11/04/2011

November 2, 2011 – Road Trip Time

Today, Andy, Pam, Steve and I decided to do a road trip so a little after 9, we piled in our Tracker and off we went.   We first headed down Coppermine Road and stopped in LeChee at the Navajo Tribal Office for maps and information.   From there we continued down to Coppermine where, according to one of our maps, was a trading post.  But before we got there, the road turned to dirt/gravel/sand and very washboardy!   Hmmm should we go on or not???   We made the decision to continue.

Here was the trading post – yep, it was no longer in business – :-((((.

 11-02-11 A Coppermine Trading Post (16) 

Check out the stone work:

11-02-11 A Coppermine Trading Post (4) 

11-02-11 A Coppermine Trading Post (10)

The inside – so sad:

11-02-11 A Coppermine Trading Post (5)

11-02-11 A Coppermine Trading Post (14)

The buildings nearby:

11-02-11 A Coppermine Trading Post (2)

We continued on IR 6210:

 11-02-11 B IL6210 (3)

Where we saw wild mules:

11-02-11 B IL6210 (5)

More strange rock formations:

11-02-11 B IL6210 (8)

11-02-11 B IL6210 (10)

And even llamas – who were probably as curious about us as we were about them:

11-02-11 B IL6210 (19)a

 

And breath a sign of relief once we were on 89 – paved!   We headed south and stopped at the Echo Cliffs Scenic Overlook.

This is the Colorado Plateau:

11-02-11 D Echo Cliffs Overlook - US89 004

This large crack is the eastern end of what eventually becomes the Grand Canyon.  The mountains/cliff beyond is the edge of Vermillion Cliffs National Monument (which we hope to explore next year):

11-02-11 D Echo Cliffs Overlook - US89 002

 

We continued south on US89 then north on US89A :

 11-02-11 E US89A to Navajo Bridge 010

11-02-11 E US89A to Navajo Bridge 013

11-02-11 E US89A to Navajo Bridge 014

 

To Historic Navajo Bridge:

   11-02-11 F Navajo Bridge Area (17)

11-02-11 F Navajo Bridge Area (16)

The Historic Bridge is on the left, the new one on the right:

11-02-11 F Navajo Bridge Area (4)

We were able to walk across the bridge and view the Colorado River below.  Looking south:

11-02-11 F Navajo Bridge Area (25)

Looking north:

11-02-11 F Navajo Bridge Area (35)

Steve and Pam:

11-02-11 F Navajo Bridge Area (37)

And we were treated to a beautiful Condor flying below us:

11-02-11 F Navajo Bridge Area (43)

11-02-11 F Navajo Bridge Area (47)

11-02-11 F Navajo Bridge Area (50)

The visitor center was closed for the season – Bummer – but I did find this very interesting on the other side of the bridges:

 

11-02-11 F Navajo Bridge Area (54)

11-02-11 F Navajo Bridge Area (53)

The view from the other side – historic bridge on the right:

11-02-11 F Navajo Bridge Area (57) 

And rafts on their way down the Colorado:

 11-02-11 F Navajo Bridge Area (64)

 

We then drove to Lee’s Ferry area which was nearby:

11-02-11 G Lee Ferry Area (4) 

11-02-11 G Lee Ferry Area (5)

11-02-11 G Lee Ferry Area (2)

11-02-11 G Lee Ferry Area (6)

 11-02-11 G Lee Ferry Area (7)

11-02-11 G Lee Ferry Area (9)

Where we had lunch and watched a group getting ready for a 15 day journey down the Colorado River.  Can you believe they will not have any guides?  How interesting and exciting too – :-)

11-02-11 G Lee Ferry Area (16) Upstream towards the Glen Canyon Dam:

  11-02-11 G Lee Ferry Area (22)

A group ending their float trip:

11-02-11 G Lee Ferry Area (26)

Downstream:

11-02-11 G Lee Ferry Area (19)

Our last stop was Paria Riffle – downstream from the raft launch site:

11-02-11 G Lee Ferry Area (31)

11-02-11 G Lee Ferry Area (39) s

IMG_3118

 

We slowly made our way home and relaxed for the rest of the day.

 

What a great day!

No comments: