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The Largest Drainage Ditch - Part 4A

Friday, May 20th – Grand Canyon National Park – North Rim to Kanab, Arizona/Utah – Day 99 

The night was cold at this high elevation, and everyone was huddled into their blankets. The stars were fantastic through the tree canopy. The wind was howling through the night, but it didn’t make it down to ground level, so the trailer wasn’t shaking. We woke up with our morning routine in full swing. We packed up and left our very pleasant forest home. 


Our first destination was the visitor centre to get junior ranger booklets and some information. While I was in the visitor centre, Gen checked out the lodge to see if we could get a reservation for lunch. Lucky for us we could; on a table directly beside the window. Gen and I split a beef brisket sandwich and chicken sandwich. The kids all got burgers. It was a great experience. 


Stuffed with food, we went back to the gift shop to look around, filled water bottles and got ready for our day. We went back to Bright Angel Point to go all the way to the point. John and I saw a snake on the rocks and John wanted to show everyone. He kept yelling “Mom, Aisling, Charlotte, I saw a snake” even though they were far ahead. We went all the way to the end and took it all in. When we started back John was very hesitant about the hike. He didn’t want to go to the two viewpoints by the lodge. He had fresh legs so there was no excuse, bit by bit I encouraged him along despite many stops. The two outcropping views were worth the trouble. 


 We circled back to see a Ranger talk about the need to conserve water in the Colorado river basin. Many States and Mexico have a right to the water in the Colorado basin. In each State different stakeholders, such as farmers, regular people, industry, wild animals and more, require the water. On top of this, the area has been in a multi year drought and water levels in many dams and aquifers are down. Famously, the Colorado river does not reach the ocean. They have many, many different ideas on how to return water to the water system and have divided them into separate plans sorted by cost. Even if these were all implemented, the plan will take a decade to increase water levels. 

To be continued...

 

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