Horse riding American cowboy style on a ranch in Utah
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Glen Canyon Dam
Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River
Navajo Nation- dance and Antelope Canyon
Driving down to the Grand Canyon
Distance:
Total Distance:
"Do you want to go horse riding while we're at the ranch?"
"Hell yeh! Or mah naime ain't Buffalo Bill"
The rain gone we were up and packed early to take a pickup truck ride down to the horses. Our guide for the morning was an old cowboy rancher, complete with Stetson, chaps, and fine white mustachio. A coulee of us, myself included, got beautiful painted horses to ride (hair of tan and white blobs of colour arranged randomly). We were accompanied by two visitor who'd brought their own horses so as to ride in the valley by the ranch. They would only follow us down the road before going up on top of the hills. They were with us long enough for a chat though- turned out one of them flies drones for the Air Force! Don't mess with her if you what to keep your house.
We plodded along through brush and scrub, through little, dry, rivers (despite last night's rain) and into the valley. We passed an old Mormon house. There had once been 6 households living and farming in the valley. That was a hundred years ago and the house is now rotting, with a little graffiti and a selection of beer bottles to mark rowdy visitors.
Down by the valley wall we'd see another sign of such visitors at a spot known as Break Up Point. A chair and enough ancient glass beer bottles to fill a transit van make the spot. Apparently the Cowboys used to get letters from girlfriends and wives telling them to leave the job and return home- or else the relationship was over. Yet it seems many stayed and drank away their sorrows.
There were a few other sights to see. The valley walls have a number of features that have gotte weird and imaginative names. Clearly some people have been out here too long. I struggled to see the wolf and the old Mexican. The cup cake was very clear though-an abnormally in the straight lines of the rock layers which looked like the classic picture of an American cup cake with frosting.
The riding style itself was like I had done on the ranch in eastern Australia. This western style uses a saddle designed for long rides across country, making it more like sitting in a chair, with a fat pommel to hold onto. The stirrups were thick leather. As reins there were two cords. In Aus these had been seperate ropes. Here they were two leather strips tied together. Both were held low down in ones non-dominant hand. Turning as standard- pull right for right, left for left. Pressure with the offside leg helped too- left foot in a right turn, right foot in a left turn- helped too, which was mildly confusing given that I'm used to the other way round. None of it really mattered though. These horse knew what the deal was and just plodded along the trail without too much management. Except for preventing them from eating. I told Charlie, my horse, not to do that early on and he never tried again. Others in the group weren't so lucky.
After the ranch we headed over to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (like a national park but people with enough money are allowed to have fun). Here Lake Powell was created after WWII by the building of the impressively large Glen Canyon Dam. It's nearly the size of the Hoover Dam and provides power for the local states, whilst also saving up water for them. The lake itself was once advertised heavily as a place to come play with boats, and especially water skiing.
Favourite Part of the Trip So Far:
Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado river
The Recreation Area spreads up the tributaries of much of the river. These have all carved out great valleys in the sandstone of the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado river is the main river though, and so has carved out the greatest canyon. And the Horseshoe bend is the most impressive section. A meander that looks to take the river a mile off course has left both a 300 m cleft in the rock with sheer sides, and a central rock that stands immovably above the river.
It's just huge. I couldn't take it all in. We sat with feet over the edge eating lunch, then simply starred for a while. Ant sized people were in the bottom, a few standing on the shore, many more on rafts and speed boats enjoying the river. The all looked so tiny. Finally I tried to get some idea of perspective by trying to walk either side so as to see the edges of the central rock. A quarter of a mile either side I could just about see down onto the whole breadth of the river as it turned into the meander. It was breathtaking.
I was out of time though. Arriving back at the meeting point a few minutes later it was worth it. Great place. Hopefully I've got some worthy photos.
In the little tourist town of Page we were in for two treats.
We were on the edge of the Navajo Nation. This is to much a degree a nation within a nation. It is larger than the four smallest states combined, and even has its own police and laws- such as no alcohol being allowed in the nation as an attempt to stop the alcoholism that is prevalent in native people's the world over. There's not all that many jobs out here either, but, as well as mining and such there is the tourist trade. Some of them make native items such as dolls, musical instruments, and ornamental weapons which are sold in the shops. Others work as tour guides and some do impressive displays of native dance.
Treat one of the afternoon was a display of the Navajo Hoop Dance. Performed by young men as a courtship dance it encorporates the use of many hula hoops used in many ways to create different shapes and images. Anything from butterflies and birds to Cowboys and their horses are now included. The guy we saw was incredible. He could pick up his additional hoops from the floor with his foot, starting with one then ending with seven, creating new shapes and acts as he gathered each additional hoop. In the background traditional music played and the bells around his ankles. He was outstanding. Hopefully YouTube will have plenty of Navajo Hoop Dance videos for you to watch.
Next up from the Navajo was a tour of Antelope Canyon. This very narrow, tall, canyon was once used as a place to take the family for a picnic. It's is slightly damp and very cool, a welcome change from the heat outside. Then in the 90's someone arrived with a camera and began shooting some of the world's most sought after photographs. One even became the world's most expensive photo ever bought. Between the thin stream of light that sometimes comes from a over, the closeness of the space, and the colours of the rock I can understand why good photos have been made here. Not the world's greatest, but then I've not got more money than sense.
The canyon has been formed by water passing through a narrow crack in a wide barrier of sandstone. On either side of the barrier is a dusty, sandy, dry, river bed, used by the tour vehicles as a road to bring in tourists. When it rains here, most often, it is a thunder storm of biblical proportions. This can occur many miles away, but throws out enough water to fill the river bed in a flash flood, tearing out rocks and trees, and throwing them into the narrow crack. Between water and debris the crack has been warn away forming a channel which varies from 2-12 feet in width. One other factor in the beauty of the space is the variation in the cavern, both along its length and its height. The roof opens and closes, the floor height varies each year as sand is removed or settles here. The lower walls can be too narrow for people to cross whilst above us the upper areas can bow out into huge pockets. There's no order and no regularity throughout it.
At the far end our guide allowed us some time to walk outside the canyon, taking pictures of this end. He also entertained us by playing on his native pipe flute- an instrument that looks like a wooden recorder- before taking us back through and into town on the back of a Navajo tour company pickup truck.
It was dark by the time we got to the Grand Canyon, so that was my first sight of it. A dark void and a few local mini-mesas. More to be done tomorrow!
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