Bob's 2019 North Rim Road Trip: Part 1 of 3
My brother, Richard, and I drove from the Blacksburg, VA area to down by Birmingham, AL to pick up my grandson, Hayden. The following morning, the three of us set out on our road trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
We managed (with 4 cameras) to capture well over 500 images. Each part here displays 8.
Hayden snapped this of me and Richard at the Arkansas Rest Area.
For about an hour of Interstate highway in Oklahoma, this bug hung on for dear life, outside the front passenger window, as we tooled down the road at 70 mph.
This was an intentional stop at the site of the damaged motel in El Reno, OK, struck by a tornado the previous month. It leaves an impression.
At Page, AZ, we took the guided tour of the Glenn Canyon Dam. Highly recommended. Those square, passenger elevator towers drop down more than 50 stories, to the base of the dam, where we could see the maintenance tunnels as well as the 8 enormous turbine electrical generators.
The top of the dam now only allows employee parking. Security is depressingly heavy. But the top is as wide as an Interstate highway.
Glenn Canyon used to be a favorite rafter/hiker destination within the Grand Canyon (just not inside the designated National Park boundaries). After the dam was finished, in 1963, it took 17 years for the a lake (dubbed Lake Powell) to fill the beautiful canyon. The lake level is about 90 feet below the "full" mark, so you now see a "bathtub ring". Now, you can sit in a boat above more than 500 feet of water.
From a distance, the Grand Canyon just looks like a crack across the surface of a perfectly flat desert. The Vermillion Cliffs stand above, at the horizon. Not a bad pic for a 12 year old.
All the way up to the 1930s, the only way to cross the Grand Canyon (with contraband, stolen horses, legitimate trade, etc.) was to go down to the river at Lee's Ferry, and take the tethered ferry boat across. Today, Lee's ferry is the launching point for most Colorado River water excursions: dories, kayaks, and the popular "banana rafts", like the one shown here. Those big rafts never sink, though rapids sometimes throw a passenger or two overboard. They can carry a crowd of seated tourists, along with ice chests, cases of beer, chilled ribeye steaks, and other backcountry essentials.
Part 2 continues below.
Bob
My brother, Richard, and I drove from the Blacksburg, VA area to down by Birmingham, AL to pick up my grandson, Hayden. The following morning, the three of us set out on our road trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
We managed (with 4 cameras) to capture well over 500 images. Each part here displays 8.
Hayden snapped this of me and Richard at the Arkansas Rest Area.
For about an hour of Interstate highway in Oklahoma, this bug hung on for dear life, outside the front passenger window, as we tooled down the road at 70 mph.
This was an intentional stop at the site of the damaged motel in El Reno, OK, struck by a tornado the previous month. It leaves an impression.
At Page, AZ, we took the guided tour of the Glenn Canyon Dam. Highly recommended. Those square, passenger elevator towers drop down more than 50 stories, to the base of the dam, where we could see the maintenance tunnels as well as the 8 enormous turbine electrical generators.
The top of the dam now only allows employee parking. Security is depressingly heavy. But the top is as wide as an Interstate highway.
Glenn Canyon used to be a favorite rafter/hiker destination within the Grand Canyon (just not inside the designated National Park boundaries). After the dam was finished, in 1963, it took 17 years for the a lake (dubbed Lake Powell) to fill the beautiful canyon. The lake level is about 90 feet below the "full" mark, so you now see a "bathtub ring". Now, you can sit in a boat above more than 500 feet of water.
From a distance, the Grand Canyon just looks like a crack across the surface of a perfectly flat desert. The Vermillion Cliffs stand above, at the horizon. Not a bad pic for a 12 year old.
All the way up to the 1930s, the only way to cross the Grand Canyon (with contraband, stolen horses, legitimate trade, etc.) was to go down to the river at Lee's Ferry, and take the tethered ferry boat across. Today, Lee's ferry is the launching point for most Colorado River water excursions: dories, kayaks, and the popular "banana rafts", like the one shown here. Those big rafts never sink, though rapids sometimes throw a passenger or two overboard. They can carry a crowd of seated tourists, along with ice chests, cases of beer, chilled ribeye steaks, and other backcountry essentials.
Part 2 continues below.
Bob
