a good workout. Coming from a part of the continent where we’re surrounded by trees these wide vistas are truly remarkable.

Flooding had closed part of Antelope Canyon so we regrettably decided to pass on that and go directly to Horseshoe Bend Canyon. Here the canyon walls are several hundred feet high and you can look down into the canyon as the Colorado River meanders down to Lake Powell. As has been common on this trip there are no barriers and viewers can go right to (and over, one presumes) the edge. In fact some of the best photos are taken by crawling to the edge and hanging over with your camera aimed into the canyon. (Guilty, much to the distress of the spousal unit.) 

We spent some time at the lookout and then hit the road to Kayenta. We arrived before book-in time so decided to head up to Monument Valley (about 25 miles away). Having spent my formative years watching John Wayne and sundry other cowboy heroes catching the bad guys in Monument Valley this was a bucket list item for me. And it did not disappoint. Like the trip so far every location we’ve seen seems even more spectacular than the last. (“Spectacular” – that’s an adjective I’m trying to use less frequently but with little success as it’s the best I’ve been able to come up with, as inadequate as it seems most times.) 

After dinner that night we were entertained by an amazing light show as a major electrical storm created it’s magic over Monument Valley for an hour or more. I much prefer seeing it from a distance rather than up close and personal.

And we didn’t have our rainsuits on once!