The Hole in the Rock...

This is my second post of the day--there was simply so much to be covered in the day!

This location, The Hole in the Rock, was the reason for my 60-mile trip across the desert today.

Thank goodness we had a big 4-wheel drive vehicle. Sure, I could have come here on a boat on Lake Powell--but the way I did it, I feel I much better understand the Mormon achievement.
My Guide, Sean, is very knowledgable guide whose stories helped me understand this achievement. Getting 83 huge wagons down this slot in 1879 strikes me as in the league with Ernest Shackleton's 'Endurance' saga in Antarctica in 1911.

To top it off, that water you see wasn't there in 1879. This water level rose behind the Glen Canyon Dam, built after the Second World War. Those wagons had to go down 600 more feet to the level of the original Colorado River!

Again--how in the world did 225 Mormons, half of them children, get 83 big wagons down that slot?

Wrapping it up with a 4-mile hike...

The Secret Mountain area is famed for its steep canyons. Boynton and Fay Canyons are two that are accessible--if you like a four-mile hike. I can't feel my legs.


Unfortunately, Sedona has the best government money can buy, so a huge development was built in the mouth of Boynton. The trail goes around it, and you get a good look at a lot of houses in Nuevo Navajo architecture, built by people with plenty of money and guilt who want you to know they are so green they'll live in a giant house inspired by a hogan. Don't say I didn't warn you.

After a mile or so you get past the houses. Then, to get pictures, you have to climb above the treetops. No problem; as I say, I can't feel my legs anyway.

The canyon walls rise on both sides, slowly closing in as I near the end of the canyon.

I climbed well up the wall to get this shot of the canyon's end.

It's easier with the helicopter. When I get home, I have a nice video clip I need to edit showing what it's like to fly through the canyons.

Refuge at last in Sedona...

I heard as I drove over here from Chinle on I-40 between Winslow and Flagstaff that this section of the major superhighway across Arizona was closed yesterday due to the dangerous winds. Good thing I wasn't coming over here--I wouldn't have made it.

Needless to say, it was better this morning. I arrived mid-morning and went up on the overlook by the airport (above) looking over the part of town where I'm staying and the surrounding hills. Nice. After yesterday, comforting.

Then, back to the spectacular Chapel, this time with a tack-sharp lens. Oh, joy!


The chapel reminded me that I heard Glenn Beck say this morning that once God is dead, people with troubles turn to the only remaining god--government, which is only too happy to have them as wards of the state. Funny--that idea doesn't seem to be working out too well in Europe.

Nouriel Roubini said yesterday that if one thing goes wrong, Europe's economy will go down in a heap. I think I'll stop listening to the news and take pictures. These two are from up on the platform on either side of the chapel. The first is toward Bell rock in the distance and the second toward cathedral Rocks.

A dust storm with 55 mph winds...

It's a good thing I worked so hard yesterday and this morning, because by 2:00 P.M. today the sky was filled with blown sand, the sky turned dust-colored, and the scenic sites began to fade out in a haze of blowing sand. It got worse with each hour, and I had to retreat to the hotel. If one turned into the wind as I did for these, one got a mouth full of sand and eyes that needed a cleaning. Arrrgh. Supposed to be windy tomorrow as well. Sigh.

You can see by the video hy there are only scrubby bushes here--tall trees wouldn't last long up here atop the mesa where the wind howls.