It's About the (RV) Journey....: Cruise through canyons...........

There are several guided boat tours on Lake Powell, and at this time of year, only a few are offered. We decided to go on the Canyons Adventure Tour, which cruised through two of the many canyons in Lake Powell. We had a beautiful day...not too hot, not too cold.....and we were happy that there were enough people to actually take the tour.

The cruise begins at the Wahweap Marina at Lake Powell Resort. As we drove through the parking lot, we were shocked that there were so few cars. The hotel seemed almost empty! Everything is open-the restaurants, gift shop, pool-but there seemed to be very few guests. So we were very happy to see the our tour would not be cancelled due to lack of patrons.

heading out for the cruise on Lake Powell

the views were spectacular

This tour explores two different canyons. To get to the Navajo Canyon, we cruised through a channel, passing by beautiful rock formations. In the distance, you can see Navajo Mountain-still covered with snow! We each had headsets, so we could listen to the history and geology of the area. It was pretty interesting.

That's snow up ahead!

Shhh...I'm listening to the headset

heading through the channel...it gets narrower and narrower

lovely

a couple of kayakers...watch that wave!

a picture perfect day cruising through Navajo Canyon

As we got deeper into Navajo Canyon, we could see the the "tapestry wall" straight ahead. The formations on the rock, and the coloring lends depth to the wall, and you can use your imagination to make out different things. A few of the things people see are the green shark, and the elephant with the tusk right above it. The guide pointed this out to us. I saw a totally different shark-haha! It was beautiful though...this "tapestry wall".

Tapestry wall in Navajo Canyon...can you see the shark and elephant?

use your imagination to see what you can see

heading back out of the canyon

Afterwards, we went down to the cabin and got ourselves some lemonade. The staff encourages everyone to keep drinking, and they supply water, lemonade and coffee. The area is a high desert, and its very easy to get dehydrated, especially in the sun. The lemonade was delicious!

time to relax inside .... or not

the lemonade is really refreshing

another shot of the "tapestry wall"

Cheers!

On our way to Antelope Canyon, we passed a marina with a lot of private houseboats. Some of them really looked awesome, and were probably not owned by your average Joe. Just sayin'. We also passed the rental boats, which seem all ready to go! Houseboating is a very popular activity on the lake...many people rent one for the week and explore all the canyons on their own. You can see that the boat itself looks like fun, what with the slide off the 2nd floor! The temperatures in the summer are in the 100's, so I'm sure that slide comes in handy for a refreshing break.

not too bad!

so many private boats

these dudes on this one looked pretty young!

ready for a summer of fun

love the slides! Bet that's fun!

No pressure.........

another view....since its off season, they are not on the lake

the rentals

this is more our price point....the kayak....ahahhaha

Antelope Canyon was much narrower than Navajo Canyon. We passed a couple of kayakers, but I'm sure in the summer there is a lot of boat traffic! We loved looking at the rock formations and the colors. Its all about the light, and the way it hits the walls. Beautiful!

heading to Antelope Canyon

so pretty

Isn't this just great?

the rock formations are pretty cool too

so peaceful

The walls in this canyon seemed much higher as well. Its really a special place, and so peaceful. Even on the tour boat! The water looked green in most spots. The colors of everything change....really! Sometimes the water is blue, sometimes green, and sometimes brown. The rocks, too, change with the light, or lack of it.

very quiet in this canyon

the water is like glass

and the walls are closer together and higher

very cool

lovely green water with the pink rocks

the canyon is getting narrower

The boat turns around when it can't go anymore. As you can see from the pictures, the canyon gets very narrow and you can see the beach. I believe you can get out and walk if you are kayaking...but not sure how far it goes. I would imagine it would be easy to get lost too!

this is the end....see the sand beach ahead?

As we were leaving the canyon, another tour boat came through. This one was different looking, and started at Antelope Marina, where the houseboats were. We also passed one lone duck that seemed to be enjoying the serenity as well!

a much smaller boat heading through Antelope Canyon

things are just ducky

The clouds started forming as we left the canyon and headed for the Glen Canyon Dam. We enjoyed the view of the rock formations as seen from the water. The water was very clear and clean-looking. What a lovely couple of hours on the lake!