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Lake Powell to Lake Mead & Colorado River Tour |
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Grand Canyon East to West South Rim Country
(Week-long; all-inclusive; limited season; group or custom tour booking only.)
The
reasonable all-inclusive price of this tour is $2,175.00
(single occupancy) and $1,895.00
(double occupancy). The price of this tour is subject to change and will
be confirmed at time of booking.
However, we are reasonably sure our MD tour prices are set for the season. For
all other general information about MD tours, company, and tour policy, refer
to the main (MD) page on our Web site. Lots of
good information is posted there which covers most of the FAQ's, besides. Thanks.
Please note: This tour is only available for special tour group booking only; otherwis, it will be an open tour listing for the 2008 season. The minimum number of guests for this tour is 8 and the maximum is 50.
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When booking this (or any other tour) we will always advise you what to bring
with you so that your tour will be more comfortable, as well as to help cut
down on your luggage.
Keep in mind our MD all-inclusive tours include the following: choice accommodations;
lunch and dinner (with the evening meal starting on the first full day of your
tour) (*), but alcoholic beverages are not included in the price of the
tour and may be purchased separately when dining out; snacks and refreshments;
transportation (from our meeting place and a return to same); all National Park/Monument
entry fees and special admissions; all your camping gear (if the tour warrants);
all host and special guest speaker fees (if the tour warrants); and all side
excursion tours, such as rafting, jeep tours, horseback riding, etc.
(*) A continental breakfast is usually included in most of the hotels we use on all of our tours, but breakfast is otherwise on your own when not available in the hotels we use along the way in any of our SD or MD tours. Please inquire at time of booking.
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
This preferential tour is for aquatic lovers and canyon-desert affectionados
- Lake Powell (water tour), the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River (smooth water
and whitewater raft trips), and Lake Mead - all in one tour of diverse scenery,
delight and things to see and do. Get ready for a grand adventure at an affordable
price.
Here is a day-by-day account of what we have in store for you on this full week's adventure. . .
DAY 01/SUNDAY:
If you're traveling by air, we'll meet you in Phoenix where you will spend the
night in a high quality resort hotel (pool, spa, HBO, restaurant, etc.). There
is a regular airport shuttle service available to this choice location or we
would be happy to arrange a limousine transfer for you. Evening is at your leisure
and dinner is on your own once you get there. If you're flying into Las Vegas
instead we suggest booking a flight to Phoenix as this EZ CIRKLE tour begins
and ends here in the valley. Connecting flights are inexpensive and frequent.
We recommend flying (or driving) in early so that you can take in some of the
great sights the Phoenix region has to offer. And if you are driving to meet
us, when you depart in the morning your vehicle will be perfectly safe to leave
in the parking lot of the hotel.
DAY 02/MONDAY:
Your host for the upcoming tour will meet you in the lobby of your hotel at
8:30 a.m. Following introductions, we will head to Page, Arizona, Lake
Powell country, stopping for lunch along the way in Flagstaff, where the big
Arizona mountains stand. We will take time en-route to show you one of the region's
most stunning volcanoes, now sleeping - SUNSET CRATER, followed by a tour of
nearby WUPATKI (pronounced, "woo-pat-kee," meaning "Tall house") Indian Ruins
(both sites fairly near Flagstaff). These ancient Sinagua (pronounced "seen-awa,"
meaning "Without water") ruins will take you back in time as much as the splendor
of the surrounding Painted Desert, arguably the most scenic desert in all the
world. When we arrive in Page later in the day there will be time to freshen
up in your comfortable lodgings before enjoying the fine culinary delights at
dinner.
DAY 03/TUESDAY:
You're in the heart of sandstone country all right, and just after breakfast
you'll enjoy a morning tour of the monumental Glen Canyon Dam where the waters
of the mighty Colorado River are now impounded just above the Grand Canyon.
The upper remnants of Glen Canyon's sandstone walls and eroded mesas stand out
in solemn silence here in this haven of water and sandstone edifices. Just after
an early sumptuous lunch overlooking the placid water of LAKE POWELL, you will
board a jet-powered TOUR BOAT from Wahweap marina. Your destination is up lake
to the Rainbow Bridge, the world's largest natural stone-arch bridge. Standing
as tall as a skyscraper, Rainbow Bridge is an anomaly of visual sight and splendor
set into a background of pristine natural beauty. Towering Navajo Mountain looms
in the background. After this highly photogenic lake tour (5.5 hours), we will
return to Page. Afterwards, there will be time to freshen up before enjoying
a festive Mexican style dinner.
DAY 04/WEDNESDAY:
After an early breakfast, it's time to get back in the water again. This time,
you'll be heading downstream below the dam to Lees Ferry, the most historic
river's crossing in the Southwest. This SMOOTH WATER RAFT TRIP on the Colorado
River (in motorized rafts) takes you through towering sandstone canyon walls.
In places, the smooth polished walls on either side of the narrow band of river
are stained blue-black from a weathering process known as "desert varnish."
