There was one remaining outside of St George, UT. We had tried to find it once before, however I hadn't used Google Maps to my advantage and we were unable to located it. But this time, I knew where it was located and found the trail that led to the cement arrow. The kids wanted to stay at 'home' and rest, so Deni and I headed out to find the arrow.
A little bit of history on the arrows. They were funded by the United States Congress in 1923. The first segment of arrows and beacons were built between Chicago and Wyoming. The giant arrows (and corresponding beacons) enabled aircraft to depart from either coast in the daytime and follow the lighted airway by nightfall. The lighted airfields were set up every 15 - 20 miles. The first nighttime airmail flights began in July 1924. By eliminating the transfer of mail to rail cars at night, the coast to coast delivery time for airmail was reduced by two business days.
By 1927, the lighted airway was completed between New York and Salt Lake City, Los Angeles to Las Vegas and Los Angeles to San Francisco, New York to Atlanta and Chicago to Dallas. A total of 4121 miles in total. By 1933, the Transcontinental Airway System totaled about 1500 beacons.
These Airway Beacons were a substantial navigation aid in an era prior to the development of radio navigation. Along with the gigantic cement arrows, were twenty four inch diameter rotating beacons, mounted on a 53-foot high tower. The beacons were five million candlepower and rotated at six times a minute.
During WWII, many of the arrow markings were removed to prevent from aiding any potential enemy bombers in navigation. However one exists outside St George, UT and I wanted to go to it.
Little did I know that up on top of a bluff, right next to where we played our first tournament game, was one of these arrows. As we drove to the trail, the roads and surroundings seemed awfully familiar and then I realized that we had played our first game just around the corner. (see the Bluff in background of this picture from our first game - look in the top left of the pic below).
When I looked at the trail on Google Maps, I didn't realize it was on top of a bluff. I looked at the satellite view and saw a few switchbacks, but didn't think it was on top of a bluff. The good news was a woman that was most likely 8 months pregnant was coming down from the trail. The trail was only about 1 mile up, so we headed up the trail. It took us a little less than 20 minutes to get up on top. It was fun to finally find it. There was a log book, but the pen was dead, so we didn't get to login and note we had been there.
Deni standing on the arrow, pointing toward Salt Lake City.
We had an amazing view from up top. We spent a few minutes looking around, taking a few pictures and then headed back down.
