The Elkhorn Slough

We had planned to rent kayaks and paddle up the Elkhorn Slough, which is 7 miles long. It was during that stretch of 80 degree weather that we had in November and it was gorgeous. We got there too late though, since the boats had to be back at 4:30. So we drove to the headquarters of the Slough and went for a walk along the periphery of the slough at the upper end. It had been a very high tide that day and some of the trail had been underwater at its peak, but it was fairly low tide when we were there. They have kayak outfits that will take you and your kayak to the top of the Slough in vehicles and drop you off to paddle back down to the ocean. Next time.

This was all broken bottles that you can see at low tide from evil litterers from by gone days

You can see the twin smoke stacks from the Moss Landing power plant in the distance.

This is some kind of artistic design next to a pond. Alot of it is made from sea shells.

The Grand Canyon

The last leg of our trip through Southern Utah and Northern Arizona was the Grand Canyon. It's over 200 miles long! We didn't have much time here so we weren't able to actually descend into the canyon so we hiked along the edge. We stayed in a hotel in a town just outside the park limits, called Tusayan.

We hiked out to this point just to scare Dan's mom. We bought a book about all the people who have died here at the canyon.

You can see the Colorado River down inside the canyon.

Antelope Canyon Walk

Antelope Canyon is a few miles outside of Page, Arizona which is where Lake Powell is. The Canyon is on Navajo property so they manage the area and the canyon can only be seen by going on one of their tours. We drove out on one of their open air trucks and the trip includes a couple of miles on a dirt road. There are no services there--no Visitor's Center, no restrooms and no gift shops, just this canyon. All these pictures were taken with natural light and have not been photo-enhanced. It is one of the most amazing places we've seen.


This is the first thing you see upon entering the canyon. It is a sandstone mountain and this "slot canyon" was cut by flash floods. There is no water anywhere near here except during flash floods. The floor is sand and is exceptionally clean.

Here someone threw some sand up on the ledge and it floated down like a waterfall.

This was taken outside the back end of the canyon. It's 1/4 mile up and 1/4 mile back.

Dan

Cheryl

The back entrance of the canyon

In most of these pictures the light is at the top and they were taken looking upwards.

Just a narrow slit at the top














The front entrance to the canyon

On the vehicle which brought us to the canyon.

Canyons 2008

October 2008: Dan, Cheryl and I visited 3 canyons in southern Utah and northern Arizona. The first was Zion's National Park. We "hiked the Narrows." This is where you hike a mile up a trail which ends in the Virgin River. You can then hike in the river for up to 14 miles or so. We went 3 miles up and 3 miles back. The river is only hikeable at certain times of the year because it is either too deep or too cold. October is one of the best times. The water is about 55 degrees and is thigh high at the deepest. We were outfitted with special water clothes--neoprene socks, water boots, dry pants and a hiking stick. The pants are waterproof and have a tight rubber band around the ankles and the waist. Your feet get wet but stay warm and your legs stay dry. The hiking stick is essential as the river bed is mostly boulders and you must take care with every step, least you fall, which I did once, but fortunately my camera stayed dry. When the water was deep I was too busy trying to keep my balance to take any pictures, so it may look like the water is shallow all the way. The main danger of hiking in the river is the risk of flash floods. At the outfitter place they had a sign which said that signs that a flash flood is about to occur is debris floating in the river, including hikers! Fortunately it was a beautiful, perfectly clear day and we saw no bodies floating. Alot of people did enter the river in their street clothes and even leather shoes, especially at the start of the hike. As we got further up the canyon we had it more to ourselves.

This is the canyon wall with sand dissolving on the rock.

I like to think of this striped rock as dark and milk chocolate stains.

This is the typical river bed in a shallow portion.


This is a side canyon, called Orderville Canyon. It is not the right way to go. Turn around, Dan.

At the narrowest, the canyon is 10 feet wide.

Cheryl and Janeen before we descended into the river.

I'm not sure what caused the gold coating on these rocks. It was not an optical illusion as we first suspected.

Cheryl is a direct descendent of water creatures and feels most content when she can return to her primal home.

This is near the end of our hike where we turned around.

The rapids were very hard to walk in and we avoided them when we could.

Dan is impressed.