On Things Along the Way 18

For photos: http://willemcoetzee.blogspot.com/2014/05/fotos-22.html

At the Grand Canyon our campsite in Mather Campground  http://publiclands.org/explore/site.php?id=945 called for virtual dry camping, in addition to threading the 5^th wheel into a very narrow and curvy pull through spot, to the amazement, if not amusement, of a passer-by camper. Our slide-outs made it with barely an inch to spare between the gigantic tree trunks. But we were in and comfortable. It wasn’t too late, so we went to a center outside the park where we saw an IMAX film on the Grand Canyon, figuring it would cover a lot more than what we would be able to see from the rim. This proved accurate and the show certainly was worth it. We had one propane tank refilled and headed back for dinner.

The National Park Service provides a shuttle service from the campground to the South Rim Visitor  Center, from where one could reach other vantage points by shuttle, which we did http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon. Needless to say the immense scope of the Canyon is astounding. And relating what one sees to the IMAX presentation and the tectonic plate movements and upheaval of the four corner region was interesting. But looking at Wikipedia suggested that hotly debated aspects of the origins of the Grand Canyon and spectacular natural phenomena of the four corner region remain. Separating the spectacular from explanations thereof leaves one with the satisfaction of having witnessed it all and that the reality of it does not depend on understanding the details of how it came about.  Somewhat like driving an automobile; one can do so without knowing much about the details of how the thing works.

Back in camp we readied ourselves for moving on the next day to Kanab, Utah. Our initial plan was to get to the north rim of the Grand Canyon from Jacob Lake but could not because it was not yet open after the winter. Zion National Park in Utah was thus our next target.

The drive from Grand Canyon to Zion  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion_National_Park      would be long, so we made it to Kanab, Utah, where we expected to learn whether we would be able to pass through the tunnel on route 9 early the next morning. The Dutch owners, Wim and Thea Van Baal, of Kanab RV Corral  http://www.kanabrvcorral.com/,  assigned us a lovely camp site such that we needn’t even level or unhook the RV and were also most helpful by informing us about the vehicle requirements for using  the tunnel, which we would meet. So, virtually at the crack of dawn we were on our way, intending to secure one of the first come first serve sites in the South Campground at Zion.  We were warned that these fill up early in the day and when we were delayed for at least 30 minutes at a road construction project barely outside of Kanab, we were happy about the early start.

On account of the height and overall size of 5^th wheel trailers, and as long as the entire ensemble is under 50 foot in length (ours is 48) they have to travel down the middle of the one mile plus, two-lane tunnel, which means traffic from the opposite side has to be held back. For this arrangement one has to pay a $15 fee, which we gladly did because it reduced the trip from 100 miles via an alternative road to 30 miles. The additional advantage is that one enters the Zion National Park from the east and then drop a great deal in elevation. Not only is it a most astonishing route in terms of sightseeing and hairpin switch backs, but of course also merciful on the truck and the driver. No one seemed in a particular hurry to get it behind them and pull-offs for appreciating the views were well used by fellow travelers. Getting to the bottom of the canyon via route 9 was a very rewarding experience and we subsequently advised others in campgrounds along the way to do so, rather than reaching the Park from the west. For us it was also much easier on the truck leaving westward two days later.

A wrinkle had been introduced into our planning because 5 days before, we learned that Herine  had entered a hospital in Evanston, Illinois and at 7 months of her pregnancy, the medical decision was to deliver her baby prematurely that day, April 16. Willem scrambled to get airplane reservations for Susan to go to Chicago and so, upon arrival at Zion and securing a camp site http://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm , he and Susan left Fickie and Stella to take care of setting up, while they took off to Las Vegas, some 150 miles away. Susan made her flight in good time and Willem was back at Zion before dark. All went well in Chicago and mother father and child, baby boy Teo, have been progressing fine since. Susan’s assistance proved to be timely and useful, as Teo is expected to remain in the hospital for some time to come, while Herine has to commute there often and having an additional driver on hand helped a great deal.

