It was our last day before switching hotels, so everyone got up extra early to hurriedly get their luggage outside and into the bus. Our first stop was the Toadstool Hoodoos. We learned about how different rocks erode at different rates, which created mushroom or toadstool-like hoodoos. We got to climb around the area on rocks and enjoyed another wonderful view before setting off for the Colorado river.
After a long ride, we arrived at Lee’s Ferry and were quickly sent to the boat waiting for us beneath the Glen Canyon dam. Our boat driver, George, was very kind and also surprisingly from New Jersey. The river ride was very interesting. We learned a lot about the history of the river, including the people who initially mapped it and the process of rock tarnish and erosion that led to the views we saw today. We stopped half way through to look at historic petroglyphs.
On the left, there are depictions of what scientists believe to be rock sheep; in the center, there were pronghorn antelope, and on the right, there was a symbol of life in one of the ancient cultures. George told us about which tribes drew which petroglyphs and the time difference between all of them. A few students decided to jump in the freezing Colorado River and swim around for a bit before we set off again. The rest of the boat ride was an exhilarating race against the rainy, sandy, windy weather. When we finally hit land, everyone was running back to the bus to escape the cold.
Once we had calmed down, we headed to the Glen Canyon bridge to see the endangered California Condors perched there. Apparently, underneath the bridge is a popular nesting spot for the birds. Since the bridge is part of the Navajo reservation, we also had the chance to buy handmade jewelry from Navajo artists.
After that, we went back to see the Colorado River from another perspective at Horseshoe Bend. It was still a bit rainy, but it didn’t spoil the view at all. From where we were, you could see a split in the weather from clouds to sunshine. Once it started to drizzle, we walked back to the bus. Leo, our wonderful driver, had gotten us mini Häagen-Dazs bars. We all made sure to thank him tons (Leo if you’re reading this we love you). After, we did trivia for the remaining extra ice cream bars. Then, we had a very long drive to Arizona. There was more trivia and a lot of information about stars, space, and time dilation.
Finally, we saw light at the end of the tunnel: Big. Foot. Barbeque. We were an hour late, but they still had food out for us which was very sweet of them. Because Arizona doesn’t participate in Daylight’s savings, our time was completely thrown off. We were able to shop in the mall for a bit afterwards, go to Walmart for supplies, and then arrived at our new hotel.
Good night and happy trails!