ahschneid

Oct 218 min read

Page Arizona

We arrived at Page Lake Powel Campground Sunday 13 October 2024 for seven nights. Our biggest "must see" while here was the Grand Canyon from the North Rim Entrance. We decided to do that on Tuesday since we'd have to wake up at 5am and be on the road by 6am. It was a 2.5 hour drive, not because of the distance, but because of the winding roads and needing to go slow.

Monday we slept in and stayed around Page for the day. We went to the Glen Canyon Dam located in Page. The Glen Canyon Dam is second only to the Hoover Dam in height. We learned in the Visitor Center film that Page AZ is named for John C. Page, a 1930's Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. The City was planned and developed for the workers building the Glen Canyon Dam in 1957.

We were a little surprised to see an armed guard walking around at the Glen Canyon Dam visitor center. Anita looked it up and the Bureau of Reclamation has a Security Response Force. SRF officers are stationed at national critical infrastructures, including the Hoover Dam, Grand Coulee Dam, and Glen Canyon Dam. We've been to Hoover Dam but didn't see the armed guard there.

Glen Canyon Dam provides a portion of the water and power for Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

I guess dams are so integral to the infrastructure of water and power that the guards are to protect against someone disabling their operation. Anita got curious about power sources after learning that water (hydropower) is only a small source of power generation in the US. A quick search for sources of US power generation showed Nuclear being the main source of clean energy in the US, providing 52% of the country's clean energy. Coal is a primary fuel source for electricity generation, accounting for over 30% of the electricity generated in the US. Renewable sources including wind, hydropower, solar power, biomass, and geothermal; and finally, Natural gas, another major source of electricity in the US.

On Tuesday, we woke up at 5am and left at 6am to take the scenic Rt 89-A to the Grand Canyon and our first stop was at Historic Navajo Bridge over the Colorado River. Construction on the bridge began in 1927 and it was completed in 1929. Our main objective for stopping at the bridge was to see California Condors. This rare bird is known to hang around the Navajo Bridge. We were excited to see three California Condors! They are a large bird with a 10ft wing span and they weigh up to 27 lbs. They are so close to extinction that scientists have captured as many as they could and numbered their wings to track them. We could see the numbers on the wings of two of the birds we saw: K6 and 2A. Since we were there already, we walked over the bridge before continuing on our drive to the Grand Canyon. Next we stopped at Lee's Ferry on the Colorado River which is also in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

14 October 2024

From the National Park Service website: Encompassing over 1.25 million acres, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area offers unparalleled opportunities for water-based & backcountry recreation. The recreation area stretches for hundreds of miles from Lees Ferry in Arizona to the Orange Cliffs of southern Utah, encompassing scenic vistas, geologic wonders, and a vast panorama of human history.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 14 October 2024

Glen Canyon Dam

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 14 October 2024

Glen Canyon Dam Overlook

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 14 October 2024

Glen Canyon Dam Overlook

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 14 October 2024

Glen Canyon Dam

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 14 October 2024

Glen Canyon Dam

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 14 October 2024

Glen Canyon Dam

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 14 October 2024

Lake Powell

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 14 October 2024

Glen Canyon Dam

On our drive to Grand Canyon 15 October 2924

Vermillion Cliffs National Monument

From the Bureau Of Land Management website: This remote and unspoiled 280,000-acre monument is a geologic treasure with some of the most spectacular trails and views in the world. The monument contains many diverse landscapes, including the Paria Plateau, Vermilion Cliffs, Coyote Buttes, and Paria Canyon. The monument borders Kaibab National Forest to the west and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to the east. The monument includes the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness. Elevations range from 3,100 to 7,100 feet. The monument is also home to a growing number of endangered California condors. Each year, condors hatched and raised in a captive breeding program are released in the monument. To visit the monument, you'll need extra planning and awareness of potential hazards. Most roads need a high clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicle due to deep sand.

On our drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim 15 October 2024

Navajo Bridge

On our drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim 15 October 2024

Navajo Bridge

On our drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim 15 October 2024

Navajo Bridge

On our drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim 15 October 2024

Navajo Bridge

On our drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim 15 October 2024

Navajo Bridge - Colorado River

On our drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim 15 October 2024

Navajo Bridge - Two California Condors

On our drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim 15 October 2024

Navajo Bridge - California Condors (the one on right is K6)

On our drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim 15 October 2024

Navajo Bridge - California Condor (2A)

On our drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim 15 October 2024

Navajo Bridge - wild horse

On our drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim 15 October 2024

Lees Ferry

On our drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim 15 October 2024

Lees Ferry

On our drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim 15 October 2024

Lees Ferry

Lees Ferry 15 October 2024

On our drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim 15 October 2024

Lees Ferry - Paria Beach

15 October 2024

Lees Ferry - Paria Beach - Colorado River