This was a big day, a 14 roll kind of day. I was up at 4:30am, as I had to check out of the hotel, and make about an hour long drive to my destination, Lipan Point, on the East Rim Drive. I arrived in time to catch dawn's first light, at left.

Lipan Point is a wonderful place for sunrise, with panoramic views, and excellent terrain. Unlike many of the points with sheer drop-offs, this one is more gradual, with varied vegetation. It was probably my favorite spot.

This may have had something to do with the fact I quite literally had the whole place to myself. The view here is similar to the one at Desert View, without the Watchtower and its attendant crowds. You can look north towards the canyon's origins (the first image on this page) , or look west down the majority of its length (at left).

It was a perfect ending to my leisurely stay in the Grand Canyon. But it was time to move on to an equally unique and visually stunning place, one where my stay would be much less leisurely, if I could get in at all. Shooting like a madman would be a more appropriate description.

I had to hustle to meet my appointment to tour Antelope Canyon. Unfortunately, it appeared that I could have devoted a full day to the terrain between the Grand Canyon and Page, but I had only allowed a couple of hours. As often happens on a trip like this, I drove right past things I would normally kill to shoot back home, but bypass here to reach a greater good.

Here you see that "greater good." It deserves far more attention than I could give it on this page, as it is difficult, if not impossible, to convey the true essence of this place. So I've given  Antelope Canyon  its own lengthy page, filled with pictures.

You must go. I promise you won't regret it....

Coming over the pass into Page, Arizona, one is first wow-ed by the scenery around Lake Powell ... and then you wonder, "what's that brown cloud?" It emanates from the Navajo Generating Plant, a coal powered station a few miles from a huge electricity generating dam. It was, for me, an appropriate introduction to the area. My apologies in advance to those who live there, or profit from the power generated there, or float their boats there. You're not going to like this section.

The natural beauty here is obvious. Perhaps that's why I found the impact of man so distressing. From a purely photographic viewpoint, it was frustratingly difficult to find a location and angle to shoot the environment without including power lines, houseboats, or huge RV's. For many, those are valid uses of this area, but not the reason that I came.

All historical commentary indicates that Glen Canyon once rivaled, if not surpassed, the Grand Canyon in beauty and granduer. So, we build a huge dam in it, turn canyon into reservoir, fill it with houseboats to litter the shore with human waste (no, that's not a Mars bar, son), and name the result after the man who explored and named the obliterated canyon. When it's quiet at night, if you listen closely, you can hear John Wesley Powell spinning in his grave, at a rate that might generate more power than Glen Canyon Dam does.

The irony of this place colored my experience. Plus, I did not have the luxury of time to explore, nor did Mother Nature grant me very good weather (but I shot it anyway, out of spite). I know many people both enjoy and profit from this area. But when the Sierra Club recently made the proposal that Lake Powell be drained, which was called "ridiculous" by no less than the sole Native American in Congress, I couldn't help but think that the proposal was no more ridiculous than the imprint man has placed on this land. Your mileage may vary.

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