GRAND CANYON OF THE ARKANSAS RIVER

We have traveled to Colorado several times on vacations, but we have never visited the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park, near Canon City, Colorado. We were surprised that there is so much more to see and do than just walk across a bridge. 

This is a view of the Royal Gorge Bridge with a gondola heading to the south rim of the Gorge. The bridge was built in 1929 and is one of the world's highest suspension bridges, towering over 1,000 feet above the Arkansas River.

Here is another view of the bridge along with a view of the Arkansas River below. Unlike a canyon, a gorge is narrower at the bottom than the top. The Royal Gorge is a mere 50-60 feet wide at the bottom.

Lt. Zebulon Pike, for whom Pike's Peak is named, was the first recorded American explorer to discover the Royal Gorge, arriving in this area in December,1806. Previously, the Ute were Native Americans most identified with the Royal Gorge region.

We hurried to get in line for the aerial gondola ride that travels from the visitors' center to the other side of the Gorge. You can see the temperature wasn't very warm as we waited for our ride.

There was a hummingbird feeder on the gondola dock for us to watch as we waited our turn. We marveled at how quickly these tiny birds would fly in, get some nourishment, and then fly off, all while making humming sounds.

 
This view from our gondola down into the gorge gives you an idea of just how deep and narrow this gorge is. We were 1200 feet above the Arkansas River at this point. If you look closely, you can see railroad tracks to the right of the river. In the early 1900's, visitors came here by train. Part of the railroad track bed through the Gorge is over a hanging bridge. 90% of the bridge is suspended over water, as the Gorge was too narrow, and flat land ran out. The Hanging Bridge was constructed in 1879 so trains could pass through the Royal Gorge. It must have been thrilling to ride through such a narrow place in a train.  What a way to see nature at the turn of the 20th century.

After we finished our gondola ride, we were able to get a photo of the two gondolas passing each other. The journey in the gondola from one side of the gorge to the other is 2,300 feet. We felt the swaying motion of the gondola as the wind hit it, similar to riding a gondola to the top of a mountain at a ski resort.  The ride across the Gorge was the highlight of our trip.

We enjoyed viewing the many artifacts saved during the original construction in the Plaza Theater, which was built in 1929 when the bridge was first opened. You can see now thick this cable is, containing thousands of wires needed to hold up the bridge that spans the Gorge.

The bridge cables are anchored at each end into tons of concrete.

This view from an observation platform on the south side of the gorge shows the complexity and steepness of the red granite rock sides of the Gorge.  

As we hiked to get to the edge of the bridge, we found this Plains prickly pear cactus growing on the south rim.

We explored the south rim and then walked back across the Royal Gorge Bridge to the north rim. We could feel the bridge sway in the wind as we walked across the bridge. There are flags from all 50 states flying from the bridge. Paul is shown with both the Florida flag and the Colorado flag. Notice how windy it was the day of our visit.

While walking across the bridge, we spotted some Lupine and cactus growing together in the granite wall of the the north rim.

Once across the bridge, we looked back to see other visitors crossing the bridge. The white van is used to transport physically challenged guests to the other side of the Gorge.

Outside the visitors center is one of the three waterclocks in the world. Cascading water drives the wheels that allow the clock  to display the exact time of day.

We knew that this area was devastated by a wildfire on June11, 2013, and the facilities surrounding the bridge had to be rebuilt.  We noted on the local news that the facility had been mostly rebuilt and had a grand re-opening earlier in May 2015, so we were eager to see what the attraction was all about. 

A few of the burned trees remain, with the hilly landscape barren except for new low bushes.

A tribute to the recovery efforts after the fire can be found in the Legacy Wall on the east side of the new visitors center. While much of the park was destroyed in the fire, the Bridge stood unscathed except for these charred and blackened planks that were removed and are now used as the sides of the visitors center. Despite the devastating fire, only about 100 boards on the bridge had to be replaced, while the original visitor center was burned to the ground.

We were somewhat skeptical about making the near 2-hour drive to The Royal Gorge Park. Once we visited the park, however, we were glad we came despite the very cool and cloudy weather. The views of the rock formations were spectacular and made our journey worthwhile.