Fall 2024 Back to the Southwest, 10.19.24 - 11.13.24, Part 3, Blue Canyon, AZ

To preface this chapter I need to take you back about two years. I am constantly studying maps, doing Google searches and reading posts from social media to find new and interesting places to visit and explore. Sometime in late 2022 or early 2023 I came across a place in Arizona called Coal Mine Canyon. The photos I saw blew me away and I knew right then I had to go there. As I dug deeper into my research, I then began to find bits of information about another canyon in the area called Blue Canyon. Now I wanted to see both.

The spot I wanted to explore around Coal Mine Canyon is along the rim which is on Navajo land. Blue Canyon is all on Hopi land. There was a lot of conflicting information about visiting Coal Mine Canyon but in the end I determined that one can go to the rim and hike around along the rim without any special permits. Blue Canyon however can not be visited on your own. You must have a Hopi guide along with you to gain access to Blue Canyon. Last spring when Bridgit and I first visited the Page area, we made arrangements to pay a Hopi guide to take us into Blue Canyon. Sadly, the two days before that excursion saw heavy rains and due to the steep dirt road into Blue Canyon comprised of Bentonite clay, driving into the canyon was not possible and we had to cancel.

Fast forward to this spring. As I began to plan our fall trip centered around peak fall color in Zion, re-scheduling a visit to Blue Canyon and Coal Mine Canyon became equally important. I got back in touch with Bertram Tsavadawa who runs Ancient PathwaysTours (928.797.8145/bertsaava@gmail.com) and made arrangements for him to take us to Blue Canyon on Thursday, October 24th. The next day we would drive up to the rim of Coal Mine Canyon before going back to Page.

The morning after our hike into Resurrection Canyon, Mike took off to visit Thousand Pockets while Bridgit and I left to meet up with Bertram. Blue Canyon truly is out in the middle of nowhere. We drove south from Page down quite a ways below Tuba City, Arizona and met him at a non-descript pulloff that would be really easy to miss without knowing the mile marker. When he arrived, we followed him for about fifteen miles down a dirt road that eventually dropped steeply into the bottom of Blue Canyon. Winding along a Jeep road, he took us over to the western side of the canyon first. We got out and walked around for a mile or two before getting back in the vehicles and moving on to another location. This went on all day. Although I will try, words can not even come close to explaining how amazing the scenery is in Blue Canyon. I will just let the following photos do the talking.

**Moon over Blue Canyon (Bridgit photo)**

We met Bertram at 10AM and he showed us all around Blue Canyon. During that time he was a wealth of information about the geology, history, Hopi culture and even quality photography tips. When we mentioned that our plan was to get up and shoot sunrise photography and then drive up and out to visit Coal Mine Canyon, he offered at no extra charge to come back in the morning and take us to several spots at Coal Mine Canyon. I couldn’t believe what a generous offer this was!

Around 4:15PM we hopped back in the Jeep and drove up a jeep road to a point we hadn’t explored yet. We just wandered all over up there as the sun slowly sank lower in the sky. The light on the rock was just incredible and we took our time as I shot tons of photos. We got back just as the sun was setting and we were treated to a fantastic sunset to end what had been just an incredible day.