Wednesday 5/22
Kaibab, AZ – Page, AZ
Before leaving lovely Kaibab we downloaded several selections from Pitchfork’s top 50 Albums of the 90’s and 2000’s. This has proved a fun decision. Our drive to the Grand Canyon was Boards of Canada’s Geogaddi and Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion. Thoughts were provoked.
Our arrival at the Grand Canyon’s North Rim was signaled by a blanketing plunge into the abyss. Our Kaibabian friends tell us that the Utarizona super state is most often hot this time of year, but we are the harbingers of the end times, and the storms follow us. At the North Rim of the Canyon Grande these manifested into a thicc, wet, white, cuddling pillow entirely obscuring any views of theoretical colorado river cut canyons. It sleeted and spat and dabbled in snow. The gift shop lacked quality stickers.
The drive to Antelope Canyon was Arcade Fire’s Funeral, Modest Mouse’s The Moon and Antarctica, and Radiohead’s OK Computer. Heads were bopped.
Surprise cliff dwellings (really hill dwellings, we were not very high up the mountain) demanded a stop. I am not sure where we were, but I recommend that anyone making this drive keep eyes out for this. Large rocks perch on much smaller rocks, and the structures built through them are homey as any I’ve seen.
Horseshoe bend caught us similarly off guard. Certainly we’ve seen digital renderings of this most photogenic of river bends, but somehow we’d forgotten it in our pin drops. Parking cost five dollars, the canyon rim swarmed with instagram interested visitors, and the view was jaw dropping. The clouds parted enough to let a spotlight catch some paddlers and shine a straight up double rainbow. It was all a bit extra.
At this point we were about 20 minutes out of Antelope Canyon and decided to check the Google for entrance fees. It became clear that we would pass on Antelope Canyon.
We slept outside Page Utah next to Lake Powel. The significance of these names would soon become clear (catch us next time to find out more!)
**Musical suggestion of the day – The Comet is Coming’s Trust in The Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery has brought the decade’s production aesthetics to kick ass jazz compositions and its completely awesome
Van-ish 