Sunday, October 4 2026
A relatively short drive south today brought me from Marble Canyon to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.
Before leaving Marble Canyon I briefly visited Navajo Bridge over the Colorado river. There are, in fact, two parallel bridges at the location. The original, which was opened in 1929 and was a milestone crossing of the Colorado well before Glen Canyon Dam and Bridge were ever conceived. It was replaced by a new Navajo Bridge in 1995 as vehicles became heavier and larger but remains as a pedestrian bridge and tourist stop. The name of the bridge is in recognition of the $100,000 contributed to the cost of construction of the original bridge by the tribe.
The original bridge has always held a fascination for me and, when I learned that there were organized bungee jumps from the bridge arranged from time to time I paid a $150 deposit for 2 jumps scheduled for September 3, 2017. It was only when I needed to plan details of my trip and asked what time the jump was that I learned it was in the dark between 8 PM and 1 AM. It made sense because, although not illegal, there were/are notices on the bridge from the Arizona Dept of Transportation stating that jumping was not allowed and it gets incredibly hot during the day. However, I wanted photos/video and to be able to see the river so I asked for a refund. The organizer gave me a partial refund. I checked again before this trip but he has no jumps scheduled.
I then drove on to Grand Canyon National Park (south rim) and made my way along Desert View Drive, which is the eastern half of the park, stopping at every open viewpoint. I’ll only post a few photos.
I am here for two nights so, tomorrow, I intend to walk/shuttle bus to the viewpoints on the western side of the park and see sunset over the canyon. The next post should be on Tuesday but my destination is pretty remote so no guarantees on Internet connectivity.