Powell dis-a-POINT-ment

Yesterday was a long, difficult day that started with 7 AM breakfast prep and lasted until 10 PM lights-off at the inn.  In between, we earned the distinction of having to clean up the most disgusting mess left by guests ever. ( I doubt anyone will--or will want to--take that title from us.)  So we deserved today's light workload and early finishing time.

We took Molly, Chad and Marci's chocolate lab we volunteered to pet-sit, for a nice walk and, in the process, garnered many puzzled looks.  Tropic has no ordinances that dogs must be under the owners' control or pick-up-after-your-pet rules.  I'm sure the natives regard us as strange to leash a dog and accompany it around town. 

Molly behaved nicely until we returned to the kennel.  She's not used to being penned and demonstrated her dislike of confinement and isolation by refusing to renter the pen.  Fred finally managed to get her contained but all three of us were upset by the struggle it required.  Tomorrow, we'll bribe her with doggie treats!

All our obligations completed, we focused on the fun part of the day--going to Powell Point, the southern tip of the Table Cliffs plateau.  At an elevation of 10,200', it's reported to provide sweeping views down the Grand Staircase into northern Arizona.

The directions were straight-forward and the road wasn't too bad...until we reached the 4WD-necessary portion.  Hikers told us the road was impassable and hiking to the Point and back would take about  4.5 hours.  Our trail guide had indicated we could drive all but the final mile to the viewpoint so we were prepared to do two miles but not nine.  We traveled a bit farther on the road and had some great views in the valley to the northeast and  beyond.

View From Powell Plateau

On the return trip, we stopped at Pine Lake, more scenic from a distance than from water's edge, and then headed to Soup and Pie for dinner.