Horseshoe Bend, Navajo Bridge, and Lee's Ferry National Monument

Today we began to explore the area around Page Arizona.  We visited the famous Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River, the old and new Navajo Bridge that connects the Grand Canyon North Rim to the South Rim, and Lee’s Ferry National Monument.

Horseshoe Bend is a very photogenic place on the Colorado.  It is just below the Glen Canyon Dam about 5 miles south of Page AZ.  You park in a lot alongside Highway 89 and walk about 3/8 of a mile uphill and downhill (about 200 feet elevation change) through soft red Arizona sand.  The hike is worth it.  1000 feet below, the Colorado River makes a 270 degree turn around a sandstone bluff.  The view is amazing.  We were there earlier in the morning and not the best time for photography because of the sun position.  Now I know when to be there and will return in the afternoon.

Horseshoe Bend

Next we went on the Navajo Bridge.  The original bridge was completed in 1929 and was paid for by what is now the Arizona Department of Transportation with cooperation with the United States Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs.  The bridge is only 18 feet wide with a load capacity of 22.5 tons (although the posted load capacity is 40 tons).  At the time it was constructed, consideration was given to the fact that it may be too small, but a larger bridge was rejected as being too expensive.  Well, as usual, they should have built the bigger bridge.  Because traffic became too heavy, and too frequent, a new bridge had to be built.  There were many environmental impacts that had to be considered including the impact on the Navajo sacred land and the Marble Canyon itself.  The new steel arch bridge was commissioned in 1990 and completed in September 1995 at a cost of $15 million dollars.  The old bridge was left and is now used only for foot traffic.  The new bridge was designed to look similar to the old bridge is a beautiful addition to the Marble Canyon.  While photographing the two bridges I spotted 2 California Condors.  I scurried back to the truck and got my BIG lens.  I was able to photograph 3 Condors.  There are currently 122 California Condors in existence.  I was able to photograph number 02, 55 and 83.

New Navajo Bridge

New Navajo Bridge

New Navajo Bridge

New on Left.  Old on Right

#55 and #83

#02

He Got Nervous

In flight from the Old Bridge

Disagreement?

Maybe Just Play

Until the original bridge was constructed, the only way for vehicle traffic to cross the Colorado River for hundreds of miles, was Lee’s Ferry.  Lee’s Ferry began service in 1872 and was discontinued in 1928.  The ferry is gone, but the campground and surrounding area is operated by the National Park Service.  The scenery is amazing.  The Vermillion cliffs stand out against the deep blue sky.  Lees Ferry is the only place within Glen Canyon where visitors can drive to the Colorado River in over 700 miles of Canyon Country, right up to the first "rapid" in the Grand Canyon.

Road to Lee's Ferry

Road to Lee's Ferry

Lee's Ferry at the Colorado River

Balancing Rock

Going North on Highway 89A we come to Cliff Dwellings.  These are primitive homes built at the base of huge rocks.  At first you may think these are ancient Native American dwellings, but you would be wrong.  In 1927 Blanche Russel's car broke down in the area and she like the country so much she decided to buy some land there.  Why the buildings were built the way they were, I have no idea.

Native American History Talk

We had the pleasure of listening in on a history lesson by an original Grand Canyon native.

 Phyllis is 75 years old and was born in the Grand Canyon.  She in Navajo / Apache, and a direct descendant of the Anasazi people.  She was raised, went to school, and played within yards of Hopi House on the South Rim.  She described here life as a child playing in Hopi House and later grew up the become one of the original National Park Service guide in the Grand Canyon.  She is now retired with 9 grandchildren.  After her talk her grandchildren performed a native warrior dance.  The dance was to give strength, courage and success to the native warriors before they went to hunt.

Mary Coulter

At the age of 20 years, Mary Colter attended the California School of Design in San Francisco and eventually graduated with a degree in Architectural Design..  In 1901 Mary was hired by the Fred Harvey Company and was given the job of decorating the Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque.  In 1910 she moved to the position of Architect.  In those days it was very unusual for a female to be hired in such an important position.  Over the next 30 years she completed 21 projects for the Fred Harvey Company.

