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View from the Glen Canyon Dam down to where to floats disembark |
One way to keep family members happy on a long road trip is to ask beforehand what each one of them would most like to see or do, and then to plan for that.
My husband’s “must” was a trip down the Colorado River. I knew we wouldn’t be up for a multi day journey, which seems to be the only thing available in the Grand Canyon itself.
So I booked a tamer float down the Glen Canyon.
Getting everybody up by 4:30 a.m., vacating the hotel, loading the car, and stopping for breakfast at Denny’s to get us to the meeting point at 7:00 a.m. was the challenging part. But we made it, and I am thankful we did the earlier trip.
It was still shady and cool when we climbed onto the float at the bottom of Glen Canyon Dam. Descending the 2-mile tunnel to base of the dam was exhilarating.

The floating trip itself was more serene than I expected.
Glen Canyon with its stunningly vertical walls is a fairly “young” canyon. Its steep rocks haven’t been exposed to erosion as much yet (in geological terms). Thus they look as if freshly cut out of the red rock by an enormous chain saw.

While I expected stunning scenery, I didn’t expect that this trip would remind me of the many boat trips I took down the narrow Rhine River valley with my grandmother, downstream from Wiesbaden.

Beautiful pics, Annette. I've not heard of Glen Canyon, but am glad to know that there are other options to the multi-day trips.
Bridgette – Glen Canyon is the upper part of the Colorado River before it reaches the Grand Canyon; great scenery nevertheless and a nice option to experience the river without having to rough it!
Love the pics and the idea of the trip. In New Brunswick we have a large gorge in Grand Falls that's about a three hour drive from where we live. They offer a similar boat tour with stunning scenery! It's a wonderful day trip…gotta love family trips and an environment that "takes you back."