April 23, 2014 Monument Valley, Lower Antelope Canyon, Glen Canyon

Moo from Monument Valley

We started the day early with breakfast at the hotel - since the hotel was totally booked so we wanted the best choices and a place to sit! We had quite a drive again, but unlike most of our travels there was actually a lot of traffic.  A guy Mike works with recommended visiting Monument Valley. Monument Valley lies entirely within the Navajo Indian Reservation on the Utah/Arizona border. The cost was $5/person to get in.  There is a 17-mile driving path to take - it was not comfortable - very rocky and extremely bumpy. Cars were driving down the road, but I would recommend a higher clearance since you could see places where cars scraped their bottoms on rocks. After seeing rocks for so many days there really was not anything too special about these ones, in my opinion. It takes about two to four hours to make it through the one way looped road. There is one hiking path along the driving loop, but we did not venture out.

Navajo NM - Betatakin Dwelling

The next stop was at a NPS site - Navajo National Monument. There was a short video, which was very informative. The site also has a short walk along the Sandal Trail that leads to an overview of the old cliff dwelling – the Betatakin dwelling. It is believed that about 120 people lived in the dwelling area. Apparently, they do offer walks down to the dwellings, but I did not notice when they are offered. That walk is limited to a certain number of people and it takes a few hours (per the video).

Lower Antelope Canyon

It was still early afternoon, we decided to check out the Lower Antelope Canyon - one word to describe - AWESOME! The canyon was discovered not all that long ago by an Indian woman that was watching her sheep flock. The canyon entrance and exit is a very short walk from the area that you pay.  The operation is called Ken’s Guided Tour of Lower Antelope Canyon.  It was $28 for the tour and Navajo Park Permit.  Based on my research, the best times to go to between 11am-1pm, we were there later than that but still thought it was great. There is currently a building being built – which would be nice since then they would probably have real bathrooms instead of port-a-potties. There are a lot of stairs and tight spaces throughout the tour. The guide we had helped everyone set up their cameras to get the best shots - I was amazed by the number of people that do not know how to change the settings! The tour is not really guided – you more less along at your own pace and snap away. I would HIGHLY recommend this tour. There were young kids on the tour and they all seemed to manage okay. It should be noted that there is also Upper Antelope Canyon tours –those tours cost a little more and per tripadvisor reviews is a lot more crowded. I also believe that the slot canyon is wider.

Lower Antelope Canyon

Lower Antelope Canyon from up top

We still had a little time left in the day, we went to the Glen Canyon area. We watched a video on how the dam was built at the Carl Hayden Visitor Center. There are also two other videos available, the schedule was posted outside of the auditorium. While at the visitor center, we also reserved a spot for the 8:30 tour the next morning. You pay $5/person when you check in for the tour.

Bridge in Page, AZ

We checked out a BBQ place for dinner – Big John’s BBQ - it was just okay. I had the pork sandwich, not greasy or fatty, but a bit dry. We went to the Bigger Dipper for ice cream - good and very large scoops!

Horseshoe Bend

We checked out Horseshoe Bend, but we got there a little early for the sunset. The hike to the edge was very sandy and there were a lot of bugs flying around. We also checked out the Dam overlook behind the Denny's restaurant.