DCA's Grizzly Peak Recreation Area, The Attractions

DCA's Grizzly Peak Recreation Area
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Grizzly River Run
A trip on Grizzly River Run begins in the queue where gear from the Grizzly River Rafting Company can be found. Guests them step onto the turntable and board an 8-seat raft separated into four 2-seat sections. Unlike other raft rides, there is no dry area on the raft. However, there are temporary lockers located just outside the attraction which are free to use for up to three hours.

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Rafts begin their journey
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Once on the raft, seat-belted, and pushed off, guests float lazily around a bend and past a 19th century steam donkey. This area also provides friends and family a chance to glimpse the rafters before they begin the long trip up the conveyor belt. The 300-foot conveyor belt - ostensibly powered by the 22-ft diameter Pelton Water Wheel that once carried ore down from the mountain - carries the raft 45-feet up towards the top of the mountain. On warm days guests should be careful of leaky pipes overhead giving them an early shower - a preview of things to come.

 

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The Pelton Wheel
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According to legend, Lester Pelton got his idea for a more powerful waterwheel from seeing a cow stick its nose into a stream of water. Patented in 1878, the divided metal cups of Pelton's wheel worked much the same way as the cleft between the cow's nostrils, enabling water to flow out to the sides, instead of bouncing straight back out of the cups. The water-powered wheel sent compressed air through pipes to drive pumps, drills, triphammers, and hoists in the mines. This simple concept proved so effective in turning the wheel faster and more efficiently that it is still used today in modern turbines around the world.

After reaching the top a sign marks the location as Grizzly Summit - Elevation 1401 feet (a nod to 1401 Flower St., Imagineering headquarters) then it's into the caves and the rapids. While there aren't any bears to be seen, the growling of the "great bear spirit" mentioned in the Legend of Grizzly Peak can be heard. Then it's back outside Bristlecone Bend, down the small Bear Claw Falls, then back inside at Eureka Mine Shaft #13. The rafts are then carried outside through Pinball Rapids and past - but thankfully not over - Frog Jump Falls. Then its through Sluice Channel - an old channel built to divert the rivers flow - and around a bend that takes you back under Sluice Channel.

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The Sluice Channel
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Finally the raft plummets down a 22-foot, spinning, soaking drop. After a final bend it's back towards the turntable - after passing a few geysers in Geyser Gauntlet. One of the fun things about Grizzly River Run is the way guests not riding can walk through its various paths and watch the rafts. Great views of Geyser Gauntlet and the turntable loading area are available. Perhaps the best view can be had by following a path towards the bottom of the final drop. If you stand close enough to the rail, you just might get wet. Trails also lead under Grizzly Peak where more of the old mining equipment can be viewed - much of it procured by Chris Tietz during hikes through Sierra Nevada gold country.

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The get-wet viewing area
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And one warning ... you will get wet.

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Redwood Creek Challenge Trail
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Redwood Creek Challenge Trail
Much like Disneyland's Tom Sawyer's Island, the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is an area where children and adults alike can climb, jump, run and play. Inside the Trail are several rope bridges and lookout towers including one that demonstrates how forest rangers can precisely find the location of forest fires. Along Wawona Trail guests can see several sets of animal footprints fossilized in the ground. A chart along the way identifies which animals belong to which prints. Also on Wawona Trail is the Millennium Tree, a slab of ancient Sequoia whose growth rings are marked with important events in California history. There's a rock slide, a small log bridge, a hollowed out trees to climb and slide through and a cave - Hibernation Hollow - with a Grizzly surprise. The more adventurous can tackle Cliff Hanger - a rock climbing area or Sequoia Smoke Jumpers where guests sit on a tire and slide down a rope.

On the South side of the trail is the Ahwahnee Story Circle where throughout the day a Grizzly Guide tells campfire stories or, in Stories of California, Native American legends and myths are presented.

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Ahwahnee Story Circle
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