Glen Canyon National Park - Page, AZ May 5-7

I don't know what the view is out your window, but at Wahweap Campground this was the view taken out of the window of the RV!!

 

Our first "must see" in this area was the Glen Canyon Dam.  As there was nothing in this area before they built the dam, and getting to the other side required a 200 mile trip, the first step was in building the bridge.  It was started from both sides and met in the middle.  It was off by only a few feet!!  You can see the Colorado river and the canyon leading up to the dam below the bridge. This gives you an idea of the natural canyon sides of Lake Powell!

 

 

  Only slightly smaller than the Hoover Dam in Nevada, The Glen Canyon Dam is part of the system that provides water resources to 7 States.  One of the interesting facts we learned was that 85% of this water goes to agricultural usage.  The dam is like a water bank account - saving water from the snow melts in the Rocky Mountains to use when water is needed during the dry months.

 

You can see how high the water is behind the dam on the photo above.   That body of water is Lake Powell and currently is over 300 feet deep.  Lake Powell is 560 feet deep when full!!  

 

You can see in the photo above, the area right in front of the dam is green.  That's because it is Bermuda grass.  Not for golfing, but to keep down the sand during the winds and vibration.

 

 The dam took three years for the concrete to be poured.   With concrete buckets like this one (that held 24 tons of concrete) it took 400,000 of them to build the dam. This was accomplished by pouring concrete day and night .

 

In addition to providing water the dam provides a significant amount of electricity.  Here is one of the original turbines.  But, these are being replaced by Stainless Steel turbines from Switzerland.

 

We took an elevator down 528 feet to see the actual turbines in action - our guide pointed out that if you look up as you leave the elevator you can get an idea of just how far down the elevator descended.  So, here is a photo - when you see it in person it boggles the mind!

 

When all 8 generators are turning they generate 3.4 Billion kilowatt hours!!   15 million gallons of water pass through the power plant penstocks each minute!

Okay, at least one photo with me in it to prove I was there

We went to all three of the videos in the Visitors Center - Standing Tall, Desert Oasis and Treasured Water.   It was a great diversion while we had a little rain!

Lots more to see and do in Glen Canyon but its back to the RV to enjoy the stunning views of Lake Powell

 

 

Next blog - Lake Powell - on the water!