Meanwhile, the remaining three travelers were entertained on memorable experiences. The Visitor Center at Zion is within walking distance from the camp site and the National Park Service provides shuttle services on two routes – one eastward into the canyon to its end at Temple of Sinawava and the other westward out of the canyon to Springdale. Fickie and Stella had explored the virtues of the first of these the first day and in addition to wanting to take it again, advised Willem on how to spend his excursion most productively. The canyon route has 9 stops. One can get off and board at any of these. Hiking trails pass through most of them but photographer’s delights exist at each and in between   http://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery.htm?id=27A66B03-155D-451F-678F5E7C1CEC769A   . There is an informative museum about the geology and settlers in the area over the centuries at the first from the Visitor Center.  It includes a video presentation in a comfortable theater, underscoring the fine job of the National Park Service we’ve become accustomed to. We all took advantage of the opportunities presented at various stops. Willem got back after 2 hours, and when the Fick’s returned soon after, had something going in the kitchen. It was a day well spent and we were ready to prepare for takeoff the next morning for Page, Arizona.

We headed west and in Hurricane, Utah, had the trailer’s spare wheel replace the right front, which tire was separating. We continued on scenic route 59, which was the long southern way to Kanab from where we continued to Page.

We were a bit confused when the GPS didn’t deliver us to our RV park,  http://www.pagecampground.com/. This was the first time such happened but it proved to have been off by a few hundred yards, presumably by a digit error in the coordinates entered.  Page is an interesting, rather young city, which came about as a result of construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in the Colorado River, notwithstanding fierce opposition and litigation for decades but it was finally completed in 1963 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Canyon_Dam . It is almost unthinkable that something like that could be done today in the face of exponentially escalated regulatory hurdles over the past 50 years. But it did give rise to Lake Powel, hydroelectricity and irrigation which unlocked the agricultural potential of the desert states of Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California and even Mexico via agreements preceding construction of the dam. This explained some of the impressive irrigation results we observed in Southern Arizona but locally in Page, it was the attractive city and massif recreation attraction of Lake Powell which could not escape one’s attention. The lake flooded Glen Canyon for a hundred miles, not to mention lesser side canyons, resulting in a shoreline longer than the coast line of the state of California. It is an impressive spectacle and we spent quite a bit of time at the visitor center of the dam, which so typical of things American, is aimed at informing and educating, alike places we’ve visited, such as NASA and Galveston.

 

And of course, we ran into busloads of school students taking advantage of the detailed descriptions of the dam, video presentations in an attractive theatre, explanations of the technology and the beneficial consequences of it all. The truth about the importance of educating the future electorate with a view of understanding what happens to their tax dollars is inescapable. Presently indoctrination toward abhorrence of the predominant energy sources that made America great -- oil, coal and nuclear, in favor of economically less viable alternatives, is sad to see – especially in view of the strides that are being made to clean up that which needs cleaning up. But even recently explored clean natural gas is being steamrollered under the fashionable ideology of the day. Hopefully a better educated electorate will also in time see the inverse relationship between such ideology and how it translates into limiting employment growth and how far a pay check stretches, which in turn influences standards of living across the board. Average household income parents of these students may not understand it perfectly but they are certainly experiencing it. 

Consistent with this reality, one needs to only travel 5 miles east of Page to the Navajo Generating Station in the Navajo Nation Territory, claimed to be one of the largest and most environmentally sensitive coal-fired generating plants in the United States. In addition to the Navajo Nation, the plant provides electricity to over 500,000 residential and commercial customers in Arizona, California and Nevada. It taps the reserves of the Kayenta Coal Mine, close by in the Navajo Nation. It provides jobs to 520 full-time workers, more than 70% being Native Americans. Interesting that this kind of thing is fine for the Navajo Nation but not for West-Virginians and Pennsylvanians, where coal mines are being shut down and miners find themselves on the streets increasingly.

Following our own Page education, we headed out on scenic routes 89, 160 and 163 to our next stop, Goulding Trading Post across the border of Utah, at 37.007325,-110.215085