US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: Spring City
May 17, 2013 by James Cowlin
Filed under All Blog Posts, Featured Blog Posts, Utah
As we entered Spring City, Utah, for the first time, a small brick building with a bright yellow sign reading Horseshoe Mountain Pottery caught our eyes. Always on the lookout for local arts and crafts along US Route 89, we stopped to investigate. There appeared to be no one in the store but the door was open so we went in. A notice posted inside said that the owner, Joe Bennion, was off on a river trip but if we saw anything we liked, we could just leave our payment on the counter. We picked out a couple of nice ceramic tumblers, wrote a check and vowed to come back to meet this mysterious and very trusting Mr. Bennion.
Spring City is a small town south of Salt Lake City in the Sanpete Valley. Historically, US 89 was its Main Street. However, as highway engineers are want to do, they constructed a new, straighter highway between Ephraim and Mt. Pleasant which bypasses Spring City. The road to Spring City is well-marked so you can’t miss it.
After the Latter Day Saints settled on the shores of the Great Salt Lake in 1847, Brigham Young sent pioneers south into the river valleys to establish farms to supply the growing city. Spring City was established in 1859, deriving its name from the permanent spring that still flows in the center of town.
The layout of Spring City is a prime example of Mormon agricultural communities. The streets are a grid oriented to the cardinal directions. Each block is five acres with a family occupying each corner. Farm fields surround the town which were tended by townspeople during the day. Wide streets and houses set back in the lots give the town a spacious feel which is enhanced by many large old trees. This town plan was designed to foster community activities, strengthen church authority and provide defense against Indian attacks.
One of the most striking characteristics of the houses in Spring City is the is the cream-colored oolithic limestone with which many are built. Most of the original houses still stand today and the whole village is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Every year on the Saturday before Memorial Day in May, the town has a Heritage Day Celebration. The celebration includes a historic house tour and an art and antiques sale.
Although Spring City is still largely a farming town, it is also well-known as an artists’ community. Artists studios and live/work spaces are scattered throughout town and many display their art in the Spring City Arts gallery on Main Street. As a sort of bookend to Heritage Day, an Aritsts Studio Tour & Art Festival is held over the Labor Day weekend every year. Of special interest to artists is the plein air painting competition which takes place the week before the studio tour. The works created in that week are on display in the gallery for purchase during the art festival.
On a subsequent visit to Spring City, we spent and afternoon with Joe Bennion and his wife, Lee, talking about art and the joys of living and working in a small rural town. Joe splits his time between throwing pots and leading exciting river rafting adventures. Lee has moved into a new studio where she spends her time painting when not out riding her horses or working with Joe on a river trip. In the short time we spent with Joe and Lee, we experienced in person the generosity and trust that had been evident at the pottery shop on our first visit.
To find your way to Spring City, go to the Sevier to Spanish Fork Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.
A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.
The Big Slump—US 89 Closed in Northern Arizona
May 13, 2013 by James Cowlin
Filed under All Blog Posts, Arizona, Featured Blog Posts, Road Trip Planning
On February 20, 2013, a chunk of the Echo Cliffs gave way and slid downhill. It took about 150 feet of US Route 89 with it. A twenty-three mile section of the road is now closed in Arizona between the US 89A junction near Bitter Springs and the State Route 98 junction near Page.
Click to Download Detour Flyer
The location of the damaged highway is particularly unfortunate because it closes the most direct connection between Flagstaff and Page. For now, the shortest way around the closure when traveling north is to take US Route 160 east through Tuba City for fifty miles to Arizona Route 98. Go northwest on 98 through Kaibito for sity-seven miles to Page. Reverse those directions if you are traveling south from Page. The detour adds about forty-nine miles to the trip.
There will soon be a shorter detour. The Navajo Nation and the Arizona Department of Transportation have reached an agreement to pave an existing dirt road that parallels US Route 89 from The Gap to Page. Completion of US 89T is schedule for this summer and will make the trip between Flagstaff and Page about the same distance and time as US 89.
