Navajo Bridges

Because highway 89 collapsed 20 miles south of Page, the best way to get to Flagstaff right now is to go through Fredonia, over the Kaibab, and across the river at Marble Canyon. Whenever I go that way, I like to stop and look at the bridges. I think they are beautiful—intricate patterns of silver arching over a thousand feet of thin air. But, the other thing that I always think about is that they are brand new. The first bridge was not completed until almost 1930. Before that, the only way across the river was to go via Lee's Ferry. In fact, Lee's Ferry was the only crossing between, say, Needles and Hite for probably 70 years. As late as 1929, the US Mail between Flagstaff and Kanab was still being carried in a wagon, which crossed the river on the ferry every couple of weeks. It's amazing how much things have changed over the last 50 years. There still are not very many places to cross the river, but now you can do it on a highway, in a modern auto, at full speed. There are no longer wagons with mail, but thousands of yuppies, hippies, gangsters, euros, and bobos (urban consumers all) blazing through with the bucket list—checking 'em off without even rolling down the window. The only thing they notice is that I don't drive 80 MPH, and am, therefore, in their way.