SOUTHWESTERN USA
RS ROAD TRIP
August 27, 2017 (Day 20)
Holbrook, AZ to the Grand Canyon - South
Miles Today: 201 / Total Trip Miles: 3,139
TODAY'S ROUTE
(Click on map to enlarge)
From Holbrook, Mary and I travelled westward along Historic Route 66 which parallels the newer Interstate 40. Our route from Holbrook to Winslow also followed the meandering Little Colorado River (a tributary to the Colorado River that flows through the Grand Canyon). At Winslow, we continued west on Route 66/ I-40 while the Little Colorado River turns north and, further on, heads west to join the mighty Colorado River. Later in the day, we met up with the river again at the Little Colorado River Overlook—some 180 miles away. After visiting the overlook, we headed east towards Grand Canyon National Park and Desert View Point. We will spend a few days at a hotel in Tusayan. Today's temperatures ranged in upper 80s to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
PHOTOS
(Click on Photo for a Larger Image)
JOSEPH CITY
Joseph City, AZ (population 1,400 / elevation 5,000 ft) was settled in 1876 by colonists from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph City was one of four colonies settled along the Little Colorado River, and is the only remaining colony. The hardest test for the colonists was obtaining water for crop irrigation—this meant taming the Little Colorado River. Unfortunately, floods continually destroyed dams along the river. In 1923, the eleventh dam was destroyed, and the colonists were forced to build a new dam—this dam is still standing.
Joseph City, AZ (population 1,400 / elevation 5,000 ft) was settled in 1876 by colonists from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph City was one of four colonies settled along the Little Colorado River, and is the only remaining colony. The hardest test for the colonists was obtaining water for crop irrigation—this meant taming the Little Colorado River. Unfortunately, floods continually destroyed dams along the river. In 1923, the eleventh dam was destroyed, and the colonists were forced to build a new dam—this dam is still standing.
This difficult-to-miss, odd combination of abandoned buildings and businesses was observed on old Route 66 in Joseph City.
[See photo on flickr]
[See photo on flickr]
Ella's Frontier Trading Post sits along an abandoned section of Route 66 west of Joseph City. This structure, built from telephone poles, was most recently owned and operated by Ella Blackwell from 1955 until her death in 1980. A former student of The Julliard School, Ella kept a piano in the store, which she played for travelers. She told travelers that the trading post was established in 1873—making it the oldest such establishment on Route 66. Ella however was considered quite eccentric among locals, many of whom doubted her claim.
Ella’s Frontier is one of many Route 66 trading posts that was left high-and-dry by the interstate highway system. Despite being able to see the trucks and travelers rumbling down Interstate 40 from the back door, the only thing left of Ella’s today is a tumble-down building and a history of unforgettable characters. Since then, Ella’s Frontier has been resting and rotting quietly beside other nearby Route 66 casualties, such as the abandoned Two Arrows Trading Post.
JACK RABBIT TRADING POST
[See photo on flickr]
In 1949 Jim Taylor bought a small building on Route 66 in Arizona. Driving along Route 66, a statue of a black rabbit in the back of his convertible car created an attraction—people wanted a photo with the black rabbit statute. When Jim arrived at his destination, people would sit on the rabbit & take photos. That was how the Jack Rabbit Trading Post was born. The black rabbit became the model for the famous "HERE IT IS" sign. This famous Route 66 wooden billboard has been repainted many times since 1949.
WINSLOW
U.S. Route 66 was originally routed through Winslow (4,900 feet elevation / 9,400 population). A contract to build Interstate 40 as a bypass north of Winslow was awarded at the end of 1977. I-40 replaced U.S. Route 66 in Arizona in its entirety. In the era of steam locomotives, Winslow was an important water and fuel stop on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. During the 1920s, many celebrities chose to come west to Hollywood, and when they stopped in Winslow a parade took place.
Winslow achieved national fame in 1972 in the Eagles / Jackson Browne song “Take it Easy” which has the line: Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see.