If you are heading north into Utah, US Route 89A from Bitter Springs is your best bet. This route crosses the Colorado River, passes through House Rock Valley, climbs over the Kaibab Plateau to Freedonia, Arizona, and rejoins US 89 in Kanab, Utah. This alternative route is the original US 89. The road that is the subject of the closure was built in the 1950’s for trucks carrying materials for the construction of Glen Canyon Dam near Page.
Vermilion Cliffs sunset from Echo Cliffs overlook on US Route 89
Navajos selling crafts at the US 89 overlook
Another unfortunate consequence of the closure is that travelers will not be able to experience the beautiful view across Marble Canyon to the Vermilion Cliffs. I have enjoyed this view many times and will miss it until the road is reconstructed. I will also miss stopping at the pull-out near the top of the cliff to shop for hand-crafted Native American jewelry.
Geology of the Slump
Thanks to geologist Wayne Ranney from Flagstaff, I have a better understanding of what happened to cause the collapse of the roadway. He has written several articles on his blog, Earthly Musings.
To put it in layman’s terms, there is a soft layer of rock at the bottom of the Echo Cliffs called the Chinle Formation. This is the formation that makes up the Painted Desert and is composed of colorful mudstone and shale which expands when it is wet and contracts as it dries. At the top of the cliffs is the Navajo Sandstone, a much harder rock layer that forms vertical cliffs as it erodes.
In the photo below from Google Earth, an ancient slump is clearly visible in the highlighted area. A section of the Navajo Sandstone has slid down the slope as the softer rocks below gave way. The highway was built over this slump area and when it moved downhill on February 20th, it displaced the pavement by about six feet.
Google Earth view of US 89 slump area
Geotechnical engineers from ADOT have been on the job trying to determine if the slump is still moving. There next task will be to determing how to rebuild the highway across this section so that it doesn’t keep going downhill. There is no announced time frame for the repairs but I have heard two years bandied about.
To keep the public informed on the progress of reconstruction the Arizona Department of Transportation has added a special page to its website. There is a very dramatic slide show of photos of the damage to the roadway on this page. ADOT also has a blog which has occasional articles about Highway 89.
If you want more information about the geology of this region, I recommend subscribing to Wayne Ranney’s blog, Earthly Musings.Another good source is the blog of the State Geologist of Arizona, Lee Allison.
An event like The Big Slump reminds us just how fragile our highway system can be and how powerful the geological forces are. If there is a silver lining is this event, it is that travelers will get to see a landscape on the Colorado Plateau they might not have otherwise. Allow a little extra time and enjoy the scenery.
US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: String Lake Trail
May 10, 2013 by James Cowlin
Filed under All Blog Posts, Featured Blog Posts, Wyoming
We were fortunate on our first visit to Grand Teton National Park to be there in the fall when the leaves were turning. After a couple of days of exploring the park, we discovered the String Lake Trail. It proved ideal for viewing the trees in fall dress from up close and at a distance.
String Lake is a small body of water between two much larger ones—Leigh Lake to the north and Jenny Lake to the south. The String Lake Trail crosses the Leigh Lake outlet and the Jenny Lake inlet as it circumnavigates String Lake. The hike around the lake is 3.4 miles of easy trail with an elevation change of only 200 feet. Most of the trail is along the shore but it climbs up the slope of the mountain on the west side affording a panoramic view of the lake and the Gros Ventre Mountains on the east side of Jackson Hole.
As we followed the trail we saw flashes of color across the lake on the mountain slope. String Lake is very shallow and the bottom is visible beneath the reflection. A pair of kayakers played around a small island. Reaching the other side, we hiked along the slope among the brilliant orange and gold trees.
The String Lake Trail is a leisurely way to spend a couple of hours in the beautiful landscape of Glacier National Park. It was an especially beautiful way to celebrate my birthday on a fall morning.
To find your way to Grand Teton National Park, go to the Jackson to Gardiner Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.
Download the String Lake Trailhead map with details on trails around Leigh Lake, String Lake and Jenny Lake.
A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.
