Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River

Hi Blog! Today is Friday, October 23, 2015. It is our first full day outside of Page, Arizona. The Colorado River and the Glen Canyon Dam are the reasons that Page exists. Unlike other cities in the area, Page was founded in 1957 as a housing community for workers and their families during the construction of the dam. We wanted to learn more about the area, so we stopped at the Powell Museum and Visitor's Center. Here is a replica of the boat that Major Powell used on his expeditions of the Colorado River.

John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was a U.S. soldier, geologist, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He is famous for the 1869 Powell Geographic Expedition, a three-month river trip down the Green and Colorado rivers, including the first known passage by Europeans through the Grand Canyon. Here Dave is reading excerpts from his journal illustrated with paintings done by Rudolph Wendelin of the Forest Service. This same artist also created the design for the John Wesley Powell postage stamp.

There is more to the Powell Museum than Mr. Powell. The collections include artifacts, multimedia collections, maps, archival collections, and a reference library related to the history of Page, Glen Canyon Dam, the Colorado River, pioneer history, and Native American cultures in the Colorado Plateau region. Of course, one of our favorite displays was about the dinosaurs that roamed the area and left their footprints behind.

After immersing ourselves in the history of the Colorado River, it was time to get out and see the mighty Colorado for ourselves. We were told the best views would be at Horseshoe Bend - a horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado River located about 4 miles southwest of Page. Here is our first view of the "horseshoe." Doesn't look like much, does it?

The trail out to the rim and back is about a mile and half. We got to hike through some great red rocks.

Horseshoe Bend is an extremely popular tourist stop. We never heard so many different languages being spoken at once. Dave offered to take photos for some folks and they were kind enough to take ours in return. Note Kathy is sitting while Dave stands precariously close to the edge of the abyss.

The river is very green from this vantage point. The tiny specks of white you see are actually boats. You can take a river cruise up from Lee's Ferry to the bend.

The overlook is 4,200 feet above sea level, and the Colorado River is at 3,200 feet above sea level, making it a 1,000-foot drop.

Dave climbed as high as he could to get the best view of the bend.

Kathy stayed sitting safely on grounds several yards from the edge.

Rock scrambling can build up an appetite. It was back to Page to grab some lunch at Canyon Crepes Cafe. The delicious French treats were a nice change of pace after weeks of eating everything with New Mexican green chili sauce.

After lunch, we stopped at the Carl Hayden Visitor Center for Glen Canyon Dam. The visitors center sits on the rim of the canyon looking down on the power plant. The bridge spanning the gorge is Highway 89.

Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, near the town of Page. The dam was built to provide hydroelectricity and flow regulation from the upper Colorado River Basin to the lower. Its reservoir is called Lake Powell - named after the very John Wesley Powell who is celebrated by the museum in Page.  It is the second-largest artificial lake in the country, extending upriver well into Utah.

We got this view of the dam as we walked across the bridge.

The dam is named for Glen Canyon, a colorful series of gorges, most of which now lies under the reservoir. Looking downstream, we can still see what part of the Glen Canyon looked like.

Today was a great introduction to the area. We are looking forward to getting out and hiking a few canyons.  Stay tuned.