May 2023 – Exploring the Beauty of Lake Powell and Wupatki National Monument
The next part of our trip took us to Page Arizona where we had lunch at Big John’s Texas BBQ. The food was good and the staff, super friendly, they even took care of Sadie with her own water dish and a very delicious bone. After lunch we headed over to the Antelope Point Launch Ramp. We parked at the end of the ramp but we still had to hike down 20 feet to get to the lake. The water levels at Lake Powell are still very low. We fished around the kayakers and paddle boarders that were coming in off the water and even though there was a steady stream of people coming in the fishing was still very good.
Our next stop was the Glen Canyon Dam. You are able to see the water leaving Lake Powell and heading down the river towards the Grand Canyon. After we checked our the visitor center we headed over to Lake Powell’s -Lone Rock Beach. Lone Rock has been the focal point of many new update of Lake Powells low water level. During the normal levels the Lone Rock is surrounded water. When we got that the area around the rock was dry. We were able to find an area close to the water without getting stuck in the mud. We fished for awhile but on that end of the lake we were not very successful. It was getting later in the afternoon and we wanted to get to Williams Arizona before the end of the day. We headed out leaving Powell and headed towards Flagstaff taking a detour through Wupatki National Monument.
In the 1100s the Hopi people lived in this part of the country. The Wupatki National Monument has preserved their villages and homes that where made of limestone and sandstone. We stopped at the Box Canyon Pueblo & Lomaki Pueblo. You are able to get up close and personal with these structures. It is amazing to see these homes still standing. Our last stop for the day was the Wupatki Visitor Center & Wupatki Pueblo. When we got there the Visitor center was closed but we were still able to tour the massive Wipatki Pueblo. We loved how they were able to build their village about the natural rocks. The massive size of these Pueblos was impressive. Make sure to make your way down to see the blow hole. The air is coming from underground and was formed by earthquakes in the area. Cold air will blow out when air outside is warm and light, but when it is moist and heavy the hole will actually suck the air in. When we were there the air was cold and it was blowing out. We continued south along loop road where we went through the lava fields exiting in Flagstaff to the 89.
That afternoon we found a camping spot in the forest north west of Flagstaff. We set up camp and made a quick dinner on the back of the truck. We had one more day in Arizona. Come back for part 3 of our adventure as we hike to Gold King Mansion in Kingman AZ.