US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: Running Eagle Falls
April 19, 2013 by James Cowlin
Filed under All Blog Posts, Featured Blog Posts, Montana
Glacier National Park is best know for rugged Rocky Mountain peaks and large sparkling lakes all of which can be seen along the park’s roads. However, there are many hidden gems that require a little effort to experience. One of the easiet is Running Eagle Falls.
On our first visit to Glacier we camped at Two Medicine Lake in the southern part of the park. One afternoon we were driving back to our campsite after a day of exploring and photographing when we saw the sign for the Running Eagle Falls Trail. There was still plenty of daylight, so off we went down the short trail. We picked up a pamphlet that the tells the story of Running Eagle and highlights the plants seen along the trail.
Running Eagle is really two falls. When the water flow is high, water cascades down the rock face from the top. During low water, it appears to eminate from underground two thirds of the way down. I’m not sure what the actual plumbing is, but the effect is very beautiful.
Running Eagle is a legendary figure to the Pikuni, or Peigan, people who are one of the three Nations that comprise the Blackfeet Nation. The story of her accomplishments as a hunter and warrior have been handed down through generations. As the story goes, after her death in battle, she was buried in a tree on the mountain overlooking the falls.
This area is also known for an abundance of medicial plants, thus the name Two Medicine. The trail guide describes some of the plants and their traditional uses. One of the more notable plants is the huckleberry which makes excellent jam and is delicious in pancakes, bread and especially in the French toast at the World Famous Whistle Stop Cafe in East Glacier. They are also an important food source for bears, songbirds and other small creatures.
To find your way to Glacier National Park and Running Eagle Falls, go to the Browning to Canada Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.
A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.
US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: Lonely Dell Ranch
April 12, 2013 by James Cowlin
Filed under All Blog Posts, Arizona, Featured Blog Posts
The first time I saw Lonely Dell Ranch at Lee’s Ferry was at the end of a five-day backpack through Paria Canyon. It was a welcome sight, a green oasis among the red rocks. My fellow hikers and I sat at picnic tables in the shade of tall cottonwoods eating lunch and recalling the highlights of the adventure we had just completed.
John D. Lee was sent to this remote location (some say exiled) by Brigham Young in 1873 to establish a ferry across the Colorado River to transport Mormon pioneers between Utah and Arizona. Because it was so remote, Lee and his two wives had to be self-sufficient. They found the ideal place to settle just upstream from where the Paria River empties into the Colorado. They built cabins and set up an irrigation system to carry water from the Paria to their fields.
After Lee was arrested and executed in 1877 for his part in the Mountain Meadow massacre, the LDS church bought the rights to the ferry and ranch from his widow. From then until 1928 when Navajo Bridge was completed a succession of families lived at Lonely Dell and operated the ferry. They each added buildings to the ranch and tried, often in vain, to improve the irrigation system.
Today, Lonely Dell and Lee’s Ferry are a historic district in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. From the parking area a short walk leads past an orchard to the ranch entrance. Visitors are free to explore the grounds and, when a Ranger is present, see inside the historic cabins and other buildings. Or you could do as I did and make the forty-mile hike along the Paria River, a truly spectacular way to get there.
To find your way to Lonely Dell Ranch, go to the 89A: Bitter Springs to Kanab Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.
A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.
Review: Craft & Vision 2: More Great Ways to Make Stronger Photographs
April 10, 2013 by James Cowlin
Filed under All Blog Posts, Featured Blog Posts, Photography & Art
This new ebook from Craft & Vision is the exception that proves the rule. Something for free can be worth more than the price.
Each of the ten articles is this 45-page ebook is packed with good advice. Some are of a technical nature intended to help improve your craft. For instance, if you have never understood how to combine ambient light with flash, Sean McCormack’s chapter will give you the basics and the confidence to give it a try. Martin Bailey’s chapter, Shooting in Manual Mode, illustrates the situations in which choosing manuel mood will lead to more successful photographs.
On the vision side of the title, David duChemin’s article, Learn to Isolate, outlines ways in which you can make stronger images by isolating your subject from distracting backgrounds. Photography is all about light and Nicole S. Young’s chapter, Learn to See the Light, talks about how to truly see and understand light and how subtle variations can make or break an image.
