WEDNESDAY - As I mentioned in the previous post, today's move was strictly to improve our comfort level.
Yesterday we had pretty much made up our minds to forfeit the 4th night at Lees Ferry and move up into the Kaibab Forest.
After an uncomfortable night's sleep, with temperatures still above 80°F at 10PM and above 75°F at 2AM, we were both on board to make the move this morning.
By 9:30AM it was already in the upper 70°Fs when we left our campsite and it was expected to make it into the mid-90°Fs by late afternoon.
We're getting plenty of solar charging to keep our batteries topped off.
Our site is plenty long enough to remain hooked up for an easy departure in the morning.
After just 47-miles on the road we had changed our elevation from roughly 3200' up to 7900' and as I write this blog at 1:30PM it is a pleasant 74°F outside. Yes, it's going to get down to a chilly 43°F tonight, but we have blankets and a furnace to deal with that.
The entire 4700' of elevation gain today was over a very short and steep 6.5-mile distance. But, ROVER kept his cool the entire time and we barely saw the temperature needles move on either the engine or transmission gauges. Looks like he's ready to tackle those mountains coming up soon and I know, I hope I didn't just jinx ourselves.
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SUNDAY - Today we'll be leaving the Grand Canyon behind and heading for the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
While the Grand Canyon is well, GRAND, the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, specifically Marble Canyon, is pretty spectacular itself.
The Navajo Bridge opened in 1929 and crosses over the Colorado River located 467' below. Today we drove across the "new" Navajo Bridge which opened in 1995. The original bridge is still in use as a pedestrian bridge and we will be visiting it before we leave.
Now that we've crossed over the Colorado River we are officially on the north side of the Grand Canyon. This entire area is part of both the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.
I believe the borders and responsibilites of the two different agencies are the National Recreation Area manages the canyon floor and waterway, while the National Monument consists of all the plateaus and mountainsides surrounding Marble Canyon.
After crossing the bridge and turning off of US-89A onto Lees Ferry Road we still have 4.5-miles to go before we reach the campground. This 4.5-miles is very scenic in it's own right and has several interesting rock formations.
Lees Ferry Campground is "First Come First Serve" meaning there is no reserving your favorite campsite in advance. You get to pick from the unoccupied sites when you arrive.
There are really only 3 campsites here that have an unobstructed view of the Colorado River and all 3 were spoken for when we arrived. We chose the best site, for us anyway, of the leftovers and have a wonderful view of the valley behind our campsite.
A beautiful view made even better by my new addition to THE POD's decor.
If we sit outside in just the right position we can still see the Colorado River from our site.
Our site was plenty wide enough, but we could have used a little extra depth.
Extra depth would have allowed us to get ROVER's front bumper further off the roadway. Did you notice all the other campsites have a shade cover over their picnic table, not ours?
Our shade cover is 40' down in the ditch behind our campsite.
You might be wondering why ours is down in the ditch...
...well after just a few hours of being here we quickly figured it out! With a single 40MPH gust and numerous others above 30+MPH it's no secret why!
MONDAY - In addition to breakfast, we have a few other chores to take care of today and since it's a 45-minute drive into Page, AZ, the nearest town, we want to take care of everything in one trip.
On the way out of the park this morning we took the time to stop and take a few more photos of the interesting rock formations we found here along the entrance road.
I highlighted this balanced rock formation because it's a little hard to see.
No mistaking this one for a balanced rock.
It's simply named Balanced Rock and is the one that gets the most attention here in the park.
Up ahead, and requiring a detour around it, is Cathedral Rock just inside the front gate.
The first thing we need to take care of is breakfast and since there are only two restaurants within a 15-minute drive of the campground we chose the closest one to the park which is located just outside of the entrance.
The Lonely JackRabbit has something called "Stuffed Biscuits-N-Gravy" on the breakfast menu so that's where we're headed this morning.
I found their logo cleverly designed...
...and the story behind the name interesting.
