Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1921-06-16

surrounding country. For the North
run Is 1,oOO feet higher than the South rim.
presumably you will be able ITO use this suspen.
sion orlcge this season. The national park service
- working on the bridge now and has been for
eoue time. But you can easily guess that building
. - Drldge is some considerable job-especally
you nave ever travelled Bright Angel trail, down
winch all the materials and tools have to be
packed. Anyway, here's sample of the kind of
uoihss mat may happen any minute on that
famous trail.
Homer j. Arm is of the packers engaged In
ge1tlng stuff down Bright Angel trail. The other
way ne was taking down string of animals Sew
erai OF them were loaded with INT for blasting.
at one of the sudden turns one of the nac animals
eapped. Inc rest got excited Pretty soon one
animal went off the trail. All eleven in the string
were tied together. Before long two more were
dragged off the trail. About this time Arm sue
ceeded in getting into the middle of the mxup.
He cut the other eight animals loose and thew
stad on the trail
OF course all three Of the animals that fell Off
were killed. One fell 1000 feet-without iniurine
his pack. One fell 200 feet-without exploding
the 15O pounds of INT in his pack And that,s
what getting the bridge stuff down Bright Angel
trail is like.
A look at the map gives the lay of the land
Bright Angel trail begins near Ell Tovar on the
South rim and winds down to the Colorado at
the bottom Of Granite gorge. Hermit trail begins
farther to the west and also goes down to the
river. Part Of the way down, the Tonic trail.
running east and west, connects Hermit ond
Bright Angel trails.
At the foot Of Bright Angel trail there ia an
aerial cabletram, which is used to ferry across
venturesome visitors. The cross marks the site
of the suspension bridge. The new trail win r,n
north along Bright Angel creek. The visitor viii
ascend to the North rim at Bright Angel point.
1t is 16 miles the Grand canyon here
The descent from Ell Tovar to the river is about
$500 feet The North river Is about 6OOO feet
above the floor of the Grand canyon.
The view from the North rim is radically differ.
ent. The temples lie In its foreground One looks
down upon them at close range. The Granite
gorge Is miles IN the background. and the opposite
rim presents an apparently straight wall The oh.
server Is twelve fifteen hundred feet HIGHER
than the south rim and sees over 1t the desert
plain for many miles south, with far horizon
of distant mountains. Many who have seen both
prefer the south rim view, which has the temples
IN broad perspective and confines the eye to the
spectacle Of the canyon. Others prefer the north
rim because Of its closeness to the temples and Its
grasp of distant horizons. In the future thousands
OF travellers will not be content until they see the
canyon from both rims.
Building the suspension bridge, once the ma.
terial Is on the spot, will not be difficult The
worst Of the job is getting the stuff to the site
on mule-back The material for the bridge will
consist principally of steel wire, veneighths and
three-eighths of an inch respectively in diameter;
heavy wooden timbers, strips of flooring Of nine.
foot length and tools and blasting powder The
matter of getting the long cables down is going to
require the Harvesting of at least four mules tan.
dem and strnging of the load between Them The
main cables will weigh between 700 and 800
pounds apiece. cable will be gathered into sew
eral coils, with about twenty to thirty feet of
slack between each coil. These coiled cables will
then be put on mules. coil to each.
At the bridge site an anchor of steel rails and
concrete will be constructed in the solid rock.
The upper cables will then be carried across to the
north side and secured In like fashion. From end
10 end these upper cables will measure about 500
feet Eighty feet below them the floor of the
bridge will be anchored to the walls Of the gorge.
From the overhead cables side cables will come
down and through the heavy tmbers The
nine-foot planking will be riyeted to these rafters
and hog mesh wiring will be strung along either
side Of the bridge to protect tourists. The bridge
win be built forty feet above the ordinary height