Click here to download your free copy of Craft & Vision 2 When you do, look for the special offer inside. For only $10, you can download David duChemin’s TEN and TEN MORE (improve your craft without buying gear) plus the first two issues of PHOTOGRAPH (the digital quarterly magazine for creative photographers). You’ll save $16 off the retail price of $26.
If you haven’t done so already, be sure to get your free copy of Craft & Vision 1 with eleven more ways to make stronger photographs. Click here to visit Craft And Vision.
These two free ebooks are a great introduction to the Craft & Vision library of outstanding, and very affordable, books. See the related articles below for more of my reviews of Craft & Vision books.
US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: Temple Square
April 5, 2013 by James Cowlin
Filed under All Blog Posts, Featured Blog Posts, Utah
Historically US 89 wrapped around Temple Square in Salt Lake City as State Street on the west side and North Temple Street on the north. The route has been changed in recent years so if you stay on the marked route you will pass a couple of blocks to the west of the Salt Lake Temple. As soon as you see the spires, start looking for a parking space and plan to spend an hour or so at the heart of the Mormon church.
When Brigham Young arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, having lead the Latter-day Saints through the wilderness and many hardships, he selected a plot of ground and directed that a temple be built. The site was dedicated in 1853 with the laying of a cornerstone. Forty years to the day later, the temple was completed in 1893.
The Salt Lake Temple, like all Mormon temples, is considered to be sacred space and is only open to members of the faith so no public tours inside the temple are conducted. Other buildings on Temple Square include the Salt Lake Assembly Hall, the LDS Conference Center and the Salt Lake Tabernacle where the world-famous Tabernacle Choir performs. Tours of Temple Square are conducted by missionaries and volunteers and are available at anytime from 9 am to 9 pm every day.
One of the best parts of spending time in Temple Square is people watching. Weddings happen everyday in the Temple, so brides and grooms can be seen posing for pictures among the beautiful gardens. As the world headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, people from many nations come to Salt Lake City to visit and attend to church business. And they all seem to wander among the gardens and statues in awe of the place.
To find your way to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, go to the Spanish Fork to Brigham City Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.
A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.
US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
March 25, 2013 by James Cowlin
Filed under All Blog Posts, Featured Blog Posts, Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park is justifiably famous for its spouting geysers and bubbling mud pots. But I was surprised when on the first morning of our first visit to the park, we drove to a viewpoint overlooking the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. I wasn’t prepared for the beauty of the brilliantly colored slopes of the canyon with the ribbon of blue water at the bottom.
We were parked at Grand View on the North Rim Drive at about 9:30 in the morning. I stood watching the shadow of clouds dance on the walls of the canyon. An artist had set up his easel to paint the scene. I loaded my Hasselblad with fine-grained Fuji Velvia transparency film and shot several rolls to capture the fleeting changes in the light.
The image below is my favorite from my first encounter with the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and I selected it for my first portfolio of photographs from along US Route 89. To purchase a print, click on the image to go to my portfolio website.
To find your way to the Yellowstone National Park, go to the Jackson to Gardiner Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.
A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.
US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: Livingston Depot Center
March 15, 2013 by James Cowlin
Filed under All Blog Posts, Featured Blog Posts, Montana
Livingston, Montana, was the original gateway to Yellowstone National Park. The Northern Pacific Railroad promoted tourism from eastern cities to this city on the banks of the Yellowstone River. From Livingston, a 60-mile spur line carried tourist to Gardiner at the northern entrance to the park.
To welcome travelers, a stately depot was completed in 1902 and it operated as a passenger terminal until Amtrak suspended service in 1979. Burlington Northern, Northern Pacific’s successor, briefly used it for offices before donating it to the city in 1985. After extensive restoration, the Livingston Depot Center was opened as a museum and community cultural center.
