As
is our usual custom we were 'up and at it' at 06:30 hrs in Page, with the crew
splitting up for the Antelope Slot Canyon guided tour. Simon went on the 8
o'clock early morning departure and Q&A took the 10:30 hrs 'special' tour, specifically structured for
'real photographers'. This is one of the great photo opportunities on the
Colorado Plateau, and much soughtafter.
The tours are run by the Navajo tribe and the amazing combination of sunlight
& sandstone produce some almost ethereal, yet otherworldly images, which
mere words fail to do justice. So, given my limited vocabulary, I shall refrain from doing so. Suffice to
say, the Navajo do know how to 'pack them in'!!
As always, there are a few minutes to spare only in colonel Q's almost militaristic
timetable. So, after grabbing a salad from Safeway, we immediately left Page, in
blazing sunshine, for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Despite
Q's brave & provocative words of the previous day's blog, he quite
unexpectedly developed some driving skills, and drove below, or near, the speed
limit for much of the route. This was in the place of his usual headlong
maniacal F1 antics, conducted whilst simultaneously taking photos, programming
the Garmin GPS and eating or drinking. He became 'Mother' for the day!
Huge flashfloods had washed away the main road out of Page, so we were forced to
detour almost 70 miles to re-join I-89. The quest for the "Canyon
sunset shot of the day" was now a race against time! We eventually entered the park, with the scenery
immediately giving way from the brutal sandstone cliffs & brush-covered
prairies to soft rolling meadows and woodlands. These comprised a mix of perennial elms and evergreen pines, with the elms covered in Autumnal yellow leaves. We passed several
groups of Mule Deer grazing nonchalantly at the roadside, barely registering
our presence as we stopped to photograph them. Fortunately, we are experiencing glorious weather, with middle 90's (mid 30's)
during the day, dependant upon altitude of course. After arriving at the
Iconic Grand Canyon Lodge, we dumped our bags and rushed down to the sunset
boulevards to catch the fading rays across the canyons.
The impending US government shutdown, triggered by
their precipitous dive over the fiscal cliff, hung ominously over our schedule,
as the first casualties of the gridlock are the National Parks. The
budget for 2014 has not been agreed, yet
despite the fact that the Parks actually make money for the government, they are the first to be shutdown.....go figure that one?? It was finally confirmed over dinner that the Parks were closing, with no new visitors permitted to enter. However, we soon learned that those already in the park would be allowed to stay until the Thursday - what unbelievable luck! We thus elected to extend our stay at the Lodge, and watched a mass exodus
of other very irate tourists stampede for the exit. A strange way to run a country
and even stranger way to encourage tourists!
As ever, we were wholly unperturbed by these disruptions & challenges and
settled into a couple of bottles of Californian Pinot Grigio to review our
contingency options. To smile in the face of adversity, such a British trait,
is Q's mantra. So, as we tucked into a sumptuous meal in the main dining room,
the Canyon itself seemed to be staring back at us in all its splendour,
questioning our next move...... We would not disappoint her....Well, mine was straight to bed as I finally succumbed to Sheldon's alien strain of man flu (Astrid appeared to have immunity) and collapsed into my pit to produce gargantuan volumes of space slime, develop a fever and be in desperate need of some TLC and medication. As you would expect, none was forthcoming..... The Morgan's follow a brutal Spartan code of honour devoid of even the merest hint of humanity. It was therefore a long night of coughing & spluttering.... punctuated by dashes to the throne room.
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