Exploring the VERMILION CLIFFS Route 89A Area | A Roadside Adventure! - Part 1 | Arizona
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ก.ค. 2024
- In Northern Arizona, a playground exists that rivals the color of Utah - the Vermilion Cliffs. With historic Lee's Ferry nearby, there is no shortage of activities and curiosities to stop and investigate. Today we set out to explore some of these gems.
Aside from breathtaking beauty in landscape and color, the Vermilion Cliff area of Arizona hides many hidden gems just waiting to be explored.
Spanning the Colorado River is the Historic Navajo Bridge. Opened in 1929, the bridge quickly became a much-revered structure by travelers. Prior to the bridge's construction, anyone wishing to cross the Colorado River in that area had to do so using a ferry, Lee's Ferry, or travel 800 miles around the river after the ferry sank. The bridge served motorists for decades until in 1995 a twin bridge was opened capable of allowing wider and heavier traffic to pass.
Lee's Ferry has a historic past of its own (which we cover in another video!) but we still would be failing if we didn't take a quick stop to observe the Colorado River from the shore. Here you can see some of the smaller rapids popular with rafters, kayakers, and other water enthusiasts.
Also in Lee's Ferry are also some balanced rocks that have to be seen to be believed. Large rock boulders fell thousands of years ago and over time partially shielded the material below from erosion, becoming an umbrella of sorts. Today one sees what appears to be a precariously placed boulder on top of a pedestal. Other rocks surround the area in differing stages of the same process.
Back on 89A, an old lodge sits - Marble Canyon Lodge. While we didn't stay at this location during our trip, this historic lodge dates back prior to 1929 when the Navajo Bridge was dedicated. The lodge has housed workers, travelers and even operated as a Navajo trading post. This place looks like it was plucked right out of the Old West!
The Vermilion Cliffs are really the star of the show here, but hang tight! We're going to explore the star of this area in more depth at a later date.
Lastly, we explore some peculiar buildings located just outside the Old Cliff Dwellers Lodge in Marble Canyon. These curiosities are said to be built by Blanche Russell after an unfortunate vehicle breakdown led her to the area. Upon falling in love with the landscape Blanche built houses around large boulders and began the process of opening a restaurant and trading post for travelers on their way to the Grand Canyon. True story or not, these buildings are fascinating and visitors are able to enter and poke around inside. Not to be missed!
VIDEO FILMED: 09/03/2022
▬▬ R E L A T E D V I D E O S ▬▬
⚪ Hiking Lower CATHEDRAL WASH Trail to the Colorado River | Marble Canyon at Lee's Ferry, Arizona - • Hiking Lower CATHEDRAL...
▬▬ T I M E S T A M P S ▬▬
00:00 Historic Navajo Bridge
04:48 Dipping into the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry
08:51 The Mysterious Balanced Rocks
13:25 Marble Canyon Lodge
17:12 Vermillion Cliffs
19:18 The Strangest Ruins in Arizona
▬▬ L I N K S ▬▬
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Welcome to the Cactus Atlas! We are Glenn and Amy and invite you to join us as we visit all sorts of locations across the American West. We tour both natural and man-made attractions.
Our base of operations is in the Phoenix, AZ area. We do a lot of hiking and day trips as well as campground reviews and hope that we will be a great resource if you are planning a trip to the American West. We also hope to delight you with our exciting adventures!
THANK YOU so much for the time and effort of making these BEAUTIFUL videos of our Great State of Arizona. Greetings from Ahwatukee.
Thank you too! We have so much fun exploring and sharing our amazing state with others. 😄
I've driven those routes you show in the video with a friend and walked the Navajo Bridge. The Sun was directly overhead, lighting up the river below. We could see a couple or three very large fish and speculated they could be sturgeon. Then we drove all the way to Lee's Ferry. By the way, there really was a Lee who operated a ferry to cross the river. Standing on the north side of the river, from where the rafts are launched, you can look up at the cliffs to the south and see the old road cut down the side of the cliff to reach the ferry. On another occasion, I drove the highway skirting the Vermillion Cliffs, only I was going FROM the Grand Canyon to pick up 89 south towards Flagstaff. Those standing rocks are really something, aren't they?
Nothing beats the Colorado River for the scenery.
Absolutely 100% agree. Anything that has been carved out by that river seems to receive that magic touch as well. 😊
The camping area right near the ferry point (1st come 1st serve) is a nice place to layover for a night. 89/89A is always a nice drive; especially in the late afternoon if there are clouds providing moving shadows on the cliffs on the east side of the road as you approach Page turnoff. Only a dozen years back, traffic was normally sparse; now it is quite busy.
Was here years ago, but I do believe this is stunning and I will always remember my first time here.
I was stationed in Yuma from '88 to '92. Every 72 or 96 we got me and some buddies would check out a boat from MWR and fly fish Lee's Ferry. Crossed the old Navajo Bridge many times. I need to go back to see the new bridge. Great video, thanks for the memories!
