Saturday, June 19, 2021

Grand Canyon Smog

Last summer I couldn't handle the elevation and took 89 (the northern route) from Kanab, Utah to Page, Arizona.


This summer I'm doing better and decided to take 89A up onto the Kaibab Plateau and see how I do at 8,000 feet (2438.4m). I have to stay on top of my meds (fortunately, less than a 1/4 inch of additional elevation), but unlike last year when simply being brought on headaches and debilitating fatigue, this time I was able to make camp (unload & load) and even do a bit of ambling about.


An inviting fire ring...


 



Location Shot




Vermilion Cliffs


The smog is so bad you can't see 10 miles. I quit going to Grand Canyon back in the '70s when it -- the haze -- occluded the views. It'd clear in January and then you could make out the North Rim. No longer.

Now, regardless of the time of year, if you look at promotional pictures online, even the nearest monoliths are fuzzy; North Rim is nothing more than a concept.

The sign outside the museum says some of the particulates have come all the way from China. Yeah, right! What about the Four Corners coal-fired power plants...the incredible amounts of diesel fumes emitted by the gigantic trucks and diggers used in the huge, open-pit mines around Globe?

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