Nightshift finally ended at the Navajo Steam Generating Station out in Page, AZ with the Unit #2 Low NOx retrofit. A little over a month and a half of 10-12+ hour days, 6 days a week finally came to an end. My first task was to adjust myself to the diurnal sleeping pattern. I stayed up all day after work, trying to occupy my time flying my glider. There was barely enough wind to fly, but I went anyways. As I was beginning to become frustrated with the lack of updrafts, and not looking forward to a potential hike to the bottom of the cliffs, I was almost tempted to pack up and leave. I was riding a very feint updraft when I saw out of the corner of my eye, a large falcon heading straight towards the plane! It looked like a falcon, but appeared too large. I jerked right as the bird got close, and caught a gust of wind which elevated me above the bird. The falcon wouldn’t stand for that, and attacked. It just barely clipped the plane, and about that time I also lost all lift from the wind. Down it went, but I was able to keep it from going all the way down the cliff. The falcon let out several angry screeches as it circled overhead. I got a good look at it, and the angry call would provide easier identification. I headed back to the hotel and checked online to identify the bird, and indeed it was a falcon, a Paragon Falcon.
The next morning I left to go hike to the Paria Canyon rim. Instead of driving way out to Lee’s Ferry, and climbing up to the rim, I thought of a better approach. Right outside of Page and across Glenn Canyon Dam, there is a dirt road I had never explored. I drove on out for a few miles. It got really sandy, and pretty deep in places. The Chevy Equinox has a silly feature that when one of the tires begin to spin, the traction control kicks in. Only problem is that it won’t allow high RPMs to keep one’s momentum while going through a rough patch of sand. After one turn had me concerned, and as I kept pressing the accelerator, nothing happened, and I continued to slow down until I was barely moving. Immediately I switched off the traction control, but even then, the car continued to act strange in sand. I realized that my car wouldn’t be the best to perform in these conditions, so I drove a bit more conservatively. I watched the GPS and was hoping to get closer to the rim and avoid a lengthy hot march in the sandy soil. I made one turn in one of the washes, and discovered that the road went straight up a very sandy embankment. There was no way my little Equinox would be able to climb it w/ its limited power transfer. I tried anyway, and indeed, the engine simply idled with the accelerator pressed to the floor, and the wheels didn’t move. I rolled out, and returned the way I came since I was still several miles from the rim. I knew of another road a few miles down the road that I had explored a little earlier, and suspected that it was going in the right direction. Indeed after a half hour or so, I made it out on another sandy road with a few steep rocky patches here and there. I continued until I saw a fence and sign which marked the boundary for the Paria National Forest. I parked the car, and headed out on foot. I followed two hiker’s tracks, along with their dog’s tracks. They went on for a mile or so before I lost them in the large patches of slickrock. There were no cairns or trail markers, so I simply marched along in the general direction of where I wanted to go. There were a few nifty sights to see here and there. I had to dodge cryptobiotic soil, and eventually drifted into a wash. I continued along the wash for a ways, occasionally stumbling upon fresh feline tracks which appeared to be chasing a rabbit, with clumps of dirt here and there. I encountered an old jeep trail, which almost went unnoticed. I traveled on it for a ways before it turned in a direction I did not want to go. After breaking off from it, I scrambled up on top of the nearest ridge. I wasn’t expecting the rim to be right there, but sure enough, I was standing at the rim of the Paria Canyon. I could see down to Lee’s Ferry, and all around. I moved toward the edge of the cliff, and startled two Falcons which both ascended to the sky and rode thermals to gain significant altitude all while screaming at me. It was the familiar screech I had heard from the falcon the previous day. It was a pair of Paragon Falcons. I took some video with my camera, but they were far too small to see well in the video. Their calls were unmistakable. One instance one swooped down and made a fantastic sound from the air going across feathers at high velocities. I moved down the rim to take a break and eat a snack. I called my parents to taunt them a little, and made my way south along the rim.
I took several photos, and made my way along the jagged rim. In spots I had to make detours to avoid severe drop offs, and some places got really sandy. After a few miles, I encountered the two hiker’s and dog tracks in some sand near the rim. I pressed onward, wanting to get a better view of Lee’s Ferry from above. I made it a long ways before I was faced with a nasty cliff with steep faces on all sides. To get around, I had to traverse a long way, and move away from the rim. By the time I could make it around safely, I was in a labyrinth of deep cracks in the slickrock. I saw a way where I could make my way down, but it would require making a lengthy slide, and jump to the bottom. It would be possible, but wouldn’t allow a return without rope assistance. I decided to turn around at this point. I had another snack, and descended elevation in a very loose sandy section. I followed another wash for a while as well as coyote tracks. Eventually I realized I was headed in the wrong direction, so I pulled the GPS out to draw a straight line to my car. It took a while, but eventually I made it, kicked off the boots, and drove back to the hotel.
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