Our pleasure. Thanks so much for watching. 😄
As a fellow dork, I appreciate your thoughts. 🙂
Absolutely beautiful country!!!! Your gopro footage from the car is spectacular!! Arizona is such a beautiful state!!
Thanks! One of my favorite areas for sure!
Fun drive, cool bridge great views 😄🤩
Really is. 😄
Great channel Glenn, just discovered it recently. We're visiting from Scotland in September, starting in Joshua tree, then Sedona, Grand Canyon and 8 nights in Kanab to explore Bryce, Zion and the North rim of the Grand Canyon. Catching up on all your past videos for ideas, keep up the good work. 🏴🇺🇲
OOOOOOH! Now THAT is an amazing trip you have planned. Great thinking on the time in Kanab... there is an amazing amount of things to see in that area. 😄👍
Glenn: What tease! So looking forward to seeing Part 2.
🤣 You can blame me. We originally intended this to be one episode but ended up with so much footage Glenn filmed that I had to find some way to break it up. 😅 Sorry! Next week will be part two. 👍
I love staying at Marble Canyon, it’s just a neat little hotel/gas station/restaurant/post office/ convenience store. All in three buildings 😁
If you take 89 back towards Page a couple of miles, there is an overlook with a gorgeous sunset view of the vermilion cliffs
Nice! Thanks for sharing! 😃👍
I love your Channel, thank you for sharing your amazing adventures and history lessons. I can’t wait to go and explore all these beautiful landscapes myself. Keep up the amazing work.
Our pleasure! Happy to share them and hope you have an opportunity to explore and adventure as well. 😊
Your channel really helps me look forward to explore new adventures
That's so amazing to hear. Thank you so much! 😊
12min: it's not rock, it's red brick. It was really huge building, before it was melted. Thank for video with so many details :)
Thank you too!
Fabulous video, Glenn and Amy. As a lifetime fan of mushrooms, I liked the balanced rocks the best. I hadn’t seen those particular ones before. Thank you!
Our pleasure! 😊
Great Job! I love the video work and the commentary! I want to retire some place kind of in that general area. Kanab area maybe. Not sure. Thank you for your work! You are not a dork by the way. You seem like a cool dude.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed our video we made. Kanab is an area with loads to see nearby so not a bad place to retire! 👍
Beautiful video. Love ❤️ those bridges. I love the deserts.
Thanks ❤
Thank you too!
I'm envious of your clean windshield. 14:09
Normally at this point on any road trip, I would have a large bug splat at perfect eye level.
Haha! Normally we would also but because of filming, Glenn cleans the windshield frequently. 😅 The Rain-X Bug Remover washer fluid helps a lot if you hit it shortly after bug... death?... but otherwise we carry a bottle of good ole Windex and a roll of paper towels. 😂
I visited Lee’s Ferry 6 years ago during a crazy heat wave. The air temp was 115 and when I walked into the Colorado, I thought my feet were going to have their own “brain freeze”. Great video !!!
Quite a difference in temperature, isn't it? 😅 Thank you!
There are 20+ Condors that nest below the Navajo bridges.
Another great video. The first time we crossed Navajo Bridge there were 4 California Condors sitting underneath the other bridge. That's when I realized I needed a camera with a zoom lens. Of course we've never seen a California Condor since.
I actually saw them too! The footage must’ve been bad and amy didn’t put into the final cut. I do have zoom, but not enough.
My daughter has lived in Phoenix for 10 years and each time I visit, I have a new appreciate of the beauty of AZ. I live in the Los Angeles area and really believe that CA is the most beautiful state, but AZ and UT are definitely up there, in my opinion. The last time I was there, we went to the Mogollon Rim and was just stunned at how cool it was.
All those states - CA, AZ and, UT - offer very diverse landscapes. We're both very partial to them as well. And the Mogollon Rim area is so fascinating, isn't it? Great area to explore. 😊
A couple of interesting details about the Marble Canyon area, depending on your cell phone provider and time of year, it will connect to a cell tower on the Navajo Nation that participates in daylight saving time. It will put you an hour earlier than you anticipate.
There is multiple ringtails that make the rest stop their home. They are crepuscular, so they are most active in the evening and pre dawn hours, but can be seen most of the night trying to dig through the trash. Really neat to see since they are elusive in most environments.