I wish I enjoyed the meal just as much. I like my biscuit gravy made with milk and is white. This brown gravy was very salty and had a meaty taste?
Tricia had a more traditional breakfast and enjoyed it very much!
To get from Lees Ferry Campground to Page, AZ you go from 3200' up to 5200' at this pass...
...and then back down to 4100' before reaching town. What a rollercoaster ride!
I have a 10AM appointment at the Ford Dealership to get ROVER's oil and filter changed. I'm also going to have them perform their 130,000-mile Service Package which includes checking out the radiator, transmission, battery and brakes.
We are going to be asking ROVER to tow THE POD up and over several mounatin ranges this year and want to make sure he is in tip top shape to do so.
After ROVER is all taken care of, we need to fill 1 of our 30-lb. propane tanks, ROVER's gas tank, 3 of our 3-gallon drinking water bottles and finally enough food to last us the next 10-days. When we get all that done it'll be time to head back to the campground!
Here we are going through the pass once again on our return trip.
That's what the valley floor looks like 1500' below.
If you get tired you can also pull over and buy some Authentic Indian Made Handicrafts.
Back inside the park this is what Cathedral Rock looks like from the other side.
TUESDAY - Yesterday we had a very comfortable high temperature of 74°F while we were running around and getting all of our chores done.
Today, it's going to be 11°F warmer than yesterday and it's only going up from there for the remainder of our visit here. Don't worry, because when it becomes truly unbearable here on Thursday, we're heading up to over 8000' (a new record for us) where it is currently averaging 15-20°F cooler than it is here at just 3200'.
Later this morning, around 10:00AM, we are going to drive the short distance over to the Navajo Bridge and check out the California Condor activity. It's one of the few places you are practically guaranteed to see condors in the wild.
Every September since 1996 the The Peregrine Fund and the BLM get together and release 3-4 California Condors into the wild from the nearby Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. The condors tend to not travel far immediately after release and begin nesting in the rafters underneath both the old and new Navajo Bridges.
Today we are going to walk across the old Navajo Bridge, which was left in place as a pedestrian bridge when the new bridge opened to vehicular traffic in 1995.
THE TWIN NAVAJO BRIDGES AND IT'S CALIFORNIA CONDORS
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Everything you could possibly want to know about constructing the Original Navajo Bridge.
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When it was no longer suitable for todays large 18-wheelers the narrow bridge was replaced by a wider one located right next door.
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This is the new and wider Navajo Bridge which is used for today's vehicular traffic.
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There was a representative of the Peregrine Fund on the bridge today educating the tourists. She had a scanner that told her there was only one "tagged" condor within range today.
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It was Condor V3, a male, and she showed us where to look on the new bridge to find him.
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With not much going on in the condor watching category we changed our attention to the Colorado River flowing by beneath us.
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It wasn't long before a river rafting tour came into view from around the corner.
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It looked like they were trying to reach a small sandy beach on the shore.
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There was one more raft which was way behind the group, isn't there always one?
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The "nearly" twin Navajo Bridges (old on the left - new of the right).
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Tricia caught me coming out of the gift shop/visitor center empty handed.
We were told that last week there were as many as 17 condors hanging around the bridges and while there may have been only one condor here today, we were given a special treat and Tricia was able to capture this hand held video of the whole thing.
The condor flew directly over our heads and then did a u-turn and flew back over our bridge before settling back on his original perch located over on the new bridge. Thank You Mr. V3!
There are currently between 85-90 "tagged" condors in the Northern Arizona/Southern Utah area and each year that number increases by a precious few. What a success story of saving the species from extinction!
With temperatures in the mid-80°Fs today, and a forecast of 90°F+ tomorrow, we've decided to cut our visit short by 1-day and head up to an elevation of nearly 8000'. While it's only 45-miles from here, it's got to be cooler than what we have here at 3200'. Plus, it'll be a good test for ROVER and his current towing abilities.
Looking for our Visited States Map and Data? How about our State by State Bucket Lists or Visited Campgrounds List? If so, click on the sign below to be taken to our other website.
