This morning we did the short drive over to Page in Arizona.
Page is the place everyone comes to, to rent houseboats on Lake Powell. The lake was created by the Glen Canyon Dam. As we drove to our campground there were all kinds of storage lots just full of the houseboats. I have to get a better picture.
Our campground is OK, just another gravel lot but because of the heat we have the windows all covered up in insulation so we can’t see out anyway.
The site is not very level.
When I was planning the trip I had though we would stay on a scenic campground on the shores of Lake Powell called Lone Rock Beach but there are no hookups. With this heat we need our air conditioning so we came here.
Once we were setup and had lunch we headed to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area visitor’s center at the dam.
We signed up for a tour of the dam but we had to wait an hour to get a spot so I wandered around to take some pictures.
Before the dam was built this area was literally the middle of nowhere. To get from one side of the canyon to the other was a 200 mile drive so the first they did was build this bridge.
There is a walkway so that you can go out on it.
Every once in a while there were slots cut in the fence so that you could take pictures.
Towards the dam.
And down river away from the dam.
Across to the other side.
To get down there, they must drive through a 2 mile tunnel that climbs up and exits in Page.
There is a rafting company that starts their trips just past the bridge. They have to use the same tunnel to get down.
Before the tour we had to go through a metal detector and could only take a camera and our wallets. They told us we could take pictures of anything but the security guards. I am not sure why that mattered. During the tour there was always a guard in sight watching us.
Once the tour started we first took an elevator down and walked across the top of the dam.
One of the giant cement buckets used to build the dam.
They are currently replacing all the turbines at a cost of $10 million a piece. This is an old one.
A somewhat distorted vertical panorama.
The water level is low but not as bad as it has been. The guide said that there was a lot of snow this winter and the lake is currently rising by about 1 foot every day.
We then took another elevator to the bottom.
The green area is grass. They originally just covered the penstocks with sand as they went from the dam to the powerhouse. They then found that they got powerful swirling winds here so they had to plant the grass to keep the dust down.
The bridge over the powerhouse.
And then in to see the generators. The third one in is having its turbine replaced currently.
We then had to retrace our steps back up to the visitor’s center, where we watched a movie about the dam’s construction.
On the way home Jennie found the cure for her Walmart withdrawal symptoms. The last one we had been near was on our way to Moab and Arches National Park.
The highs are going to be in the high 30s all week so we will have to try and do our exploring in the mornings.
Lake Powell! We camped near Lake Powell in mid-July. Man it was hot and toasty at night. We said the next time we come back here in the summer it will be in an RV with a/c!! :-)
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