These are pictures I took with the digital camera on Friday at the North Rim. They are all from two scenic roads north of the Lodge which ultimately lead out to Imperial Point and Cape Royal, respectively. These appear in the order I took them, with improving, then deteriorating weather conditions.
My Airbnb host in Kanab told me about this place which is about 35 miles east of town. Saturday started out as a damp, dreary morning with a low cloud ceiling as there has been rain overnight. As I drove east, however, visibility improved and I decided to make the one-mile trek back to see these curious formations. They are sometimes called Hoodoos.
The “path” was mostly in a dry, sandy creek bed. The overnight rain evidently hadn’t reached this far east so it was kind of like walking on the beach. Occasionally the path went near some large rock over-hangings and there were some interesting layers of rock which had broken away underneath.
I found this rock in the path and it made me think of the Star Destroyer ship from the movie Star Wars.
I finally made it back to the eerie landscape where the toadstool formations are. What follows are many photos from various angles of the main formation, as well as some standalone ones nearby. The pictures in this post were all taken with the smartphone camera. A post with other photos taken with the digital camera follows.
Toadstools are natural spires with a large rock sitting on top. These aren’t things made as a prank by college kids.
There is another location with many toadstools (Hoodoos) in the town of Page, which I drove through later in the day after I crossed into Arizona. That venue requires a considerable hike which I was not going to make. I’m sure you can find photos online if you Google: Page Arizona Hoodoos. They are even more spectacular that these.
I believe there may have been other toadstool formations at this location as well, but rain was moving back in so I made the one-mile trek back to my car. I arrived there just in the nick of time, as a gentle rain started to fall which quickly became a hard rain as I drove away. I hope the creek-bed didn’t fill up for the folks who were going in as I was coming out!
It was about a mile walk back to the area where the toadstool formations were located. Much of the “path” was actually a dry, sandy creek bed which probably fills rapidly with water when the monsoon rains hit. It had rained overnight west of Kanab but evidently not over this direction, as the creek bed was dry.
Once you get back to where the toadstool formations are located you are in an eerie, moon-like landscape with many large grayish-white rocks with wind-swept swirl patterns and many rounded nooks and crannies. The “path” was not as obvious back here and I found myself in many dead-ends.
Nearby are many reddish-brown formations, such as the main attraction which is brown but sits high atop a white base.
Front:
Back:
And behind the main attraction are some smaller, standalone formations.
I believe this one fell over.
Before leaving Kanab this morning I looked at the radar to see what the weather situation was going to be for the day. Sure enough, several pockets of rain were heading north from Arizona. The largest and most intense areas of rain appeared as though they would pass by to the west, probably hitting Zion National Park later in the morning. Another, smaller area looked like it would pass by to the east, probably hitting Grand Staircase – Escalade National Monument later in the morning. So I decided to head towards the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which was my primary goal for the day anyway.
And before I left town I treated my car windows with Rain-X and installed a new set of wiper blades. Today would be the most significant daytime rain I would experience since leaving Durham on July 5! It had rained some that day when I got to Tennessee, and it rained some at night while I was in South Dakota and Montana, but it has basically been bone dry since then. Sometimes rain was forecast for the area I was in but I was elsewhere when it hit since I move around alot. Out here in the west you can often see where it is raining nearby but it may be sunny where you are.
When my preparations were complete (including a stop at a local grocery store for Gatorade, a sandwich and cole slaw for lunch and a few other items) I set off for the Grand Canyon! I drove south on Route 89A and soon crossed into Arizona. I drove for about an hour until I reached Jacob Lake, where I had to make a decision whether to commit to the Canyon and keep going straight on Route 67, or turn east and stay on Route 89A and make a big counterclockwise loop to see things to the east. I no longer had access to radar so I trusted my eyes and continued towards the Canyon. I could always retreat if things got out of hand.
Both roads (89A and 67) were very pleasant rides, through a variety of terrains. There was very little traffic, and I stopped frequently to take in the sights, shoot some photos with both cameras (mostly the digital, which you’ll see some of eventually) and look for critters. It wasn’t all that far to get to the Canyon entrance but it took a while with all the stops I made.
I am accumulating more pictures like the one above for my “Go play in the street” series….
This native plant thinks it will grow up to be a Saguaro cactus.
Shortly after I passed through the entrance to the Park (The Grand Canyon is a National Park, by the way) a huge bolt of lightning hit a ways up the road ahead of me, followed quickly by a loud rumble of thunder. That means six more weeks of summer, right??
It rained hard, briefly, then slacked off to a gentle, steady rain until I got to the Visitor Center. I had forgotten that Arizona doesn’t play the Daylight Savings Time game so that meant I had a bonus hour to spend (well not really, until I went to Arizona and stayed there, which I will in a few days).
It continued to rain lightly, off and on, for about an hour after I arrived. I went in the various buildings and took some initial pictures (I’ll post pictures of the Lodge itself in the future). While waiting out the rain I went back to the dry comfort of my car (and I lucked out by getting rock star parking) and enjoyed my picnic lunch which I bought before leaving Kanab.
Now, on with the show. I know you are anxious to see pictures of the Canyon….
These photos were taken looking south over the Canyon (North Rim) from the Grand Canyon Lodge using my smartphone camera. A storm system had moved through as I was coming in the Park entrance from the north. Upon arrival I first went to the Lodge, while it continued to rain off and on for about an hour. I kept moving around, taking pictures from many of the same vantage points so you will probably see similar or seemingly identical pictures but they were taken at different times under improving conditions.
One of the advantages of the rain was that the many visitors which were also here stayed mainly indoors. This gave me lots of flexibility to move around, keeping myself and my smartphone dry under an umbrella. I’m sure it will be alot more crowded when I come back on a nicer day.
As you’ll see, even with the rain and heavy cloud deck the sights are still amazing. The sun would come out later (although not while I was at the Lodge) so you’ll see a little more color and shadows as you go through today’s posts.
Enjoy!
These photos were taken looking south over the Canyon (North Rim) from the Grand Canyon Lodge using my smartphone camera. A storm system had moved through as I was coming in the Park entrance from the north. Upon arrival I first went to the Lodge, while it continued to rain off and on for about an hour. I kept moving around, taking pictures from many of the same vantage points so you will probably see similar or seemingly identical pictures but they were taken at different times under improving conditions.
I decided to make the trek out to the Overlook shown above. To do so, I first needed to go down the wet, metal staircase leading away from the Lodge…..
…. and then venture out the dirt and rock (and eventually paved) walkway to the Overlook platform itself. Some interesting views looking downward.
Working without a net….. Looking down near the Overlook walkway.
Going out onto the Overlook itself (while taking deep breaths).
Pay no attention to the sidewalk slowly deteriorating beneath your feet…..
These are photos I took today using my smartphone camera. I will post pictures in the future showing some closeups I took with the digital camera. Some of these pictures will look similar or seemingly identical but were taken at different times under changing conditions.
This Overlook series was taken from two scenic roads located between the entrance to the North Rim and the Grand Canyon Lodge. An initial rain system was moving through the area when I arrived. The sun was now out, highlighting some of the color of the Canyon as well adding some shadows. Conditions would soon deteriorate as another, stronger storm system overtook the Canyon from the south.
These are photos I took today using my smartphone camera. In future posts I will include closeups taken with the digital camera. You may see similar or seemingly identical shots but they were taken at different times and under changing conditions.
This is the final series of photos taken today with my smartphone camera. As you can see, another storm system was overtaking the Canyon from the south and I hit the road soon after taking these pictures. Tomorrow I will post photos of the Grand Canyon Lodge, as well as some closeups I took today with the digital camera.
This was the last picture I took at the southernmost extreme of Overlooks. As the weather moved in I started to retreat out towards the main road. Some of these photos that follow may be from the same vantage point as pictures you’ve seen in the posts above, but show the deteriorating conditions. The final few are from a road with a few Overlooks that you haven’t seen yet.
Isn’t this what I’ve been doing since I got here??
Possible subtitle: #FederalPrisoner4511046
The name’s Boy…… John Boy……..
********
It occurred to me while driving around the area yesterday that I had heard several years ago the government was building a huge complex near Salt Lake City for a then-undisclosed purpose. I did some research and discovered I was spending the night just a few miles from it!
I stayed in Eagle Mountain, Utah which is roughly halfway between Salt Lake City to the north and Provo to the south. When I left the housing development I headed east towards Interstate 15. At the first traffic light (Route 68) I turned left and within about two miles was standing near the entrance to the Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative Data Center (say that 3 times fast), more commonly known by the much easier name “Utah Data Center”. This facility is run by the NSA (National Security Agency). It sits high on a hill next to Camp Williams (a Utah Air National Guard base) overlooking Interstate 15 and the Wasatch Mountains to the east.
There are no signs stating what it is. The road leading up to the entrance (where a patrol car sat with it’s lights flashing) has a sign which simply states that only employees and authorized visitors should enter the grounds.
The Utah Data Center has lots and lots and lots and lots of Cray Supercomputers which store massive amounts of data (telephone calls, emails, internet searchs, etc), both foreign and domestic. The NSA processes these various forms of communications to try and detect terrorist threats. There are allegedly two other three other facilities like this in other parts of the country, although this is supposedly the largest.
This facility takes up over 1 million square feet and uses massive amounts of electricity and water (for cooling the equipment). Construction started in 2011 and was completed in 2013, but there were problems with equipment malfunctions and it didn’t start formal operations until 2014. Allegedly. The government doesn’t like to talk about this place so what I am telling you has been reported in various news stories.
As I was parked down the road taking these photos with my zoom lens a guy rode by on a bicycle (perhaps on his way to work at the Center) and said to me “Not a good idea….”
Well guess what, buddy. I pay taxes (well I did, not so much any more) and what I paid in income tax last year probably pays your salary (for a few hours anyway!). If they didn’t want me to take pictures of it they should have built it in Cheyenne Mountain.
johnboystravelblog 