USA 2019: Mexican Hat to Page

The drive from Mexican Hat to Page was probably one of the most boring we've ever experienced. Mile after mile through rather featureless scrub desert with few redeeming features. The small towns we passed through were uniformly dreary and the landscape was not enlivened with particularly interesting geology. Neither was there any agriculture to ponder upon. In the entire 150 miles, I spotted one herd of goats and a few cattle wandering the range. Not a place I'd want to live.

We were able to check into our motel early and then after that we had a spree of tourist things - with visits to Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, the Glen Canyon Dam and a view point recommended for its spectacular sunsets. We went for it.

On the way out of Mexican Hat, I stopped to take a photograph of the many flowering Yuccas by the side of the road. When reviewing the image, I noticed the plastic litter to the bottom right. Sadly, this is typical of what we saw in many/most places. Pristine countryside besmirched with little. Even in the most remote areas, we were not far away from a discarded can or glass bottle or plastic something or other. USA, you have a problem. It's not just the way litter is thrown away, it's also the poor recycling facilities we saw and the dominance of the throw-away culture. OK, the UK has its problems but, on the face of what we've seen on our travels, we are much further forward with the whole recycling issue.

And so to Antelope Canyon. It's basically a slot canyon carved out of the rock by the action of water and wind. Because of the geology, the canyon is an amazing place of smooth surfaces, curves and filtered light. A truly unique place.

At this point, we were perhaps 70 - 80' below ground. The wind was blowing quite fiercely at ground level and we were regularly showered with sand and small pebbles coming down. A weird experience.

More waves and folds in the rocks.

Yet more.

Mrs P demonstrating how wide the canyon was for most of its length.

This formation was, apparently, the inspiration for the Windows 10 Microsoft Wave. Or so the guide said. Do I believe him? Not really. As with many of other formations, it does have a fanciful name but I tended to ignore all those.

And here's why it's called a 'slot canyon'. It's like a slot in the ground. Back in the mid 1990s, the owner of this land bought it for grazing his cattle. Then he discovered the slot canyon complex and hit upon a tourist goldmine. The cattle were consigned to burgers and he cultivated cash instead.

Our guide was a bit of an ornithologist and pointed out this Raven's nest high on the canyon sides.

Another nest he pointed out was that of a bird almost totally adapted to the environs of the canyon and this was the Navajo Mud Swift or, in the native language, HaPullNeahThehaneOtheryenaOne. Here you can see its nest, such as it is, built of mud. It extracts what nutriment it can from the mud and its muddy droppings can be seen streaking the rocks below the nest.

The Navajo Mud Swift spends its entire life cycle down in the canyon and that could be its downfall. Because of its muddy diet, its eggs are muddy coloured. Look closely at this photograph and see if you can spot three eggs. I bet you can't. And the bird has the same problem. Because it lives in the relative darkness of the canyon, its eyesight is very poor and it has problems detecting its eggs. It's the only bird that lays eggs and, because it can't distinguish the eggs from the background, never actually sits on them to help them incubate. It relies on the ambient heat to do this for them and, once the eggs are hatched, it can spot the young and only then does it go back and tend to them. This unique arrangement puts the birds in a rather precarious environmental niche.

A flowering broad-leafed cactus. I like cacti, especially when they are in flower.

Horseshoe Bend, where the Colorado River turns back on itself, just like a horseshoe. An impressive sight and one we shared with countless others. A wide angle lens would have got more of it in, or a 10' stepladder, neither of which I had with me at the time. Mrs P objected to my suggestion of letting me sit on her shoulders so I could get a better shot.

From a viewpoint near the dam, we could look back down the Glen Canyon with the Colorado River at its foot. We were about 1500' above it at this point.

The Glen Canyon Dam across the Colorado. Behind its walls is Lake Powell, where we'll be cruising tomorrow.

And then to Wahweap Point to view the sunset. Impressive, eh? But hardly the spectacle we were promised.

The reason for Page's existence is the nearby dam. It (Page) was founded in 1957 as a housing community for workers and their families during the dam's construction. It's 'Old Quarter' where we stayed in the Red Rock Motel was full of the original workers' houses, now coverted into a string of motels. If you are old enough, recall the collections of prefabs that used to be seen around everywhere. It reminded me of those. Fancy, an Old Quarter that was ten years younger than me.