UT 95, also called the Bicentennial Highway, turned out to be yet another of neighbor Mike's gifts, a road I never otherwise would have known from any other, but which provided visual feasts one after another. It wound through more and more impressive scenery, including rock outcroppings near the road and in the distance, and isolated huge structures left standing after surrounding rock eroded away, which I learned are called temples. There were long uphill pulls and curving switchback descents, and finally the road entered the area on the map noted as Glen Canyon. Down and down winding through natural and man made cuts in the rocks, frequently opening up into broad vistas of larger open areas between walls of red stone. Canyons, I suppose they were, walled by the buttes and bluffs I had been seeing all along, but now I was in them, between them, and could feel the mass of the giant stones, and then the thrill when the view opened up again.
At the bottom, what finally turned out to be the bottom, was an endless chasm, a profoundly deep slash in the earth stretching from right to left, spanned by an impossibly slender bridge that was simply... beautiful. A sign told me that it was the Colorado River, and Mike's atlas that it was the beginning of Lake Powell. No way I could get any picture as I was speeding by, so I have stolen a good one from the web.
 |
| Bridge in Glen Canyon spanning the Colorado River and Lake Powell
The water was in no way as high as in the picture. I have learned that things are very dry there now, and that the water level is very low.
The ascent began right after the bridge, and about halfway up there was a scenic overlook I could not resist stopping at. It was located a good quarter mile off the road, so there was no suggestion of what the view might be as I exited the highway. Well, it was a high vantage over the widening waterway where the Colorado began to swell into Lake Powell, though it was somewhat...dry. Water was indeed visible far to the south, but I got the feeling that the large flats I could see downstream of the bridge were at times filled with water. Today, not so much.
The panorama I shot from the overlook is below. For one thing, the pano process produces considerable distortion; the curved cliff edge was quite straight.
The bridge from the previous web pic is visible in my picture, but only under a large amount of magnification. Below is that section, it comes from about 1/4 of the way in from the left side of the pano, and just about a little bit down from the horizon at that point. I wish I knew how to include an arrow in the photo, but I don't: sorry.
 Hopefully you can see the bridge that I crossed earlier. The larger green section to the right is usually covered with water, making the lake's headwaters much larger in area than they were the day I took the photo. At this overlook, I met a couple from Holland who had rented a car and were visiting National Parks. We both were impressed with the view and the experience of driving UT95. He said he and his wife had traversed it just by chance, and that it had been mentioned in none of the guidebooks they were employing during their trip. I told them that the sights I had been seeing just by driving certain roads had been as good as I could imagine seeing in a crowded and costly National Park. I have learned since that Lake Powell continues down to a dam, and then below that the Colorado River continues through the Grand Canyon and eventually into Lake Mead. And further that the area several miles to the south of the water you can see on the right side of the pano in the middle is a very popular fishing and boating site. I am considering perhaps trying to see that location on the way home. So, first the city of Bluff, then the Moki Dugway, then Glen Canyon, and later in the day, on to Capitol Reef, which I will talk about in another post. Sunday had been, and was continuing to be, quite a day. |
No comments:
Post a Comment