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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……..

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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.

At several places during this trip I have seen huge fields of sunflowers.  Not the big, showerhead flowers that yield sunflower seeds, but smaller, wild flowers which are native to the area.  There is an ongoing debate whether or not what I saw were, in fact, sunflowers or black-eyed-susans, which are similar in appearance.  I saw large quantities of those when I entered Texas from the east back in May.

When I stayed in Joseph, Utah about a week ago I asked my hostess Janett (pronounced ja-NET) what the difference was.  She should know, as she operates a nursery next to her home specializing in native plants (for landscapers and homeowners).  Her immediate response was “Well, they’re both DYC’s”….  That is plant-person-speak for Damn Yellow Composites.  Janett confirmed what I thought I already knew – that the smaller, light yellow petals are typical of native sunflowers, whereas the longer, darker yellow petals are more common among black-eyed-susans.

SUNFLOWERS (taken by me, today, up near Eagle Mountain, UT):

BLACK-EYED-SUSANS (images found online):

(Photo credit: egofelix.com)

(Photo credit: bio.brandeis.edu)

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As I was driving on a scenic road over in western Colorado a few days ago (the Mesa loop, near Grand Junction) I saw a house with a garden containing many other types of sunflowers, including the large ones seeds are harvested from.

 

 

I visited Zion National Park very briefly (for a few hours) several years ago.  It is a relatively small Park, and I always thought it only consisted of one road, running west to east away from I-15.  As I approached from the north I was planning to take exit 27 to get to the Park entrance but saw a sign at exit 40 which stated I could get to Zion and be on a scenic road.  As you know, scenic roads are the starting point for these trips so I was all in.

When I got off the highway I was at the Visitor Center for Kolob Canyons, which are part of the Zion National Park system.  I took the 5-mile drive uphill and stopped at many overlooks which gave dramatic views of the mountains and canyons.  Most of what I saw is similar to other places I’ve posted pictures of before so I won’t post too many pictures, but no matter how many times you’ve seen them, these huge reddish-brown mountains are breathtaking.

This was the first view I had of the looming mountains as I started driving up the short scenic route.

Once I got to the highest level I drove along the a ridge and stopped at many of the overlooks, each of which offered a slightly different view.  Here is the best series of photos, taken as I panned the camera left-to-right.

And here are just a few closeups.

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When I was done taking photos at this location I hopped back on I-15 and headed 13 miles further south to the exit I originally planned to take.  I drove through the little towns of Hurricane and Virgin as I proceeded east towards the main Park entrance.

Before getting there I saw on the official Zion map that there was another scenic road, 23-miles in length, I could take before entering the Park.  I had noticed the skies darkening and the wind picking up and knew there was rain in the area.  When I got to the turnoff for the scenic road I was faced with this decision.

Looking east towards the Park:

And turning 45 degrees to my left, now looking north (literally taken 7 seconds later at 4:46:53 local time):

I opted for the latter.

And if the hot, dry air didn’t convince me, this confirmed I was in the desert.

I only made it about 1/3 of the way up towards the reservoir at the end of the road before turning around and heading for my Airbnb in Kanab (pronounced ka-NAB).  I wanted to arrive there before dark, and made it with about a half hour to spare.

After I turned around and was headed back towards the main road through Zion I saw this “under canvas” campground off in the distance.

I did not take any photos today while driving through the main portion of the Park.  I will be going in later in the week, and will be taking lots of photos.  Parking is extremely limited and there are not many pullouts for stopping, so I will ride the bus through the Park, probably several times, in order to be seated on different sides for photo ops.  I did that when I was here before and it worked out pretty well.

I spent Wednesday night in Eagle Mountain, Utah which is a little north and west of Provo.  Eagle Mountain sits west of Utah Lake, which is just west of north/south Interstate 15.

This was taken just after sunrise, looking east towards the Wasatch Mountain range.  Visibility was noticeably better this morning as a wind shift overnight apparently pushed the wildfire smoke a different direction.

In order to avoid morning traffic on the interstate (although I would be going south, away from most of the local metropolitan areas) I decided to drive south along the western side of Utah Lake.  That drive took me 35 miles south, at which point I turned left and headed towards I-15.

When I turned left onto Route 6 I saw this old Sinclair garage across the road.  Sinclair (their logo is a big green dinosaur) is a popular gasoline brand here in the west.

As I drove east I stopped to take some photos of freshly baled hay (or some other crop).

While walking back to my car a hawk flew past me and landed on a nearby fence post.

I tried walking past him to get a better shot with the morning sun behind me but he saw me (maybe I need a camo Safety Sam vest, although I guess that kind of defeats the purpose) and flew to the next fence post up the road.

As I drove through the little town of Santaquin I decided to stop and take a picture of this logo for a local convenience store chain.  While seemingly cheerful somehow I find the image vaguely disturbing.  When I get home I plan to have this photo printed and hang it over my bed so he can watch over me as I sleep (things a Stephen King novel are made of).

Right before getting on the interstate I saw a huge plume of black smoke just to my left.

The trucks in the foreground belong to a utility crew, working between me and the fire (they were a safe distance away, but were keeping a watchful eye on the situation).  I drove back in to see what was burning.  Turns out it was actually two fires, and was a controlled burn of tree limbs and other debris.  Don’t be fooled by the structures in the photo below – they are not on fire, but are merely in the shot due to the vantage point from which I took the photo.

Confident that Santaquin was safe, I hopped on I-15 and headed south for the several hour drive to Zion National Park in the extreme southwest corner of the state.

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Today I plan to see the Grand Canyon from the North Rim, then the southern portion of Grand Staircase – Escalate National Monument on Saturday, Bryce Canyon (finally!) on Sunday, and Zion National Park Monday before heading down to Flagstaff, Arizona for my next stop. A busy couple of days ahead.