Neat! Haven't seen ringtails in the wild yet. And fairly sure we've experienced the cell phone thing before. It can cause quite a bit of confusion at first. 😅
There are one or two that people see up on Piestewa Peak when climbing down after sunset. People are dumb and have fed them, so they just go up to everyone. They are naturally curious like all members of the raccoon family, so once they see that a human equals a meal, they think all humans will give them food. The ones at Marble Canyon rest stop have figured out how to get into the trash cans. At first I didn’t know what was in the can when I exited the restroom, but the thrashing stopped, then a squeak from the heavy flap on the opening and a little face peaked around the edge of the lid. It popped out of the can and scurried up the wall to the roof and that’s when I noticed about 4 more ringtails hanging out on the roof silently watching us going back to our car. I was dropping off pack rafters in the morning so they could do their 7 miles, and we stayed at Marble Canyon Lodge. My buddies alarm went off at 3am because T-Mobile’s tower is on the Rez, and was an hour off. Really cool area and I’ve stopped and wandered around some in the couple times I’ve been back up there. Ran luggage around for folks doing Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim. Night long exposure photography is great from the Jacobs Lake area. I’d love to go to the Wire Pass/Coyote Wash area and do some night photography. Wish there was a good way to get permission to stay out at The Wave into the night for night timelapse. Lots of really neat stuff in that area if you have the time to look around. The mine site was neat to see. I noticed the sign for the trailhead, but never explored it. Got the drone out at that pull off for the Vermilion Cliffs circle drive with the big signs and took pictures of all of them. There wasn’t a soul around. That trip I was there on a Wednesday morning. That’s the best time to go. The locals don’t have anything else to do, and will usually tell you about some real off the beaten path stuff to see, or neat stories. At least that was my experience the three times I’ve been up there. Nice personable folks. But I guess you should be so inclined if you’re in the hospitality business.
Always a shame when wildlife becomes used to humans and loses their fear due to feeding. That said... still would love to see one. 😅 Oh man... the idea of night photography at the Wave? Someone needs to allow that to happen even just on a very small and infrequent basis. That's a shot I would love to see.
i drove over the old bridge back in the day, maybe 1979, in a semi truck and i would have to pull my mirror in to keep the truck going the other way from taking my mirror with him, yes very skinny bridge. wish i had the new bridge !!!
Well, that certainly answers our question about how narrow it would have been and felt traveling over that thing! 😮 Thanks for sharing! 👍
I have driven by there sooooo many times over the years, and I've never stopped because I was always in a hurry to get to my destination, although I have been to Lees Ferry. (I live near Tucson, and I travel north to visit family.) Thank you for sharing this video. I have more time to explore now, so I think next time I'll take a stroll through there. 😊
Awesome! We hope that stroll leads to some fun adventure and exploration. 😊
I just did that walk 3 days ago and there were 5 condors on the new bridge.
They seem to really like hanging out in that area. Can't say I blame them! 👍
Awesome video buddy! Drove through here last summer. Gonna have to go back and check out some of these spots. :) Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! We love that area and is one of our favorites. 👍
I have a few photos of me "holding" boulders along this section, from falling over. I've always thought that if I were Wile E Coyote, I'm sure the rock would have decided to roll/fall on me at that moment.
😂 I can see Wile E Coyote in my head in that exact scenario.
The rock house was built in the 1930s. That stretch of road was was part of the Mormon trail to Utah. Google; Blanche Russell. I believe that is who built it.
Great vlog!
Thank you!!
Was just there two weeks ago. Awesome area!
It really really is! Just jam packed with places waiting to be explored!
How funny! I've watched a few videos and never realized until just now...I have SEEN these and I didn't know it! I drove up to Zion on 89A when I was fairly new to traveling a few years ago and I remember that bridge...it just didn't click until now that that WAS that location! Cool...well, another one to check off the list!
Awesome! It's a pretty fantastic bridge, right? Maybe not as spectacular as Zion but certainly recognizable. 😄👍
@@CactusAtlas I wish I had taken more photos, I wasn't as in to photography back then, but I definitely plan on going back! Great video 😊
Glenn you make some of the most amazing videos of the West. You should have millions of subscribers not 12.6K.
Thank you so much! We both enjoy what we're doing between his filming and my editing. A million subs would be interesting if not a little intimidating. 😂
Hey Amy can you do me a Huge Favor??? Next time when the Brave & Fearless Mr @CactusAtlas returns from his Adventurous Journey could you grab a pillow & Repeatedly Hit Glenn with it. Ugghhh seeing Glenn stand under the Balanced Rock then start picking at & hitting the supporting rock. JK JK JK.
Thank You for taking us along on another mind blowing trip.
ps
Glenn if yet on some sort of metal structure & you see nuts & bolts falling, that Might be me getting revenge trying to scare you making you think the structure is coming apart.
🥴🤪🤭
Hahah! How do you think I feel editing the footage sometimes? Especially the "let's just peek over the edge" shots. 🤣
Oh I've been biting my 😜 & just mentioned how my butt gets sore from clinching with those cliff shots @@CactusAtlas . I can only imagine what you're going through editing Amy. Well now you can (if you haven't already) use my pillow idea & just Blame me 🫣. The things you do to keep your Fans Happy 😁😊.
Sorry Glenn, butt it IS your Fault man 🙄🤭🫣🤪
👍👍👍
Lees Ferry is great
Completely agree! 😄
There is a bunch of graffiti from the 1800's just to the east of cliff dwellers on the big rocks on the other side of the road.
Oh no! I wish we knew about this beforehand. Oh well, always an excuse to go back. 😅 Appreciate the tip. Will certainly keep an eye out for it next time. 👍
Kids yesterday!
Too much facetime, too much talking. Just show us stuff.
You must be new here. Trust me just give it some time & you won't even notice Glenn do to such Great Photography, back ground scenery & the information he & Amy share. As Glenn shares the information of the area he's at you'll be more occupied looking at what's behind him.