Room+19B

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= = = Hike Through the Grand Canyon  = Let me just say, the Grand Canyon is spectacular. We were able to experience all of its beauty when we went on a hike right down in it. This hike, on the South Kaibab Trail, was actually the first activity that we did when we got to the Grand Canyon. We started off on this rocky trail and first learned about the various objects in the canyon walls. Did you know that it’s more than just boring old rock? There are actually fossils stuck into the side of the canyon walls. This is because the canyon used to be underwater so the fossils are obviously of ocean animals. Looking closer on the wall, we saw moss growing. Ok, we thought, we know what moss is, moving on. Although, that’s when our tour guide told us that moss is made up of fungus and algae and it’s actually a living creature. After we learned a little about the canyon walls, we hiked down further into the canyon. We finally came to a clearing where we could see these beautiful trees growing on the side of the canyon. Our tour guide told us that these were called Ponderosa Trees and they’re able to grow on the side of the canyon because the big walls give them plenty of shade. Plus, water from the top rim trickles down which helps them grow. These trees were really tall and they added to the beauty of the canyon. Like we mentioned earlier, the canyon is absolutely spectacular. One of the most spectacular parts is that it stretches 277 miles long! A lot of the canyon’s beauty comes from the beautiful rock colors: red, orange, yellow, and sometimes even purplish depending on how the light hits it. It’s amazing to think that this natural wonder was created 2.6 billion years ago and it’s still around today! In addition it was shaped by a single river, what we now call the Colorado River, even though it took six million years to shape. After we were done learning about everything, we hiked all the way back up to the top. Geez, you’d never think that hiking a few miles would take so much strength! Although, we did feel very fortunate that we were able to experience the Grand Canyon at that level since so rarely do people get to. We can’t say that there’s anything we disliked about the hike (except for the walking up part- whew) because it was all so outstanding. Hopefully someday we’ll be able to go back and experience it all again!

= River Trip on the Colorado River  = On the second day of the trip, we woke up bright and early to float the Colorado River. We started our trip at the Glen Canyon Dam and floated downstream through Glen Canyon which is a smaller canyon that is connected to the Grand Canyon. During the float our guide, Travis, toured us around the magnificent canyon and would occasionally stop to teach us a little bit about the walls surrounding us and the river that we were floating on. We learned a lot of really cool things! He pointed out that some of the canyon walls were covered in a blackcrust. This crust is called desert varnish and it forms overt thousands of years. Surprisingly, the whole canyon isn't covered in it. Only some of the rocks that make up the wall have splotches of it. The canyon isn't covered because when there are erosions, the falling rocks scrape off the varnish. Another reason that desert varnish doesn't cover the canyon is, in 1983 the dam almost broke due to a lot of run off from the snow in the Rockies. Because the the extra water, the dam almost broke and therefore some extra water passed through. This extra water caused the water level to rise about twenty feet.The water in the river washed off the desert varnish on the walls, so today there is a line on the rock about twenty feet above the current water level. This line shows where the water level was when the dam almost broke. Above the line is desert varnish and below the line there is no desert varnish. It's incredible! The Glen Canyon is a beautiful, fourteen mile wonder, but it is nothing in comparison to the Grand Canyon's 277 mile long walls. = Wupatki National Monument  = The next adventure on our trip, was a visit to the Wupatki National Monument. It was about two hours away from our previous location, Glen Canyon, but was well worth the drive. The monument was near the painted desert. When we arrived we walked on a small gravel path and were greeted by 900 year old pueblo ruins. Thousands of years ago the Hopi indian's ancestors migrated to that spot and built homes. These natives were much wealthier than other indians of that time, so the structure that they built were much more grand than the typical pueblo. Not only were these natives wealthy, but they were also very smart. they knew that they had limited resources, so they conserved food, water, and other necessities. They had a good life while they lived there, so it is a complete mystery to scientists as to why they suddenly left and why they left so much behind. Most of the things left left were extremely valuable which isn't a surprise considering that they were located at a large trade route. There were also a lot a of different people who were from different cultures, so they shared their ideas, foods, and beliefs with each other which created many interesting things that were found by scientists. There are many theories about why the people left, such as drought, war, or even lack of food. It is truly a mystery, but until that mystery is solved all we can do is adore the things that they left behind and hope that someday scientists will find the things that they need to solve the mystery. The ruins were amazing and I hope that they will last for 900 more years.

= Sunset Crater National Monument  = The last spot that we got to visit was Sunset Crater National Monument. In case you aren’t familiar with it, Sunset Crater is a large volcano located right here in Arizona. It erupted 1000 years ago and the lava cooled to create large black volcanic rocks. We actually went on a hike through the volcanic ash and all around us there were piles and piles of this rock. I learned that when lava erupts, it moves really slowly and almost has the consistency of honey. It also cools extremely fast so it creates air bubbles in the rock. Ever wondered why there are holes in the rock? Well, that’s why! We hiked a little farther until we came to an ice cave. That’s right, a cave made of ice. The cave was created in a lava tube and the silica inside insulated it to keep it cold. We were actually able to go down and feel inside the cave which was pretty cold. I enjoyed walking around Sunset Crater National Monument since it was my first time. It was fun to see an actual volcano because I’ve never seen one in person before. Overall it was a good experience and a nice way to end our trip.