Best Friends Animal Society

While browsing through literature about the Kanab, Utah area I came across a bit of information on a place called Best Friends. Something in the back of my head told me that this was a place that I needed to see. Perhaps I had heard about it in the past even though I really couldn't remember hearing about it.



I looked up their website (http://www.bestfriends.org/) and found out that they welcomed visitors with a free tour. After a short phone call our reservations were made for the next afternoon.

We drove north from Page, AZ towards Kanab. We passed through town and headed north to Angel Canyon. Angel Canyon has been a place of peace and healing for thousands of years. The Pueblo people gathered here as is evident by the cliff dwellings and rock art.

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We arrived a bit early for our tour. We browsed through the gift shop and watched the hummingbirds at the feeder on the deck. The whole place was beautifully landscaped with native plants, a koi pond, gleaming white fences and emerald green grass.

We were oriented to the organization and ranch with a short video before boarding a van for our tour of Dog Town and Cat World. There were many other parts of the ranch that we would not see because there wasn't enough time to do so in one tour. Other areas that we passed were the areas for horses, sheep, goats, pigs, wild animals, and the clinic.

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We arrived first at Cat World. Although there were several buildings in Cat World, we were going to visit the building that housed cats that were feline leukemia positive. The philosophy of the society is that every animal be given a chance to live a good quality life, even if they weren't adoptable.

Each building has several rooms that opened to an outside enclosure. Both the inside and outside of each room was filled with cat beds, toys and all kinds of objects that cats can get inside. The outside rooms had runways and places up in the ceiling for cats to hide if they are feeling unsociable. A few of the cats had run of the whole building.

Our next tour was of Dog Town. The buildings in Dog Town were all octagonally shaped with large runs on the outside. While in Cat World we were free to pet any cat, in Dog Town we were instructed to only pet dogs that were running loose. The dogs here are divided into "packs" of friends and each pack has their own run.

Each dog, as each cat has their own story as to how they arrived at the sanctuary. Several of the dogs in this building were dogs that were picked up from New Orleans after Katrina.

Best Friends is a no-kill shelter. At any one time, they have over 2000 animals in the sanctuary. The mission of Best Friends is driven by the philosophy that kindness to animals helps build a better world for all of us. Best Friends also works with human groups all over the country to bring about a time when homeless, unwanted animals are no longer destroyed at shelters and when every healthy dog and cat can be guaranteed a good life in a caring home.

Lake Powell & Lower Escalante

We have been here at Glen Canyon for a few days camping at Lone Rock on beautiful Lake Powell.....

the Lake is down some 60+ feet from it's more normal level, which gives hikers & kayakers access to areas that have been underwater for years! The interesting thing is apparently our GPS software was done from maps that reflect the older water levels. Note that we now have the truck & trailer parked in the middle of the lake!

shortly after arriving, a huge thunderstorn rolled through. The late setting sun shot a beam of light from behind our trailer site, and lit the far mountains, creating this "Ansel Adams" shot... about 15 minutes later, the storm passed, allowing the sun to ignite the entire area in it's true late evening colors!

We were camped at "Lone Rock", and Kim decided to make a late evening paddle on the last night we were there... the scenic beauty of this land out here is nothing short of spectacular... I could fill pages of posts with pictures of the surrounding mountains in the early mornings & late evenings....if you have not been to this area to see all this first hand, you simply must!

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We did Antelope Canyon on Thursday, and we paddled the Colorado River Saturday from the Glen Canyon Dam to Lee's Ferry, wow a great trip, see those posts below.

In between, we took a drive & did some hiking in the lower part of Escalante.... the first stop was at the "Toadstools" area which when first encountered looked like a scene for another planet!

The toadstools themselves were rather small, but nonetheless, interesting. Kim particularly liked the smaller "cozy" size.

We took a drive up the Cottonwood Creek 4wd road. lots of fun! We ad a tip to hike Hackberry Canyon...a neat narrow canyon, wouldn't call it a slot, but just nice.

It wasn't long before Kim was barefoot, skipping along rather fast, because thw water & ground were quite cold....

