Hoover Dam
The next day was an even shorter ride to the Hoover Dam. This turned out to be pleasant afternoon wandering around the Dam in the sunshine and learning what it does and how it fits into whole Colorado power and irrigation system. One of it's primary functions is to control the water flow along the Colorado river so that when the snow and ice melt in Spring, the States and Countries further along the river are not flooded, saving both considerable farming land and lives.
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The Hoover Dam in all it's glory !!
I've collected a few facts to give you some idea of size etc.
It is 726.4 feet high, 1,244 feet across at the top, 660 feet thick at the base, 45 feet thick at the top, weighs 6.6 millions ton and can store up 2 years 'average' flow from the Colorado River.
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Seems crazy, but it's true-nothing bigger than the black square!!
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Lake Mead side of the dam. The round 'pillars' are actually coarse filters and water inlets to the hydro-electric power generators.
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Overflow for Lake Mead. Has only been used once in the 80's if I remember rightly.
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Looking down it's face to the power generating control area.
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Looking down The Colorado river from the dam.
The maximum depth of Lake Mead is 590 ft and it has a power generating capacity of 2.8 million kilowatts. It cost ONLY $49,000,000 to build and contains about 4,360,000 cubic yards of concrete.
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The number of electricty pylons is incredible. Apparently they are there to stop the cables toucing the sides...perhaps some sort of burial may have been preferable !!
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<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127951316.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
...and yes, this really is the angle they are at !!
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Construction on the Hoover Dam began September 30, 1930 and the last concrete was poured in 1935. It was the first single structure to contain more masonary than the Great Pyramid at Giza. The concrete used to make Hoover Dam was set with cooling tubes that sped up a process which would normally have taken more than a century to complete.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127951077.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Lake Mead, Hoover dam and the Colorado river from the sky.
The Dam can store up to 9.2 trillion gallons of the Colorado River in its reservoir, Lake Mead, and is part of a system which provides water to over 25 million people in the southwest United States.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127951121.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Lake Mead, Hoover dam and the Colorado river higher from the sky !!
About 16,000 men and women worked on the project with about 3,500 being employed at any specific time. Officially there were 96 'industrial' fatalities. during the construction of Hoover Dam. This figure does not include deaths by other means including heat, heart problems and curiously, pneumonia. Another estimate is 112 and that supposedly includes a longer time frame than just the construction period. Oddly the larger estimate also holds some irony. It begins the count on December 20, 1922 with J.G. Tierney a Bureau of Reclamation employee who was part of a geological survey and drowned when he fell from a barge. Exactly 13 years later, in 1935, his son Patrick W. Tierney, fell to his death from an intake tower.
'NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN BURIED IN THE DAM' .......
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127954893.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The Mature photo ........
We spent the night in Boulder city, a nice and friendly 'town'.
The Grand Canyon.
The next day we planned to head towards the Grand Canyon where we intended to tour and take a helicopter flight. After looking at the literature more closely, we discovered that the airports for Canyon flights were generally either from Vegas, the Canyon itself, or a few from Boulder where we were based. So the plans were changed and we booked a flight around the canyon.
The ride was alledgedly to be for 3 hours and included a landing at the base of the Canyon with a Champagne Lunch . The trip wasn’t cheap but given the landing and lunch it seemed a style suitable for such an occasion. The flight to the Canyon was remarkably smooth and it was great fun flying so close to the surface and the Canyon walls. We landed after about 45 minutes near the river at the bottom. Lunch was served but ended up a bit of a disappointment as it turned out to be a roll, packet of crisp’s and a single biscuit with champagne served in a plastic glass from a personal wicker hamper! That aside, the views at the base of the canyon were spetacular and the flight as a whole was a great experience.
The Grand Canyon by Helicopter.
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Landed in a Canyon valley..the pilot was great and took off very close to the Canyon sides.
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Like fish out of water....away from our bikes....although not from our Gerbing heated jackets !!
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Views of the Canyon.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127955096.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Flying through the Canyon for those of you who want that almost there experience !!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127955084.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Views from the helicopter travelling back from the Canyon.
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Grand Canyon by bike
The next day we set out for the Grand Canyon again but this time it was on the bikes. We didn’t get going until late as our insurance had expired and although we let the insurance company know in the time, the paperwork providing confirmation wasn’t ready so we didn’t leave until lunch time, and even then without proper confirmation. The time spent n the morning was to finally orgaise the graphics we wanted added to the bikes back in the UK finally ordered!!! By the time we finally got going, riding to the Grand Canyon was not going to happen today so after knocking off about 200 miles we settled for a Motel 6 in Williams, a well known town in this area. We went for an Italian meal which was ok and retired to the tv.
The following morning the bikes wouldn’t start again due to the cold so had to use the hot wet towel treatment. Bikes started we headed up towards the Canyon and a National Geographic centre which has the world's most watched IMAX movie...about the Canyon. The film was well worth the journey and left almost speachless when it stopped.
It started cold and didn't improve, by the time we got to the Grand Canyon itself, we were very very cold. The views were stunning and that bouyed our spirits a bit, and a chance meeting with a chap called Johnny who was more interested in our trip than the Canyon...(although he had seen it before), which also assisted....but it was still very very cold. To add insult to injury, my bike fell over and one of the new panniers got a few scratches !!
Various views of the Grand Canyon.
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If you look closely you can see people on horses-ponies traversing up a trail cut into the side of the Canyon.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127955179.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Another trail cut into the Canyon.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127955128.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The bikes and a very cold John at the Canyon....not long after my bike had fallen over.
We toured around a number of the viewing points that the Grand Canyon has but there were too many to do in one day so we settled on about 3 or 4, finally caving in to the offer of food and a hot drink, ...only to discover that they'd stopped serving about 15 mins before we got there!!, however the Lady in the adjoining souvenir shop got us a hot coffee each free !!, so with that, and a giant Mars, lunch & tea were taken care of !!
Finally we had to call it a day as it was getting close to sunset and we had hoped to be in Phoenix that evening...although we'd given up on that plan as it was too cold, too dark and too far !!
To cut a long story short, we got the heated clothing on, turned it up to glowing, found a Pizza place on the road, and ended up getting to Phoenix at about 11 o'clock that night, found a Travel lodge and went to bed.....very tired !
Mike
The next day was an even shorter ride to the Hoover Dam. This turned out to be pleasant afternoon wandering around the Dam in the sunshine and learning what it does and how it fits into whole Colorado power and irrigation system. One of it's primary functions is to control the water flow along the Colorado river so that when the snow and ice melt in Spring, the States and Countries further along the river are not flooded, saving both considerable farming land and lives.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127950996.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The Hoover Dam in all it's glory !!
I've collected a few facts to give you some idea of size etc.
It is 726.4 feet high, 1,244 feet across at the top, 660 feet thick at the base, 45 feet thick at the top, weighs 6.6 millions ton and can store up 2 years 'average' flow from the Colorado River.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127951167.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Seems crazy, but it's true-nothing bigger than the black square!!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127950843.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Lake Mead side of the dam. The round 'pillars' are actually coarse filters and water inlets to the hydro-electric power generators.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127950929.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Overflow for Lake Mead. Has only been used once in the 80's if I remember rightly.
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Looking down it's face to the power generating control area.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127951269.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Looking down The Colorado river from the dam.
The maximum depth of Lake Mead is 590 ft and it has a power generating capacity of 2.8 million kilowatts. It cost ONLY $49,000,000 to build and contains about 4,360,000 cubic yards of concrete.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127951285.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The number of electricty pylons is incredible. Apparently they are there to stop the cables toucing the sides...perhaps some sort of burial may have been preferable !!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127951386.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127951316.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
...and yes, this really is the angle they are at !!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127951335.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Construction on the Hoover Dam began September 30, 1930 and the last concrete was poured in 1935. It was the first single structure to contain more masonary than the Great Pyramid at Giza. The concrete used to make Hoover Dam was set with cooling tubes that sped up a process which would normally have taken more than a century to complete.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127951077.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Lake Mead, Hoover dam and the Colorado river from the sky.
The Dam can store up to 9.2 trillion gallons of the Colorado River in its reservoir, Lake Mead, and is part of a system which provides water to over 25 million people in the southwest United States.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127951121.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Lake Mead, Hoover dam and the Colorado river higher from the sky !!
