The McKenzie's Official world tour site
# Monday, 09 February 2009
THE GRAND CANYON !

Our first sighting of the inspirational GRAND CANYON is very difficult to put into words.........it is the sight that left us all feeling immensely small and insignificant – even though the children may not have been able express that into words! Any picture that any of us have ever seen did not prepare us for the real thing! The sheer size and presence of the canyon has the power to leave you speechless and in a state of awe and wonder. Natural serenity surrounds you and the feeling of a timeless beauty! As millions of years of our planet are exposed right there in front -and all around you- any visit you make is for-but a fleeting moment in time! The power of erosion from the Colorado River over millions of years has left dazzling colours and rock formations. This is the only place in the world where it is possible to see all three different types of sedimentary rocks that our earth is composed of. The area is a geologists dream and has enabled much work and research to take place for a better understanding of our world.

When we turned away there was an amazing appeal that just drew us back to be mesmerised some more.......as the birds glided through the haven that they call home.

The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, approximately one mile deep, 18 miles at the widest point and covers a total of 1,900 square miles. It was discovered in 1540 by Spanish explorer Don Lopez de Cardenas, a captain in Coronado’s Expedition. We visited the South Rim National Park, and sights around the visitor centre which only represents a tiny part of the whole canyon!! The North Rim is not available during the winter months as it is cut off by snow, although we do have it on very good authority, from Tim, that is equally as spectacular with its alpine views. The Colorado River could be seen one and a half kilometres below the south rim, flowing at an average speed of four miles per hour. The river flows west through the canyon, bends south and empties into the Gulf of California in Mexico. The river has an average size of 300 feet wide and 100 feet deep.  

We stayed at the Trailer Village inside the National Park and were once again privileged to be amongst the wildlife-Phil even had a funny feeling that he was being watched by ‘something’ late one night! There was a fantastic shuttle bus which was provided courtesy of the National Park and there were a number of different colour coded routes you could choose to be taken to and collected from at very frequent intervals. This made sight -seeing in and around the canyon stress free. There were also some very entertaining bus drivers who shared jokes and stories along the way. We were filled with hope on one journey as the driver sung this little ditty – ‘Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy, Sunshine in my eyes causes fatalities - MAN- this sun sure is in my eyes!!’

Jemma and Ben took the challenge and had to work on activities to become Junior Rangers for a next time. We all listened to an extremely interesting talk by Ranger Maggi – who made the geological creations of the canyon easier to beginning to understand. The layers and building of the canyon were related directly to the different layers of a cake as it is baking!

We visited the Desert View and Watch Tower Lookout. This tower is a recreation of the prehistoric Indian lookouts and from the top -gave us a sweeping panoramic view of the Colorado River and the desert. This Grand Canyon moment will stay with us forever................

 

FACTOIDS-

·         In 1540 Hopis guided Spanish Explorers to the South Rim.

·         The Grand Canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world – along with Mount Everest in Nepal, Victoria Falls in Zambia/Zimbabwe, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, The Northern Lights, Paricutin Volcano in Mexico and Harbour of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

·         The Grand Canyon is the most popular tourist spot in the United States, attracting 4.5 million visitors from all over the world each year.

·         Northern Arizona is one of the four release sites in the California Condor programme, which for the past 25 years has sought to bring these large scavenger birds back from the brink of extinction. These condors, full of awe and grace have a wing span ranging from 9 to 11 feet!

·         The Grand Canyon is home to 70 species of mammals, 250 species of birds, 25 species of reptiles and 5 species of amphibians.

·         The Mules who offer transport along the Bright Angel Canyon Trail are now included in the Guinness Book of Records as being THE safest modes of public transport. They can boast not one fatality in 100 years of public service!

·         John Wesley Powell was the first explorer to lead an exhibition in 1869. He ventured down the length of the Canyon and conquered the unexplored Canyon and the raging Colorado River.

·         The South Rim and the North Rim are just 10 miles apart as the Raven flies, but 215 miles by road.

·         Elevation at the South Rim is 7,000 feet.

·         Elevation at the North Rim is 8,000 feet.

·         The rocks at the bottom of the Grand Canyon are nearly 2 billion years old!

·         The Grand Canyon Forest Reserve was established on Feb 20th 1893 by President Benjamin Harrison.

·         In 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the Grand Canyon as a National Monument.

·         In 1919 the Grand Canyon National Park was established by Congress.

·         The National Park has many historic buildings and many of these are included in the Historic Register.

·         From Navajo Point, the massive and powerful Colorado River appears to be a mere trickle of water. However, 5,000 feet below the river continues to scour, carve and shape the canyon walls as it has done for thousands of years.

·         The South Rim receives an average of 64.9 inches of snowfall each year.

·         There is a Maswik Lodge at the canyon and this translates as “Protector of the Grand Canyon”.

 

WILDLIFE HITS-

·         Mule Deers

·         Listened to coyotes howling!

·         Pinyon Jays

·         Albert Squirrels

·         Ravens

·         Stellers Jays

·         White Breasted Nuthatches

·         Northern Cardinals


Monday, 09 February 2009 22:16:45 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  USA