Hoover Dam...an engineering marvel!

On Tuesday, Jun 28 we left Zion for Las Vegas, Nevada. I slept the whole way so Mom will have to tell you about the trip.

The drive through the Virgin Mountains was very brown after all the red rocks in Utah, but still was was interesting topography...

As we approached Vegas the skyline was very familiar...

It was so extremely hot, 110-114, we just stayed in the coach and relaxed. The next morning we left early for Hoover Dam. Originally called the Boulder Dam when construction started in 193, it truly was and still is an engineering wonder built in the Black Canyon on the Colorado River.

There are two tour options, one of the power plant for $10 or a Dam tour for $30 which includes the Power Plant. The Dam Tour is the way to go. We first toured the power plant where we saw the layout

And one of the tubes that diverted the Colorado River

And one half of the 17 turbines

Everything we saw was original construction, from the elevators to the concrete structure to the tunnels for inspection 

The elevators we used were original but we also saw ladders for inspection and pipes that carry seepage water

One reason the Dam has survived so well is its high factor of safety it was built with, but for earthquakes it had a high enough SF to withstand an 8.9 earthquake!  The construction technique was to build tunnels within Dam as it was built using wooden stays that were later removed but you can still see the imprint of the wooden pieces.

Many of the original workers autographed the walls, but this one etched a picture in the wall

Once outside you see the real beauty of this structure as well as the massive power structure! Finished 2 years early and under budget due to the unique cooling technique they used with chilled water pumped thru pipes in the concrete blocks. 760 ft tall, 4.3M cubic yards of concrete, 

And of course Lake Mead formed by the Dam!

We loved the tour even though once outside we melted!

After we got back, we got ready to head to the Strip for dinner and a show, but the power blew and the temp rose very fast in the coach even though the generator kicked in! The resort replaced the breaker but we didn't feel comfortable leaving Finn and we cancelled our plans. We decided it was time to leave for cooler weather and tomorrow we head to California!

North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Well Mom and Dad wanted to do the north rim of the Grand Canyon even though it was 2-3 hrs away.mwhen I found out I was going too I was all in...even better, the temps were almost 40 deg cooler, woohoo!!

The drive up was pretty, as we got close to the entrance we could see it was very different than the South side, 1400 ft higher at almost 8900 Ft it was full of trees and green meadows!

We first stopped at the Visitor's Center and lodge and I knew it was going to be a good day, everybody missed their own puppies and loved on me!

The cabins were cute, some had views of the canyon too...

I had a great look at the canyon...

Bridle path is open to puppies so off we went!

Even the canyon was greener!

We went up to Point Imperial, the highest point!

Mom wouldn't let Dad take me to the lookout, come on Mom!

Then we headed up to Cape Royal with several stops on the way...

At Angel's Landing there was a nice paved trail that said no dogs, but Mom talked to the Ranger and she said I could go...must be cause I'm kinda cute😉!

Some man photo bombed my picture so I stuck my tongue out!

It was a really fun day and we took the long way home to do the Zion Canyon Scenic drive which you saw yesterday! Now we are headed to Vegas and 111 deg temps, I'm staying in!

More from Zion

This morning Mom and Dad once again got up early, 3:30 am, gave me breakfast and they packed their stuff for another day at Zion. They got to the park by 5:40 a.m. And the line for the shuttle was already well into its second row...

Mom doesn't like the Shuttle System that is required to be used in the summer months for several reasons. First, she said you are squished in like cattle, not something good for her immune system with RA, they don't get to see the scenery as well between stops, and it wastes time...still, they made the best of it, clowning around here at the Shuttle Stop...

Their first hike was an easy, paved two mile hike at the top end of the Zion canyon. They were surrounded by canyon and a peaceful babbling brook...

The trail ends at the narrows where folks wade in the water that is ice cold!

On the way back, they were treated to a momma deer and baby fawn

Next they waited for the bus driver to decide to leave while they plotted their course to the lower, middle, and upper emerald pools. The lower is an easy 1mi trail with only slight elevation change and mostly paved.

The trail starts from Zion Lodge in the heart of the Park.

The pool area is mostly weeping from rocks with a small waterfall dropping into the pool surrounded by greenery

The middle and upper pools grow harder to get to with the latter climbing up pieces of boulder in the hot sun and the reward probably did not out weigh the climb.

On the way back they saw this fella...can anybody tell me what he is?

At this point the temp was rising quickly to the day's 105 deg so Mom and Dad decided to take a car tour to the 2nd northern Zion Park area, at a much higher altitude, well outside of town on Kolob Terrace Rd. They were treated to some pretty scenery!

Tomorrow we are all taking a 2-3 HR drive to the North a Rim of the Grand Canyon. The temps should be much more pleasant at a much higher altitude!

We will post about the Grand Canyon North Rim tomorrow, but on our way home we drove the Zion Canyon Scenic Highway, the only part of Zion you can drive through all year round. Without a doubt this was the prettiest drive of our whole trip and now we really "get" Zion. The pictures don't do it justice so think of floor to ceiling colorful canyon at every turn of a switchback road that is carved through the canyon, It was just spectacular.

It included about a mile long tunnel right through the canyon and if you're in an RV you need a special escort to run the center, ours won't fit at all!

If you do one thing at Zion, drive this scenic road!