You will have an opportunity to see majestic eagles and other frequent raptors
that fly above, and often below, the precipitous sheer canyon walls. You might
even chance to see some giant California condors whose wingspans measure 14
feet. After the all morning tour you will drive back to Page, just in time for
a hearty lunch. Later, we will head to the South Rim of the GRAND CANYON, stopping
along the ways to see and photograph the impressive Marble Platform country
that lies between the two great canyons (Glen and Grand Canyon). After checking
into your hotel near the entrance to the great park, there will be time to freshen
up before dinner. But first, we want you to enjoy the world famous IMAX theater
presentation of the Grand Canyon story as seen on a towering 7-story screen
that will practically put the canyon right in your lap.
DAY
05/THURSDAY:
No journey to the Southwest can go without a visit to the Grand Canyon. After
breakfast, you will enter the park where you will have the entire morning to
see all of the splendor. As always, there will be plenty of free time to shop
for souvenirs and take lots of photos. We have arranged for you to have lunch
at the most famous restaurant in the park. Before you leave the vicinity overlooking
this popular view of the great canyon, remember the perspective, for soon after
lunch you will depart for a tour of the Grand Canyon's western boundary - guaranteed
to be an entirely new setting and view. The approximate 2.5 hour drive from
the South Rim of Grand Canyon Village to Peach Springs promises a great diversity
of geology and landscape along the way: towering snow-capped mountains, which
are the San Francisco Peaks at Flagstaff; dormant volcanoes, and placid open
range country beneath an enormous sky. You will also have an hour or so to enjoy
the longest undisturbed stretch of a nostalgic highway - historic 'Route 66'.
When you cross the immensity of Aubrey Valley, just west of Seligman, you are
smack in the middle of some of the largest cattle ranches in the West. Further
north of Route 66 is the hidden ramparts of the Grand Canyon that lies beyond
the high plateau lining the way. After checking into your hotel located on the
Hualapai (pronounced, "wall-la-pie," meaning "the People of the Tall Pines")
Indian Reservation (at Peach Springs), you will have time to freshen up before
going to an outdoor Western-style barbecue dinner. Once at their 'smaller' ranch
home setting, you will enjoy your charming cowboy hosts who will put on the
best feed (with a vegetarian substitute for those who prefer something else)
that's cooked in genuine Dutch ovens over hot coals. This husband and wife team
are sure to regale you with their intriguing cowboy stories and humor. We feel
they are two of the finest people Arizona has to offer, but you can't take 'em
home with you.
DAY 06/FRIDAY:
Peach Springs, besides being the location for the tribal seat of the Hualapai
Indian Nation, is the only place that has a road leading all the way to the
bottom of the Grand Canyon. After breakfast, you will drive to the banks of
the Colorado River where you will take your seat in a MOTORIZED RIVER RAFT that
is designed specifically for traversing the river and its exhilarating Class
III whitewater. (Children need to be eight years or older to ride the rafts.)
Your boatmen and guides for the day are the Hualapai Indians who will safely
take you down the Colorado River all the way to Lake Mead (about 60 miles).
Some hiking opportunities abound along the way and lunch and refreshments will
be served. Now you will enjoy the awesome splendor of the inner canyon, where
the whitewater rafting experience is sure to get a hoot and a holler out of
you. By the end of the day you will be met by your host and then driven to the
nearby town of Kingman where you'll spend the evening. Following check-in at
your lodging, and with time to freshen up, you will meet for a farewell dinner
to top off your day on the river as proven "Colorado River Rats."
DAY 07/ATTURDAY:
After breakfast, we will head back to the hotel where we first met you, via
the historic town of Wickenburg, which is an hour's drive outside of Phoenix.
You will love the drive through this, the Sonoran Desert, and there will be
plenty of photo opportunities to take any last minute pictures. Lunch will be
in WICKENBURG, so you'll have some time to look around this great old town on
the banks of the (usually dry) Hassayampa River. Sometime by the late afternoon
you will be let off at your hotel where your host will bid you farewell, safe
travels and happy trails. The evening as well as dinner is on your own, but
your spacious comfortable room is still on us. Bus/limo or cab service is available
and there are decent to fine restaurants within walking distance if you prefer
to eat away from the hotel.
HAPPY TRAILS from all of us here at ECOSOUTHWEST.COM and we hope to see your smiling face on this exciting adventure. Contact us (preferably by e-mail) and let us know if you need more information. We're good for it and a whole lot more.
FYI: The following (average) mileage between the major scenic points is what highlights this particular tour:
| Phoenix | Flagstaff | 145 m. |
| Flagstaff | Wupatki | 36 m. |
| Flagstaff | Cameron | 51 m. |
| Cameron | Lake Powell | 83 m. |
| Cameron | South Rim | 59 m. |
| South Rim | Peach Springs | 140 m. |
| Peach Springs | Wickenburg | 144 m. |
| Wickenburg | Phoenix | 54 m. |
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