Day #3 Waves & Hoodoos

I couldn‘t sleep anymore at 5am, so I hurried to the parking lot of Horseshoe Bend. My gps app decided it didn‘t want to track my route, but whatever – it was a fairly simple hike. And then I saw it:

The view. The peacefulness. The big calm this gorgeous canyon is radiating. The Colorado river dotted with greens along its banks. Giant deep red and dark brown rock faces, turning into a glowing wall when the sun hits them. I couldn‘t stop staring. Horseshoe Bend is incredible.

Somehow I avoided all the crowds and had the Canyon for myself. I extended the hike by walking farther on one side of the cliff to come across a smaller version of „The Wave“. Wind and water carve beautiful shapes and lines in the sandstone.

The sun decided to follow me mercilessly on my way to the Glen Canyon Dam Overlook, the Wahweap Viewpoint and the Toadstool Hoodoos. On the latter hike, there were more people – with all their „annoyingness“ 🙂 The „Hoodoos“ made up for it – another example of fragile rocks shaped into sculptures a billion of years.

A ranger at Pariah Contact Station informed me that there might be flashfloods due to a thunderstorm tomorrow, so I didn‘t want to hang around in Page any longer – Buckskin Gulch Canyon has to wait! Roadtrip tiiiiime!

Slowly, after many turns and ups and downs the landscape changed into something more green – farms, pastures, forrests and creeks. Lots of huge pick up trucks, BBQ western saloons and shops selling Native American artifacts.

After looking for a while, I found a calm spot for my mobile home next to a river and hidden from the road. It was very quiet…perhaps too quiet for me… I got a bit scared, all alone out there and I’ve firmly locked myself in the car – no fresh country air for me tonight. I tend to have an overimaginative fantasy which is detrimental to good camping evenings. So what is so scary? 1. Crazy people with guns 2. Animals who are probably more scared of me than the other way round 3. Creepy folklore (I‘m looking at you, Skinwalkers…).