Reflections at Hoover Dam

The copper tinted windows in the buildings at Hoover Dam had some great reflections.

Here I caught a reflection of part of the new bridge an a worker hanging from some ropes.

No, actually it is a monument to those who built the dam that is reflected.

In the background you can see the new bridge and all the people on it.  Unfortunately, the parking lot allowing access to walk the bridge is small and there was no parking space for us there. 

Check out more reflections at Weekend Reflections, hosted for us by James.

After a Storm

We have been having unusually stormy weather lately, but the clouds cleared enough for a walk and some pictures before the rain returned.
The flower is Dichelostemma multiflorum, called "wild hyacinth" though other plants go by this name elsewhere.

See more sky views at SkyWatch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren and Sylvia.

Horseshoe Bend

Horseshoe bend, out side of Page Arizona is my watery shot this week.  I suppose that I could have gotten a better shot had I crawled on my belly out to the edge.  It was undercut, though, and the sign said to beware.

It is a great view, even for a coward like me.

Thanks to 2sweetnsaxy for hosting Watery Wednesday.  Check it out for more water views.

Petrified Forest

Petrified Forest was the last park on our recent tour of the Southwest.

We've been here before but always when the Summer sun had washed out the colors and much of the beauty lies in the color of the rock.

On past trips the heat had kept me from exploring down into the badlands.  I was pleased that the weather cooperated and I was able to see these beautiful formations of Chinle Shale up close.

Of course, people do not come to this park just for the badlands, they come for the petrified wood.

Agate Bridge is an example of how the Park Service has changed its ways.

It was thought that this log would soon collapse so a support was made under it.  Today they would have allowed nature to take its course and the bridge would have been allowed to break and fall into the ravine.

 Painted Desert Inn is a relic of a bygone era.  It was built by the CCC on the site of the earlier Stone Tree House.  It no longer serves meals or provides lodging but is a museum and a tribute to the craftsmanship of an earlier era.

This is what people most want to see, the amazing colors of the petrified wood.

Once freely harvested by rock hounds, the petrified wood in the park is now protected.  They ask you when you enter if you have purchased any outside the park and on leaving if you have collected.  It is all on the honor system, though.  There are plenty of rock shops outside the park so it isn't necessary to steal our heritage.

 I like this one, you can see the petrified remains of the roots.  No doubt that this was once a living tree but that was 225 million years ago.  To find out more about how these trees came to be turned to stone, click here.

You can see more views of this wonderful world of ours at That's My World Tuesday, hosted for us each week by Klaus, Sandy, Wren and Sylvia.

Glen Canyon Dam Bridge

When it was completed in 1959 the bridge cut 192 miles off the trip from one side of the canyon to the other.  More important, and the reason it was built, it provided access for the workers of Glen Canyon Dam to the other side of the canyon.
Unlike Hoover Dam, the road never crossed over the dam.  We also stopped to see the new bridge that bypasses Hoover Dam, I'll show you that next week.

I'm linking this to Sunday Bridges.  Thanks to Louis at San Francisco Daily Photo for hosting this meme.

Dreamcatcher Shadow

  We saw this dreamcatcher at a footpath leading in to Zion National Park.  It had little locks attached.  I don't know the purpose of the locks but I suspect that people would purchase them and place it with the hope a wish would be granted, just my speculation.

   

Dreamcatchers originated with Ojibwa, a Native American people.  They have been adopted by other tribes as a symbol of unity.  I think it makes an interesting shadow.

You can find other interesting shadows at Shadow Shot Sunday, hosted by Tracy at Hey Harriet.

Canyon de Chelly

Except for a hike to one ruin, visitors can only tour the canyon with a Navajo guide.  You can, however, view it from the rim.  The rim drive has many view points that give great canyon views.

Nature favored us with some beautiful skies when we arrived so I feel justified in linking this post to SkyWatch.

From the rim you can look across the canyon and see many ruins left by the Anasazi now referred to by the politically correct term of Ancestral Pueblo peoples.  Whatever you choose to call them it is amazing that they could live on those cliffs.  Some Navajo will say that when these ancient people lived here the canyon floor was higher and it wasn't such an achievement.

 Theses tall spires are called "Spider Rock".  In the Navajo belief system it is believed that Spider Woman made her home here.  Spider Woman was said to have taught the Navajo how to weave.

One version of the myth can be found here.

The following day we hired a Navajo guide and went into the canyon itself.  The river meanders back and forth across the canyon and so does the road, such as it is.  Our guide knew just where to cross in her 4x4, often driving in the river for long stretches.

Down in the canyon we got a much better look at the ruins.

We also saw a great many petroglyphs.  Our guide was very informative and tried to answer our questions.  There was, however, a decidedly ethnocentric slant to her commentary.  She wasn't an anthropologist.

  Canyon De Chelly is a hybrid park, a National Monument but on Navajo land.  The park service has rights to the site which will soon expire and there is talk of turning it over to the Navajo Nation.  Our guide wasn't sure it would get the protection it deserved if that were to happen.

See more wonderful views of the sky at SkyWatch, Friday; hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren and Sylvia.