Wednesday, October 16 -- Glen Canyon River Trip

Today was our "easy" day of sightseeing. Fortunately Arizona opened the Grand Canyon and also Glen Canyon Recreation areas, despite the continuing government shutdown.  So our raft trip was on!  After a more leisurely morning, we boarded the vans at about 10:15 for our short drive to Lee's Ferry.  We all boarded a large inflatable, motorized pontoon raft for the fifteen mile round trip upriver through beautiful Glen Canyon. The sunny blue skies and calm water gave us pictures of the reflected cliffs along the river.  Our raft guide's narration told us of the natural features and area history of the canyon. 

 

The raft landed at Petroglyph Beach where we had a short walk to a place where ancient petroglyphs are etched into the "desert varnish" on the stone wall.  The raft company provided us with sack lunches which we enjoyed on the beach or the boat before rafting back to the docks.  

Mike then took us on a short tour of the historic Lee's Ferry complex and the nearby Lonely Dell Ranch.  The location, the only place a wagon road could be built to connect Utah and northeastern Arizona, was settled by John Doyle Lee who was sent by the Mormon community to establish the first Colorado River crossing here.  The ferry operated from 1872 to 1928.  Today this area is the starting point and "Mile Zero" for multi-raft trips through the Grand Canyon.

Lonely Dell, at the mouth of the Paria River, was the home for the families who operated the ferry service.

  

We finished our relaxing day with dinner “out,” driving a few miles down the road to the Cliff Dwellers restaurant for dinner.