Desertview Watchtower

Lookout Studio

Lookout Studio

Hopi House

When the Santa Fe Railroad began developing the Grand Canyon to bring tourists, the Fred Harvey Company was hired to build and design many of the buildings you see now at the Grand Canyon.  Mary was assigned the task.  She designed the Hopi House in 1905, Hermit’s Rest in 1914, the Lookout Studio in 1914, the Desert View Watchtower in 1932, and the Bright Angel Lodge in 1932.  Those four buildings as a group were listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Desertview Watchtower

During those times when she was designing the building for the Grand Canyon most the architectural designs were being crafted with a European look.  Mary wanted here buildings to complement their surroundings and look as if they had been there all the time.  If you look at her work in the Grand Canyon, you do get that impression that they had been there forever.  The Lookout Studio looks like its part of the canyon.  Hermit’s Rest is a peaceful place that time has forgotten.  Hopi House looks as if it were built by the original Anasazi people centuries ago.  The Desert Watchtower is a magnificent piece of architecture.  Mary was very fastidious about the building of her creations.  She hands-on personally directed the placement of almost every stone.  When the Desert Watchtower was being built, she took a vacation for a couple of weeks.  Before she left, she gave very precise instructions to the builders as to where each stone was to be placed.  When she returned, there was one stone out of place near the bottom of a wall.  She insisted that the wall be torn down and done correctly.

Wupatki National Monument and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

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Got up at 5:30 to catch the sunrise at Mather point.  I was the third person to arrive.  By 6:15 there were more than more than a 100 trying to find space to view the sunrise.  It turned out to be a bust.  No clouds to provide soft colors, but still the Grand Canyon is a magnificent place at sunrise, clouds or not.

I went back to the trailer to grab some quick breakfast and get the wife and dog for a trip to Sunset Crater National Monument and Wupatki National Monument.  We started south down AZ 64 towards Flagstaff and was going to cross over to Highway 89 north of Humphries Peak to Highway 89 north.  Turns out, that road is 15 miles of very rough road.  Wed took the longer route through Flagstaff.

Most people think of Arizona as a dry arid desert with hot climates.  It’s true in the southern regions, but in some of the northern regions, it has high elevations and winter snow.  Who would think?  Fall colors, a peak at 12,633 feet (Arizona’s highest), snow and volcanoes.  It’s all here.

At Sunset Crater Volcano we saw a crater that last erupted in 1064 with vast lava flow fields and beautiful vegetation.  Everywhere you go for miles the ground is covered in fine black volcanic cinder.  Some of the native plants provide a stark contrast to the black earth.  The crater is at about 6,000 feet elevation.  Looking south past the crater you can see snow covered Humphries Peak looming in the background.  

Heading south on the loop road, we come to Wupatki National Monument.  Located here are many ancient Pueblos that were occupied by Hopi and Zuni Native Americans.  In the Wupatki National Monument there are 5 Pueblos.  Heading north on the loop road, the first is Wukoki, then Wupatki, Lomaki, Citadel, and Nalakihu Pueblos.  These pueblos were occupied about 800 years ago and are still in remarkable condition.  You can see the individual rooms, the ball courts, and food storage rooms.  If you notice, most of the rooms have no doors.  They were entered from the roof.  Also, many of these structures had multiple stories and were reached by ladders.  When a family left to move on, the rooms were sealed by those who stayed.  Hopping for the occupants would return.  The Wupatki Pueblo contained more than 100 rooms and as many as 1000 people lived and farmed there.  The Native Americans that occupied the Wupatki area farmed the volcanic rich soil for about 400 years and then eventually moved on to other lands.

Humphries Peak

Lava Flow

Sunset Crater

Wukoki Pueblo

Wukoki Pueblo

Wukoki Pueblo

Wukoki Pueblo

Wukoki Pueblo

Wukoki Pueblo

Wupatki Pueblo

Wupatki Pueblo

Vegetation on Black Cinder

Vegetation on Black Cinder

Lomaki Pueblo

Lomaki Pueblo

Early visitors explored the lava flows and took rocks for souvenirs.  Others looted the archaeological sites.  In 1928 filmmakers proposed creating a landslide on Sunset Crater for a movie.  This created such an out roar that irrecoverable damage would be done, then President Hoover established the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in 1930.