Well, that didn’t take long. After only a month or so of writing my daily journal I completely dropped the ball last week and didn’t write a single entry. Instead of beating myself up, I’m just going to roll with it. Since I still have no motivation to write and the last thing I want is to be posting about things that happened weeks or months ago, I’m going to simply share some photos along with a few words about last week.
Our backyard view of the Vermillion Cliffs at Lee’s Ferry Campground
Hiking down the south side of Cathedral Wash
Our lack of research on this trail led us to believe it would be a walk through a normal desert wash. It was not!
A few areas required scrambling down and around pour overs. This was the biggest one. After a few failed attempts, we found a safe way to bypass this 30-foot drop.
Gorgeous!
The hike ended on the shores of the Colorado River.
Looks inviting
A few days later we hiked north up the same wash
About 1.5 miles up the wash we ran into this very tall pour over.
Fortunately, we found a way up and around
We hiked up the wash for another few miles before turning around. Lingering smoke from a nearby prescribed fire partially obscured our view of the Vermillion Cliffs.
Is it just me, or does this rock look like fudge striped ice cream?
Not hard to understand why they’re called the Vermillion Cliffs
Lonely Dell Ranch
One of the historic buildings near the old ferry site. Also…we’re about to climb to the top of that cliff.
Can you see the trail?
The Colorado River looks very blue from above
Still climbing…
About halfway up we noticed smoke rolling in. We knew it was from a prescribed burn and didn’t feel in danger, but we also didn’t want to breathe in all that smoke.
We pushed on and as we neared the top the wind picked up and soon we were surrounded by smoke. It’s impossible to see because of the smoke but the city of Page is normally visible from here.
Wow, that happened very fast!
The way down was not nearly as scenic.
The Colorado looking not so blue anymore.
By the next morning, the smoke was gone.
Lee’s Ferry Campground in Marble Canyon, AZ was a fantastic place to spend the week. While most RVs crowded near the bottom of the campground to get a glimpse of the river below, we took a spot in the upper half where the sites were farther apart and the drone of generator noise at a minimum.
This Casita got the site with the best river view. They also brought along what looks to be a noisy contractor style generator which makes me very happy that we chose a spot on the opposite end of the campground!
With a variety of trails nearby and some interesting historical spots, we really enjoyed the area and are putting it on our list of “must return” places.
8 comments
When your traveling days are over, consider publishing a picture book called: “Travels With Amanda”. Your blog is TOPS! Don’t forget to give credit to Tim!
Thanks! Yes, Tim gets lots of credit for being my “trail model”.
With trails like that to distract I can see why journaling and/or blogging would fall by the wayside! Clearly this area needs to be explored more! I love it when a trail turns out to be even more interesting than one expects.
It was such a surprisingly awesome area! We came here in search of warmth and maybe some nice views of the river and found so much more!
We owned a Casita for 8 years, little bit cramped, took turns moving around inside, now in a 19′ Bambi. Great pictures almost like being there…..Dave
I’ve always admired Casitas. They do seem a bit more cramped than even the small Airstreams though. The last time Tim went in one he couldn’t stand up all the way so that option is out for us!
Thanks for sharing this great spot! Look forward to meeting you both on the road one of these days and going for a hike.
I can’t believe we haven’t run into you guys yet. Hopefully, we can make it happen one day!