The Grand Canyon

Nevada, Utah

Nov 202020

November 20, 2020

We left Zion National Park via the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. Bored and blasted through the sandstone cliffs above Pine Canyon this amazing engineering feat blows the mind. Construction of the 1.1-mile tunnel began in the late 1920s and was completed in 1930 at a cost of $1, 896,000. At the time of its dedication, on July 4, 1930, it was the longest tunnel of its type in the United States. The purpose of the tunnel was to create direct access to Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon from Zion National Park. The project included a 25-mile long road, that includes seven switchbacks taking vehicles up 800 feet in elevation from the valley floor.

Several galleries were cut into the exterior wall of the tunnel. During construction, the galleries were handy for disposing of rock and waste. Now, they provide natural light, ventilation, and some beautiful views.

Looking out one of the gallery windows from inside the tunnel

A three-hour drive to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon with a stop at Moqui Caves we traveled through the Vermillion Cliffs, a park that requires a four-wheel drive and a permit from the BLM, but can be enjoyed from the Highway.

The Vermillion Cliffs as seen from Highway 89A

We headed to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a moment where we both agreed we were a bit non-plussed. We discussed that it might be due to the amazing sights we had seen, and then we went exploring.

North Rim of the Grand Canyon Survey Marker

Views of the North Rim

We began the long drive around the various canyons to Cape Royal with stops at various lookout points. The views changed and our WOW factor was amped up considerably.

Point Imperial

Looking through Angels Window down to the Colorado River

During the summers of 1967 and 1968, an extensive archeological investigation was conducted on the Unkar Delta. That is the flat area in front of the Colorado River. Fifty-two Anasazi sites were recorded on the delta.

The Colorado River flowing through the canyon.

Sometimes a silly graphic gives you a better idea of how our earth has formed than words.

These three canyons sit on the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado Plateau consists of a deep layer-cake of rocks, mostly sandstone, and limestone. These rocks recorded nearly two billion years of time – nearly half the age of the Earth.

We began at Bryce Canyon and worked our way down the geological scale to the Grand Canyon. While difficult to describe this might help.

We are staying the night at Jacob Lake, the only place within miles and miles and miles of the Northern Rim. An interesting place, but it has a full Smokey the Bear, making it the best, in my opinion.

The South West During Covid

Nevada, Utah

Nov 132020

November 2020

I am traveling during COVID, just to get a break. I am traveling with my cousin and we are staying in well-researched hotels, and eating a lot of picnics. We also chose to do many out of the way locations to help avoid as much humanity as possible during this scourge.

Day 1, 2 and 3

The Hoover Dam and other oddities

The cemetery, while sadly neglected is still a wonderful place to stroll and discover very old tombstones.

Elmer Long’s Bottle Tree Ranch

Elmer Long’s father wandered the dessert amassing a rather large collection of bottles. When he passed Elmer inherited the collection. In 2000 he decided to create what amounted to, over 200 bottle trees. These trees take on a myriad of shapes with strange and wonderful things attached, often on the tops of the trees.

Long passed away in June 2019 at the age of 72. The fate of the Bottle Tree Ranch is currently uncertain.

Hoover Dam

This is a view of the dam from the Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.

The bridge is the first concrete-steel composite arch bridge built in the United States and incorporates the widest concrete arch in the Western Hemisphere. Sitting 890 feet above the Colorado River, it is the second-highest bridge in the United States and is the world’s highest concrete arch bridge. Construction began in 2005 and was completed in 2010.

A view of the bridge from the top of the dam.

What can one say about the Hoover Dam that has not been said already? I have had a fascination with the dam since learning that the concrete used to build the dam has not yet completely cured. Think about that, the dam was completed in 1936. Due to COVID, no tours were allowed, and thanks to both COVID and the late time of year, it was also nearly free of tourists.

I do not know if the public bathrooms atop the dam are always open, but the day we were there they were. Since the dam was built with a very heavy art deco theme, we had to take a look.

The first things you encounter are these stunning tile mosaics. These were designed by local artist Alan True incorporating motifs of the Navajo and Pueblo tribes of the region.

The glass tile that lines the walls are also part of the Alan True design.

There are two elevator towers on the dam, each adorned with brass doors and bas-reliefs. Both were created by artist Oskar J.W. Hansen.

Hansen is also responsible for one of the most spectacular pieces of Art Deco art to grace the dam project.

Rising from a black, polished base, is a 142-foot flagpole flanked by two winged figures, which Hansen calls the Winged Figures of the Republic. They express “the immutable calm of intellectual resolution, and the enormous power of trained physical strength equally enthroned in placid triumph of scientific accomplishment.”

There is a slew of honorable plaques adorning this area, all sculpted by Hansen.

Near the center of the tourist-complex is a small plaque marking the spot of a dog that was loved by the construction crew. It has a rather interesting, and yet sordid story.

Two penstock towers at the dam on the Lake Mead side.

Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

The petroglyphs can be found all over the mountains. Archaeologists have argued that the petroglyphs are a complex calendar system. Hopi and Paiute peoples have a variety of interpretations for the rock art as well, which includes representations of humans as well as depictions of animals and geometric shapes.

While the drive to Parowan is long it is absolutely worth it when you arrive.

Delta Solar Boondoggle

If you continue on to Hinkley Utah and then take a left and drive a few dirt roads, and then a few more, you will come across the Delta Solar ruins.

The Delta Solar company convinced people that by using satellite-like arrays that would follow the arc of the sun during the day, cheap plastic panels impregnated with magnifying elements would shoot intensified rays of sunlight into a crucible of combustible material which in turn created steam to power a generator. The plastic and metal used proved no match for the desert winds and were quickly damaged.

This elaborate project was deemed a fraud in 2018, and the company which produced them was fined some 50 million dollars.

The Road Island Diner

This very out of the way diner not only has a wonderful history but also serves incredible food.

The “Road Island Diner” was originally manufactured for and displayed at the 1939 World’s Fair, themed “The World of Tomorrow. ” The 16-foot-by-60-foot beauty was from the legendary Jerry O’Mahony Diner Company. It featured green Italian marble countertops, Tiffany glass clerestory windows, and hand-laid quarry tile flooring. It was bought shortly after the fair and moved to Fall River, Massachusetts, where it served as a functioning diner for 14 years before being sold again and moved to Rhode Island.

In 2007, the diner was transported from Rhode Island to Utah. Due to its size, however, the haul was forbidden from interstate highways. The several-thousand-mile backroad journey entailed state police escorts and pilot cars but arrived safe and sound.

ALL I NEED IS MY PASSPORT