9 am to 1 pm: Cathedral Wash Trail (Glen Canyon Recreation Area) 3.4 mi, 3-4 hours. A beautiful hike through a stunning red rock slot canyon. Some rock-hopping and scrambling are involved. The route leads to the swift waters of the Colorado River, a great place for lunch and a break.

2 pm-3 pm: Observing California Condors at Navajo Bridge. We will walk across Navajo Bridge and observe the California Condors perched there. The California Condor is one of the world’s largest and rarest birds, with a wingspan of 9 to 10 feet and a weight of up to about 25 pounds. The condor is closely related to the turkey vulture. The views are spectacular.

4 pm-5:30 pm – We will explore Lee’s Ferry, a historic river crossing and recreation site in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area located near Marble Canyon Lodge. It is famous as the primary launch point for Grand Canyon River trips, a world-class trout fishery, and the only place you can drive to the Colorado River for over 700 miles of canyon country.

All day hike: 8 miles, 8 hours. Wire Pass Trail to Buckskin Gulch. Wire Pass is a short drainage that joins the much longer Buckskin Gulch Canyon and provides a convenient entrance point to Buckskin Gulch, the world's longest slot canyon. Wire Pass has a short section of scrambling and exciting deep narrows. The surrounding cliffs become gradually higher and closer together. At the end of the Wire Pass trail, the cliffs open at the confluence with Buckskin Gulch and the views are magnificent. We will hike down the convoluted and colorful gorge with riveting views in all directions.

All day: 7 miles, 8 hours. The whimsical Toadstools hoodoos hike and the panoramic Mansard Trail are the highlights of the day. The former explores otherworldly geological sandstone formations, and the latter features a riveting series of pictographs and petroglyphs, rock art of the ancient ones. The balanced rock formation of the hoodoo trail looks like mushrooms and provides awe-inspiring views. Moreover, the toadstools are a photographer’s paradise, flaunting gorgeous formations and dazzling scenery. The Mansard trail climbs the Vermilion Cliffs to an alcove filled with unique, approximately 870- to 1,070-year-old petroglyphs that have been pecked and carved into the alcove’s sloping, sandstone floor.
From the trailhead, the Mansard Trail ascends approximately 950 feet over a series of switchbacks, offering increasingly sweeping views of Kanab and the plateaus of northern Arizona. As the trail reaches the top of the Vermilion Cliffs, it negotiates a short section of rough stone slabs, which may require a mild scramble. From here, the trail crosses the sandy plateau to arrive at the base of the White Cliffs, where a scenic alcove contains petroglyphs from the Pueblo II period (AD 950 to 1150).
Native American groups identify images like these as “rock writing,” because they were a form of communication rather than decoration.
In the later afternoon we will drive back to Phoenix and witness an Arizona sunset on the drive home, capping off an unforgettable four days of adventure, discovery and exploration.