U.S. Route 66 was originally routed through Winslow (4,900 feet elevation / 9,400 population). A contract to build Interstate 40 as a bypass north of Winslow was awarded at the end of 1977. I-40 replaced U.S. Route 66 in Arizona in its entirety. In the era of steam locomotives, Winslow was an important water and fuel stop on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. During the 1920s, many celebrities chose to come west to Hollywood, and when they stopped in Winslow a parade took place.
Winslow achieved national fame in 1972 in the Eagles / Jackson Browne song “Take it Easy” which has the line: Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see.
This vintage motel on Route 66 is still operating and well maintained.
[See photo on flickr]
LA POSADA HOTEL
La Posada Hotel embodies the visions of both Mary Colter, the hotel’s renowned architect, and Allan Affeldt, its current owner. But the story really begins with Fred Harvey, who “civilized the west” by introducing linen, silverware, china, crystal, and impeccable service to railroad travel. Harvey developed and ran all the hotels and restaurants of the Santa Fe Railway, eventually controlling a hospitality empire that spanned the continent.
In the 1920s, Harvey decided to build a major hotel in the center of northern Arizona. “La Posada”—the Resting Place—was to be the finest in the Southwest. Construction costs alone exceeded $1 million in 1929. Total budget with grounds and furnishings was rumored at $2 million (about $40 million in today’s dollars). Winslow was selected for the hotel's location because most attractions and things to do in northern Arizona are within a comfortable day’s drive from Winslow. Plus, Winslow was the Arizona headquarters for the Santa Fe Railway.
Architect Colter worked for the Fred Harvey Company from 1905 until her retirement in the 1950s. Although famous for her magnificent buildings at the Grand Canyon, she considered La Posada her masterpiece. Here she was able to design or select everything from the structures to the landscape, furniture, maids’ costumes, and dinner china. Many people consider this the most important and most beautiful building in the Southwest.
La Posada opened in 1930, just after the stock market crash of 1929, and remained open for just 27 years. In 1957, the hotel closed to the public. The museum-quality furnishings were auctioned off in 1959. In the early 1960s, much of the building was gutted and transformed into offices for the Santa Fe Railway. Several times over the ensuing 40 years, the building was nearly demolished, as recently as 1994 when the railway announced its plans to move out for good.
Allan Affeldt learned about the peril of La Posada from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Affeldt visited the hotel in 1994, and decided to help local preservationists save it. After three years of negotiating with the railroad, plus resolving various legal, environmental, and financial obstacles, Affeldt purchased the property from the railroad. At a cost of $12 million, Affeldt and his partners transformed a forgotten but magical place into a living museum.
[See photo on flickr]
[See photo on flickr]
[See photo on flickr]
WINONA
[See photo on flickr]
This steel Parker-truss bridge was built in 1924 to span the Walnut Creek in Winona, AZ (6,200 ft elevation). The bridge was on Route 66 from 1926 to 1947. Water once flowed in the river, but now it is dry most of the time because dams upstream retain the water in reservoirs for Flagstaff's population. Today, Winona is barely a spot on the road. In its hey-day, activities centered around the Winona Trading Post.
Winona is one of the three towns mentioned in the 1947 road trip song "Get Your Kicks on Route 66" by Bobby Troup. Mention of Winona appears in the following stanza:
Now you go through Saint Looey
Joplin, Missouri,
And Oklahoma City is mighty pretty.
You see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico,
Flagstaff, Arizona.
Don't forget Winona,
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino.
LITTLE COLORADO RIVER OVERLOOK
The Little Colorado River Gorge is a narrow gorge that runs for 45 miles across the flat plains of the Painted Desert in the Navajo Indian Reservation. It forms one of the largest arms of the Grand Canyon, at over 3,000 feet deep where it joins the mighty Colorado River near Desert View in Grand Canyon National Park.
