Kaibab Suspension Bridge
This eastward-looking view was taken in the late afternoon from the boat beach at Phantom Ranch on the north shore of the (very placid!) Colorado River. The far end of the bridge on the south shore appears to run abruptly into a cliff face - and indeed does! There is a tunnel approach to the bridge through that mass of rock towering above it.
The 1928 completion of the Kaibab or Black Suspension Bridge changed the tourism scene of the inner canyon by connecting trails between the North Rim and South Rim of the canyon and making safe passage across the Colorado River possible for both mules and foot traffic.
Until 1922, the only way for mules and people to cross the river had been on a precarious cableway operated by canyon pioneer David Rust. This consisted of a harrowing ride in a large metal “cage” (large enough for one mule) strung across the river on a cable. One mule at a time or several people would climb into an open bar cage and move across the river along the swinging cables of the crossing. The Grand Canyon became a national park in 1919, and the National Park Service replaced Rust's tramway with a new wooden suspension bridge. However, this was a very flimsy affair, and could be tossed about so violently in strong winds that it would sometimes completely flip over! Not surprisingly, it was quickly replaced...
Building the bridge in the remote and difficult-to-access Inner Canyon in 1928 posed significant hazards and challenges to construction. All materials were transported by mules or human power. National Park Service mules carried most of the 122 tons of materials for the construction. However, the one-ton, 550-foot-long suspension cables were carried down the canyon on the shoulders of 42 Havasupai tribesmen who walked single file down the nine miles of trail while carrying the cables, descending 4,000 feet from the Canyon's rim.
Once completed, the bridge offered safe passage across the Colorado River and connected the North Rim to the South Rim via the North and South Kaibab Trails. It remained the only way to cross in the inner canyon until the mid-1960s when the nearby Silver Bridge was completed, allowing hikers an alternative route. However, the Kaibab remains the only bridge for mules.
A colour negative has been scanned and then processed in Lightroom and Silver Efex to produce the image.
Kaibab Suspension Bridge
This eastward-looking view was taken in the late afternoon from the boat beach at Phantom Ranch on the north shore of the (very placid!) Colorado River. The far end of the bridge on the south shore appears to run abruptly into a cliff face - and indeed does! There is a tunnel approach to the bridge through that mass of rock towering above it.
The 1928 completion of the Kaibab or Black Suspension Bridge changed the tourism scene of the inner canyon by connecting trails between the North Rim and South Rim of the canyon and making safe passage across the Colorado River possible for both mules and foot traffic.
Until 1922, the only way for mules and people to cross the river had been on a precarious cableway operated by canyon pioneer David Rust. This consisted of a harrowing ride in a large metal “cage” (large enough for one mule) strung across the river on a cable. One mule at a time or several people would climb into an open bar cage and move across the river along the swinging cables of the crossing. The Grand Canyon became a national park in 1919, and the National Park Service replaced Rust's tramway with a new wooden suspension bridge. However, this was a very flimsy affair, and could be tossed about so violently in strong winds that it would sometimes completely flip over! Not surprisingly, it was quickly replaced...
Building the bridge in the remote and difficult-to-access Inner Canyon in 1928 posed significant hazards and challenges to construction. All materials were transported by mules or human power. National Park Service mules carried most of the 122 tons of materials for the construction. However, the one-ton, 550-foot-long suspension cables were carried down the canyon on the shoulders of 42 Havasupai tribesmen who walked single file down the nine miles of trail while carrying the cables, descending 4,000 feet from the Canyon's rim.
Once completed, the bridge offered safe passage across the Colorado River and connected the North Rim to the South Rim via the North and South Kaibab Trails. It remained the only way to cross in the inner canyon until the mid-1960s when the nearby Silver Bridge was completed, allowing hikers an alternative route. However, the Kaibab remains the only bridge for mules.
A colour negative has been scanned and then processed in Lightroom and Silver Efex to produce the image.