About 16,000 men and women worked on the project with about 3,500 being employed at any specific time. Officially there were 96 'industrial' fatalities. during the construction of Hoover Dam. This figure does not include deaths by other means including heat, heart problems and curiously, pneumonia. Another estimate is 112 and that supposedly includes a longer time frame than just the construction period. Oddly the larger estimate also holds some irony. It begins the count on December 20, 1922 with J.G. Tierney a Bureau of Reclamation employee who was part of a geological survey and drowned when he fell from a barge. Exactly 13 years later, in 1935, his son Patrick W. Tierney, fell to his death from an intake tower.
'NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN BURIED IN THE DAM' .......
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127954893.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The Mature photo ........
We spent the night in Boulder city, a nice and friendly 'town'.
The Grand Canyon.
The next day we planned to head towards the Grand Canyon where we intended to tour and take a helicopter flight. After looking at the literature more closely, we discovered that the airports for Canyon flights were generally either from Vegas, the Canyon itself, or a few from Boulder where we were based. So the plans were changed and we booked a flight around the canyon.
The ride was alledgedly to be for 3 hours and included a landing at the base of the Canyon with a Champagne Lunch . The trip wasn’t cheap but given the landing and lunch it seemed a style suitable for such an occasion. The flight to the Canyon was remarkably smooth and it was great fun flying so close to the surface and the Canyon walls. We landed after about 45 minutes near the river at the bottom. Lunch was served but ended up a bit of a disappointment as it turned out to be a roll, packet of crisp’s and a single biscuit with champagne served in a plastic glass from a personal wicker hamper! That aside, the views at the base of the canyon were spetacular and the flight as a whole was a great experience.
The Grand Canyon by Helicopter.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127954912.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Landed in a Canyon valley..the pilot was great and took off very close to the Canyon sides.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127954947.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Like fish out of water....away from our bikes....although not from our Gerbing heated jackets !!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127955084.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Views of the Canyon.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127955096.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Flying through the Canyon for those of you who want that almost there experience !!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127955084.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Views from the helicopter travelling back from the Canyon.
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Grand Canyon by bike
The next day we set out for the Grand Canyon again but this time it was on the bikes. We didn’t get going until late as our insurance had expired and although we let the insurance company know in the time, the paperwork providing confirmation wasn’t ready so we didn’t leave until lunch time, and even then without proper confirmation. The time spent n the morning was to finally orgaise the graphics we wanted added to the bikes back in the UK finally ordered!!! By the time we finally got going, riding to the Grand Canyon was not going to happen today so after knocking off about 200 miles we settled for a Motel 6 in Williams, a well known town in this area. We went for an Italian meal which was ok and retired to the tv.
The following morning the bikes wouldn’t start again due to the cold so had to use the hot wet towel treatment. Bikes started we headed up towards the Canyon and a National Geographic centre which has the world's most watched IMAX movie...about the Canyon. The film was well worth the journey and left almost speachless when it stopped.
It started cold and didn't improve, by the time we got to the Grand Canyon itself, we were very very cold. The views were stunning and that bouyed our spirits a bit, and a chance meeting with a chap called Johnny who was more interested in our trip than the Canyon...(although he had seen it before), which also assisted....but it was still very very cold. To add insult to injury, my bike fell over and one of the new panniers got a few scratches !!
Various views of the Grand Canyon.
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<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127955236.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
If you look closely you can see people on horses-ponies traversing up a trail cut into the side of the Canyon.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127955179.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Another trail cut into the Canyon.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/127955128.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The bikes and a very cold John at the Canyon....not long after my bike had fallen over.
We toured around a number of the viewing points that the Grand Canyon has but there were too many to do in one day so we settled on about 3 or 4, finally caving in to the offer of food and a hot drink, ...only to discover that they'd stopped serving about 15 mins before we got there!!, however the Lady in the adjoining souvenir shop got us a hot coffee each free !!, so with that, and a giant Mars, lunch & tea were taken care of !!
Finally we had to call it a day as it was getting close to sunset and we had hoped to be in Phoenix that evening...although we'd given up on that plan as it was too cold, too dark and too far !!
To cut a long story short, we got the heated clothing on, turned it up to glowing, found a Pizza place on the road, and ended up getting to Phoenix at about 11 o'clock that night, found a Travel lodge and went to bed.....very tired !
Mike