The Little Colorado River Gorge is not inside Grand Canyon National Park, but is a should-see if you are entering the Park from east. The Little Colorado River, a tributary of the Colorado River, carves a deep canyon before its confluence with the Colorado. Note the dry river bed. Only the headwaters and the lowermost reaches of the river flow year-round. Most of the river, as shown in the photograph, is a wide wash, only containing water after heavy snowmelt or flash flooding.
Overlook elevation is 4,900 feet.
[See photo on flickr]
DESERT VIEW POINT
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK
The Grand Canyon is a deep gorge in Arizona, formed by the Colorado River that extends from its junction with the Little Colorado River to Lake Mead. The gorge was cut by vertical river erosion through the multi-colored layers of the high Colorado plateau. Desert View Point (7,400 ft elevation), the eastern-most point of the Grand Canyon's South Rim, offers the first glimpse of the Grand Canyon for visitors arriving from the east. The view here is different to most overlooks as one third of the panorama is of the flat plains of the Painted Desert, on the east side of the Colorado as it bends round to the north.
The Grand Canyon is a deep gorge in Arizona, formed by the Colorado River that extends from its junction with the Little Colorado River to Lake Mead. The gorge was cut by vertical river erosion through the multi-colored layers of the high Colorado plateau. Desert View Point (7,400 ft elevation), the eastern-most point of the Grand Canyon's South Rim, offers the first glimpse of the Grand Canyon for visitors arriving from the east. The view here is different to most overlooks as one third of the panorama is of the flat plains of the Painted Desert, on the east side of the Colorado as it bends round to the north.
At Desert View, the Colorado River makes a turn to the north while the Painted Desert extends toward the Navaho and Hopi Indian Reservations. On a clear day, one can see well over 100 miles.
The Watchtower at Desert View Point, constructed in 1932, was designed by Mary Coulter as a replica of a prehistoric Indian tower. It commands a magnificent view of the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert to the east and the San Francisco Peaks to the south. Colter's goal was to build a tower that would provide the widest view possible of Grand Canyon while keeping harmony with its natural surroundings. The Watchtower first opened in 1933. This seventy-foot stone tower is the highest point on the South Rim. Interior walls of the tower feature murals by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie.
The Watchtower at Desert View Point, constructed in 1932, was designed by Mary Coulter as a replica of a prehistoric Indian tower. It commands a magnificent view of the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert to the east and the San Francisco Peaks to the south. Colter's goal was to build a tower that would provide the widest view possible of Grand Canyon while keeping harmony with its natural surroundings. The Watchtower first opened in 1933. This seventy-foot stone tower is the highest point on the South Rim. Interior walls of the tower feature murals by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie.
Grand Canyon
Viewed from Desert View Point, Colorado River Gorge
[See photo on flickr]
Viewed from Desert View Point, Colorado River Gorge
[See photo on flickr]
Desert View Point, Colorado River Gorge
[See photo on flickr]
Mary in the Watchtower
Desert View Point, Colorado River Gorge
[See photo on flickr]
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TOMORROW
Mary and I will explore the southern rim of the Grand Canyon.
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COPYRIGHT
These photographs are the property of Leon Jackson, and are protected by copyright laws. Photographs may not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written permission of Leon Jackson. © 2017 Leon Jackson. All Rights Reserved.
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7 comments:
Crackerjack photos!
Nice photos, Leon!Great old buildings and I really like the tower shot.
Glad to see you are back. I thought you and Mary were done in by Route 66.
All beautiful. Particularly love La Posada and the photo of Mary in the tower. She looks like a superheroine!
Muriel
Thanks, Leon. Gorgeous as usual. Especially loved La Posada and the info on Mary Colter. I read a book about her once. Someday I want to stay at La Posada.
WOW!!! Thanks for sharing this wonderful trip! It is great to know that somewhere the sun was shining.
Thanks Leon. Amazing pictures and stories that go with them. I like the car too!
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