A Grand Day in the Grand Staircase

What a day!  We left Brian’s Head, UT just ahead of the snow – roads were clear when we left, but Ken drove through a pretty heavy snowfall the first hour or so on the road.  First stop  – Johnson Canyon, where we came across a flock (?) of wild turkeys fattening themselves up for Thanksgiving, what’s left of the set of the 1950’s TV series, Gunsmoke, and enjoyed beautiful scenery, including views of the Grand Staircase in the distance.  Along the way we also met up with some new friends, cows who were not particularly interested in letting us through!

A little further down the road we paid a visit to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, where we got some great pictures of Lake Powell and the impressive Glen Canyon Dam.

Next came a stop at the breathtakingly beautiful Horseshoe Bend Overlook – that’s the picture with the turquoise-colored water surrounding the giant rock feature.  It’s a little less than a mile from the parking lot to the ridge, over some pretty steep terrain, but it was totally worth the effort.  That’s the Colorado River flowing through the Glen Canyon.

Finally, we took one last detour before heading to our final destination of the day, Flagstaff, AZ.  The final three pictures were taken in the Vermillion Cliffs area of Utah.

We’re seeing such beautiful country on this drive.  This is the perfect area of the country to bring your kids to get them interested in geology, or to help you fall in love with this great land of ours.  And it’s a humbling reminder that no matter how great the masterpiece man creates, nothing beats the work of God.