Really didn't have a lot of time, and the place was still in a certain amount of chaos due to the rain, so we opted for a fairly basic hike from the Visitors Center up one side of the lower canyon. One can drive a bit further up, then there is a shuttle bus which goes as far up as is possible (before The Narrows) but that hadn't been fully running yesterday. Anyway, our walk was just about right - 90-minute round trip and suitably spectacular. Would love to come back here one day and do it all properly.
The amount of water which had come down the canyon in the previous day or two was evident from the devastation on the walk, as it had been in the campsite - it must have been very scary. The road from the canyon out to the east - Route 9 - had been closed the day before too, for only the second time this year, but we were glad to find that reopened. It's pretty amazing - several switchbacks to get up the side of the canyon then a mile-long tunnel through to the other side.
So we drove for about 2 hours towards Page in Arizona - munching on Funyons - before hitting an almighty thunderstorm. We had seen it coming, of course - impressively dark clouds and serious bolts of lightning visible across the plain - but when the rain turned to hail it suddenly became a bit more worrying. I was concerned about the windscreen, but fortunately we got through it quickly and the van was not damaged.
Page seems like a nice little place - certainly god-fearing, as we lost count of the churches one after another on the main street.
There were three things we had planned here, the most significant of which was Antelope Canyon. One has to go on an organised tour with a Navajo guide, as it's within their lands, and we booked in for 3pm (having gained an hour between UT and AZ and so rolled into town at 1pm).
But the weather wasn't looking great, and when we returned for the tour we found the canyon had been closed for the rest of the day due to the rain, which was a disaster. Couldn't book anything for Monday as they were all full. Just one company offers unreserved tours, so we were advised to turn up at 8:00 in the morning. Fingers crossed.
So we turned to the second item on the Page list, which was Horseshoe Bend. 30-minute walk, few too many people but a stunning view.
Then the third thing - the Doctor Who connection. Two scenes had been filmed in the area, so the boys were keen to see the locations. One was the dam where Rory had been shot by Canton, which was Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado here at Page, sister dam to yesterday's Hoover. Couldn't walk on the wall, but close enough...
The second was Lake Silencio, where The Doctor had been 'killed' by The Impossible Astronaut - which was shot at Padre Bay on Lake Powell, created by the aforementioned dam. Unfortunately the bay is on the other side of what is the US's second-largest man-made lake (after Lake Mead at Hoover).
After all that we adjourned to the campsite to take advantage of the facilities. This was the first private campsite we'd stayed at (all others were government ones), so had all mod cons like a laundry and Wi-Fi. I updated the blog with the text I'd been writing, then managed to get a few photos up before we went into town for a very decent Thai meal. Sadly, when we got back I couldn't get online again - I think the hamster had stopped running.
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