{"id":3158,"date":"2019-06-20T21:18:02","date_gmt":"2019-06-21T01:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/?page_id=3158"},"modified":"2019-09-24T14:47:19","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T18:47:19","slug":"june-2019-austin-grand-canyon-zion-and-portland-or","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/shearwater-sailing.com\/index.php\/june-2019-austin-grand-canyon-zion-and-portland-or\/","title":{"rendered":"June, 2019: Leg 2, Stu Moving Trailer from Lake Mead to Portland OR"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Stu drove Joan to the Las Vegas airport for her 10:30 am flight home to FL, and then returned to Lake Mead. He was preparing to drive the trailer to Portland, Oregon where it will stay for a month.<\/p>\n

6.11 to 6.13 Lake Mead Camping<\/h3>\n

Lake Mead is formed by Hoover Dam in a barren area nearly devoid of trees and any natural life. The dam kept it barren, empty and very hot. The \u201cbeach\u201d is boulder strewn and while the water is comfortable, walking requires shoes.<\/p>\n

6.12\u00a0 Tour the Hoover Dam Power Plant<\/h3>\n

Hoover Dam is hard to visualize \u2013 from above, it is so large my eye sees only a miniature representation of the structure.<\/p>\n

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Everything in the power plant was invented to meet the unique needs of such a large project.<\/p>\n

Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover negotiated with seven states and Mexico to iron out the water rights for the Colorado River so they could build the dam.<\/p>\n

The concrete was poured in one continuous piece, 24 hours a day for nearly two years. Two concrete plants were built on location because transportation of that volume of concrete was impossible. This is the rough equivalence of starting Interstate 95 in Maine and pouring 24 hours per day until the equipment, invented for the purpose, arrived in Florida. During the pouring process, concrete radiates significant heat so in addition to pouring, a combination of river water and refrigerated water was pumped through the dam to keep it from cracking under the heat.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The generators and switches were the largest ever made and had to be assembled on site with the largest cranes ever built.\u00a0 Even the pipe was so large it had to be cast in place. Each of the nine generators produces about 250 million watts with the total producing nearly 2 billion (gigawatts), or about what a large nuclear power plant can make. They have stood the test of long time and continuous usage.\u00a0 All nine of the original full-size generators are still producing power with only the originally planned maintenance being required.\u00a0 Imagine running your car for a million miles with no service except oil changes.<\/p>\n

Politics being what they were, two local governments decided to buy their own, different, generators.\u00a0 Just as you might buy your one engine for an airplane \u2013 these two are no longer running and the generator control was centralized years ago.<\/p>\n

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As far as your eye can see with these generators, the dam is actually taller and the concrete is thicker.<\/p>\n

Water from the Colorado River is impounded to create the dam that provides the falling water to generate the electricity. Once the power is extracted by dropping the water level about 500 feet, it exits from the tail piece with some remaining force.\u00a0 In the background of the photo are the boats that routinely enjoy the exiting water in the relative calm of the lower Colorado.<\/p>\n

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6.13 to 6.14\u00a0 Lake Diaz<\/h3>\n

There is nothing much to do or say about Lake Diaz. It is shallow, muddy, still, uninteresting and judging from the fishermen, unpopulated.\u00a0 The sunrise over the mountains, at 5:30 in the morning, is the best part.<\/p>\n

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After the sunrise, the next best part is the sunset over \u201cthe tree.\u201d My site had one of 3 trees in the park, a poor scrub of a lightning-struck tree that was struggling to survive in the absence of rain and in sandy\/rocky soil. The campground had no water, no power, no utilities, no beach on the lake, and not much going for it.\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/a>Lake Diaz\u2019 claim to attract visitors is primarily due to the proximity to Mt. Whitney.<\/p>\n

6.14\u00a0 Mt. Whitney<\/h3>\n

I wish I could say, \u201cI climbed Mt. Whitney,” but that implies I climbed to the top.\u00a0 Actually, at about 11,000 feet, my age, lack of air, and heights led me to turn back and down to the trailer parked at 8,400 feet. This is not the ending of the story.<\/p>\n

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Deep in the Heart of California is the Alabama Hills Recreation Area, the home to Mt Whitney.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Everywhere is snow. 106 degrees in Death Valley, a few miles away<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The road climbed at a 6% or more grade up to about 8,000 feet. The car, now named Acadia, demanded a rest a few times to look over the scenery. We averaged about 25 miles per hour climbing to the Whitney Portal:<\/p>\n