From the Hanging Gardens we drive towards Lee’s Ferry, again, but this time we want to visit other parts of the National Park unit. We stop first at the Navajo Bridge, we really like the views from here and supposedly you can see condors here from time to time. We enter first the visitor center which has a small exhibit about the history of Lees Ferry and Lonely Dell Ranch. It is also quite likely visited by vandals given the instructions in the bathroom, for example: “DO NOT use the floor. Use the toilet.” Really?!
There are also some dinosaur prints in the visitor center but we are more interested today by their descendants, including the beautiful roadrunner enjoying his visit to the parking lot.
Next it is time to walk on the pedestrian bridge over the Colorado River enjoying the views and keeping an eye out for Condors. And to our surprise they are easy to spot with one sunning on the supports of the car bridge. This is one of the rarest birds in the world, especially after being impacted by the bird flu, and we can see it resting so close to us, quite magnificent. In fact at some point all the remaining birds were caught for safety and there was an intensive breeding program in captivity until they started to release the chicks in California and Arizona in a few flocks.
As we enjoy the views up- and downstream we notice a few more condors including a chick. Quite an embarassment of riches.
After Navajo bridge the next stop is Cathedral Wash. We didn’t know the day prior what all the stopped cars were doing in the parking lot but after a short investigation we now know about the slot canyon and intend to explore it to.
The start area is well done with a tunnel below the main road leading to the large Cathedral Wash. There are no signs of a slot canyon yet but we are certain they will appear soon.
And they do, the walls starts closing in and the rock wrens start to make their appearance, quite a few of them around Page.
And then it is time for the slot canyon part. It is quite beautiful and while not ultra deep it is deep enough to enjoy the snaking trail.
We stop multiple times to take photos and also to avoid obstacles along the way that become tougher and tougher the further downstream we go.
However the views make it worthwhile, it is a short hike in but the slot canyon is already intimidating, and we know there are bigger challenges downstream.
And at some point we hit a spot of trouble that we can’t pass while feeling safe so we decide to return, we really enjoyed the canyon but no reason to risk our limbs to going further downstream.
Returning we enjoy the beautiful rocks and canyon, it is quite a special one and even on a short hike we really liked the colors and the exploration. And now we have one more stop before our drive to Phoenix, historic Lee’s Ferry district.