The first time we drove into Livingston coming from the north on US Route 89, the depot was the most prominent building in view. The red and yellow brick structure is ornamented with terra cotta lion’s heads, floral figures and the Northern Pacific’s yin-yang emblem. All together there are three buildings—the passenger terminal, a restaurant and a baggage buiding—with a colonnade and courtyard facing the tracks.
The museum is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day and houses an exhibit called Rails Across the Rockies: A Century of People and Places which details the history of railroading in Montana. Behind the exhibit, visitors can get a glimpse of what passengers would have seen as they disembarked. For instance, at one end of the great hall is a room designated as the Smoking Room, presumably for men only, and at the other is the Womens Parlor.
The Depot also hosts community events throughout the year including the Festival of Arts over the July 4th holiday and the Blues at the Depot concert series. For railroad buffs, the Livingston Model Railroad Club meets regularly in the basement of the former bagage building.
To find your way to Livingston, go to the Gardiner to White Sulphur Springs Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.
A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.
US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: Navajo Bridge
March 9, 2013 by James Cowlin
Filed under All Blog Posts, Arizona, Featured Blog Posts
The most unusual, not to mention scary, assignment I had as an industrial photographer was working with an engineering firm inspecting Navajo Bridge. The bridge had been completed in 1929 and by the 1989 was showing its age. The inspection consisted of crawling around on the superstructure looking at every weld and bolt. My job was to photograph the engineers doing their work.
I have a healthy fear of heights and it is 467 feet from the bridge to the Colorado River below. Despite being attached to the bridge with a harness and safety lines, my stomach was in my throat the whole time. I just kept focusing, literally and figuratively, on taking photographs and not looking down. (Look for the guy in the orange safety vest on the arch in the middle of the bridge in the photo below to get an idea of the scale of the project.)
The original Navajo Bridge during inspection in 1989
Navajo Bridge, originally called Grand Canyon Bridge, was the largest steel arch bridge in the world when it was completed. It provided a vital link between Utah and Arizona, replacing the ferry across the Colorado River five miles upstream.
The dedication of the bridge took place in June of 1929. It was a momentous occasion. The two-day event in this isolated corner of Arizona was attended by over 7,000 people. Some 1200 cars made the journey over rough dirt roads. Speeches were delivered by the governors of four states-Arizona, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico. Bands played, choirs sang and native Americans presented their dances. The bridge was christened with a bottle of ginger ale since it was the era of Prohibition.
Heber Jesse Meeks, a Kanab rancher and the stake president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had just returned from a mission to Alaska. He saw the dedication as an opportunity to link “the beautiful and alluring Southwest and the noble and sturdy Northwest.” To symbolize this union, he recruited two young people-Kenneth Judd of Kanab, Utah, and Betty Kastner of Prescott, Arizona-and performed a “marriage” ceremony in the middle of Navajo Bridge.
Recognizing the importance of the connection between Utah and Arizona, Meeks had them hold hands and spoke these words:
“And each of you pledge yourselves…to work on a broader scale to utilize the riches, the strength, and the brain, the brawn and the vision of both the Southwest and the Northwest towards making the union of the two productive and to the mutual advantage of each.”
With that, Kenneth was rewarded with a kiss from Betty to end the ceremony. It is not known if they ever saw each other again, but Mr. Northwest and Miss Southwest are forever joined by Navajo Bridge.
After 66 years of service, it became apparent that Navajo Bridge needed to be modernized. After much debate, it was decided to build a duplicate bridge downstream. The new bridge would have new, safer approaches and be over twice as wide to accommodate modern truck traffic. The old bridge remains so that visitors can walk out on it and marvel at Marble Canyon below.
Old Navajo Bridge on the left completed in 1929 and the new bridge on the right completed in 1995
On the Navajo Nation (east) side of the bridge is an area where Native Americans display and sell their handcrafted jewelry, pottery and other crafts. On the west side there is an interpretive center in which historical, scientific and tourist information is provided by the Glen Canyon Natural History Association.
The two Navajo Bridges as seen from the east side of Marble Canyon with the Vermilion Cliffs in the background
To find your way to Navajo Bridge, go to the 89A: Bitter Springs to Kanab Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.
A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.
