Five million tourists visit the Grand Canyon each year, but only a minority of them goes there by the north side. Access is, in fact, longer: we must, at the intersection with the 89a route which connects Fredonia to page, go up Route 67 on 70 km, path that must be redone in the opposite direction. Enough to discourage those who do not like to roll too much, but enough to guarantee a enjoyment of the great canyon far from the crowds which invade the southern shore. With the promise of even more breathtaking landscapes because the northern slope dominates the prodigious notch dug dug by the Colorado river over the millennia.
With its architecture mixing limestone blocks and pine pine trunks, the Grand Canyon Lodge was the symbol of the north shore. Built at the end of the road, on the edges of the precipice, the hotel offered a breathtaking view of the canyon and its stone terrace was the dream place to admire the sunset. This exceptional situation made us forget a dilapidated that bordered on unhealthiness. Many hosts complain about the lack of maintenance and failing management. Ironically, the establishment had been built on the foundations of a hotel in the 1920s which had already been destroyed by a fire in September 1932.
In early June, the Grand Canyon Lodge had to close for ten days after lightning damaged its electrical system. It is still lightning which is at the origin of the two fires which ravage the region: White Sage, near Jacob Lake, and Dragon Bravo, near the canyon. A chlorine leak in a treatment plant complicated the work of firefighters, but some criticize the emergency services for having initially reacted inappropriately. A republican deputy for Arizona, Abe Hamadeh, prefers to incriminate the “bad practices” of … the Biden administration.
The northern bank of the Grand Canyon will not reopen before the end of the season, which ends on October 15, the authorities announced. This means the extent of the disaster.
The fires ravage a historic building on the north shore of the Grand Canyon (photos)
