Pondering Page, Arizona (and Lake Powell)

The strangeness of a dam and power plant man-camp tourist town

Dropping into Page, Arizona, from the east can be a strange and magnificent experience. After crossing a high-desert plateau, the intrepid motorist glides along the asphalt down a vast, tilting swath of sandstone toward the Colorado River, losing nearly 3,000 feet of elevation along the way. The Vermillion Cliffs, jutting up from the horizon ahead live …