Funny how we forget our water shoes sometimes when most needed (but least suspected).

On the drive back to camp, we stopped at the only "double arch" in North America, a splendid end to a joyful day!

We Paddle the Colorado!

While parusing a local "tourist magazine" we noticed an add for a non-whitewater raft trip on the Colorado River from the Glen Canyon Dam to Lee's Ferry. This triggered the idea for a paddle on the same 15 miles. One phone call, a credit card number and we were set for Saturday, yippie! http://www.canyon-country.com/lakepowell/gcdam.htm

http://www.nps.gov/glca/historyculture/leesferryhistory.htm

The drive to Lee's Ferry was punctuated by stops at the local Navajo jewelery stands, and some rather amazing toadstools!

We reached the Ferry at 11AM to meet the "shuttle" to bring us back to the Dam & launch. To our surprise, the tour rafts pulled up and were huge! First thing you know, we're loading the kayaks and our gear onto one of these big boys, and are ready to shove off. As we were heading upriver, a group was leaving to get the thrillride downstream.

Captain Brad was great! What can I say...a true born & bred river runner who has spent his entire working career in the Canyon. The one hour ride up the Canyon was a real treat, as Brad did an excellent job of explaining the features & history of the area.


About 12:20 we arrive just short of the Dam, unload, wave bye to Brad, have a nice picnic lunch on the beach in front of the Dam, and embark!

Looking back after rounding the first bend, I knew this would be a great experience. The height, sheerness and saturated colors of the Canyon walls were already beckoning for many more trips here in the future.

Having hiked Grand Canyon (50+ miles below here) where the water is "too thin to plow & too thick to drink), we were surprised by the clarity of the blue-green water here. Brad explained that it was due to the flow coming from the bottom of the almost 600ft high Dam. The water coming out is crystal clear and 42 degrees year-round. The River has been stocked with rainbow trout, fresh water shrimp and the necessary plants to support a thriving fishery. While on the River we saw a good number of folks catching fish, some as large as 21 inches!

One of the suggested stops was an archeological site that is not on the typical tourist stops (thanks, Brad!). A short hike up the dry creekbed followed by a climb of a couple hundred feet gave us a wonderful view of the River. After a bit of searching, we found the petroglyphs. They were unique being carved much deeper than any others we have seen. The warm sun felt good, and was starting to open a few cactus blooms.

Brad had explained that a there had been an attempt to mine gold here in the late 1800's. Just below and down from the Anasazi markings, we found the claim signature.

It's hard to capture or explain the sheer beauty of this experience. Coming up on "Horseshoe Bend" we realize how this part of the Canyon is so different from downstream.

Perhaps this shot taken Sunday from the overlook looking down on the very waters we paddled the day before will help....

We were told there were no rapids on this stretch (Kim gets a bit apprehensive about whitewater), but we managed to find a spot that gave us a little push!

Rounding the final bend around 6PM I couldn't help but think how blessed we are to have Nature's wonderful creations out here for us to enjoy! What a paddle, what a day!

Oh, and in case you're wondering how I got the shots overlooking Horseshoe Bend....her it is, and yes it took my breath away!

Antelope Canyon

Kim insisted we go pay the Navajo folks for this "guided excursion" into Antelope, a very narrow slot about 130 feet to the "surface". The 4wd Suburban did a good job of taking us up the wash channel and to the somewhat ho-hum entrance.

Once inside, one could easily understand how this would be an awesome place to wander alone, but no such chance...this is a full-fledged, camera totin' tourist experience. So, I'll spare you the details and just let you enjoy some of the terrific views from an extremely interesting place!

Our guide, a Navajo Native herself told of the mysterious powers of the spirits that dwell in the Canyon. Somewhat later, as Kim & I sperated from the main group, I watched in amazement as a lightbeam entered from above......as she vanished!

I began to see and hear the cry of the "lone wolf spirit"....

I caught up to the tour group to explain the vanishing, only to find she had been "beamed" down near the end of the tour!

Interestingly, the spirits altered the walls of the canyon to outline her return....