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A Snapshot of the Grandest of Canyons by Mike Buchheit

D
arkness gives way to a milky predawn light at Grand Canyon’s popular Mather Point on the South Rim. The two dozen visitors clustered on the scenic overlook gape as the clouds shift from purple to pink in advance of the rising sun. The crowd’s multi-lingual chatter gives way to a universal silence as the sun breaks the eastern horizon, its rays stretching across the Canyon, illuminating the tops of the myriad mountainous peaks within. Cameras flash. Lovers embrace. Even the birds seem to grasp the majesty of the moment. And so begins another day at Grand Canyon National Park.

Much has been said about the Grand Canyon, perhaps the most recognizable land feature on planet Earth. Its praises have been spread by both popular media and word of mouth alike. Though the average visit is but a few hours, the spectacle is firmly planted in the memories of millions of visitors that make the long journey to remote northern Arizona each year.
The 277-mile long chasm is considered one of the Crown Jewels of the National Park System and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. A priceless repository of both natural and cultural history, the Grand Canyon has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Although located in the state of Arizona in the American Southwest, the Grand Canyon clearly belongs to people everywhere.

With over four million visitors per year, Grand Canyon has become one of the most heavily-visited tourist destinations anywhere. Since its inception into the National Park System in 1919 by a stroke of President Woodrow Wilson’s pen, Grand Canyon National Park has emerged as a world-class destination for hikers, backpackers, photographers, whitewater rafters, and the just-plain-curious.

There are deeper, wider and longer Canyon’s around the globe, but few generate awe and reverence as predictably as Grand Canyon. A visit to Grand Canyon is often an intensely personal experience, but there are a few practical explanations as to describe its unending allure.

The sparse vegetation from rim to river in particular leaves little to conceal the signature sculpted cliffs that punctuate view in every direction. For this and many other reasons the scientific community is drawn to the Canyon like bees to honey. To a trained eye, a study of the neatly stacked sedimentary layers of the Grand Canyon speaks to the origins of the continent. Geologists take full advantage of this easy visual access, an “open book” if you will, that is afforded on either rim.

The oldest exposed rock, the 1.7 billion-year-old Vishnu Schist, dominates the canyon’s innermost depths. It’s in plain view from a number of scenic overlooks along the South Rim’s Hermit Road. This “basement” rock of the Grand Canyon is aresilient metamorphic rock sequence—one that the Colorado River is struggling to erode after quickly slicing through consecutive layers of softer rock above. The uppermost rock sequence is the 250 million-year-old Kaibab Limestone, already older than dinosaurs. Between the two are alternating layers of limestone, siltstone, sandstone, and shale that were deposited over the eons by wind and water.

"So how did the canyon get here?” is a common question overheard in the park, and the answer is still being hotly debated. At the end of the day the Grand Canyon is an erosional feature—plain and simple. It’s long history involves a regional geologic uplift swiftly followed by the intense downcutting by the modern and ancient rivers. Over 1,000 cubic miles of material has been removed by these same rivers to leave behind the magnificent gorge that has become a magnet for modern travelers.
Most geologists agree that roughly 70 million years ago, shifting tectonic plates caused the “heart” of the Grand Canyon region to be thrust thousands of feet skyward, forming a broad dome known as the Kaibab Upward. Many millennia later ancestral streams and rivers began the unceasing task of downward cutting a canyon into this mountain of material.

Five million years later, the Colorado River continues the monumental task of carving the gorge that Major John Wesley Powell dubbed the “Grand Canyon” in 1869 during the first harrowing journey through the canyon by boat.

Peppered throughout the vast expanse of the Canyon are towering buttes, mesas and “temples”—a moniker assigned to a few of the most majestic geologic formations by cartographer Clarence Dutton who created a few of the first maps of Grand Canyon in the late 1800s
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In fact, any number of these rocky giants might be declared a national monument in their own right were they transported to the Midwest plains. Here in Grand Canyon they rub shoulders with dozens of others, and collectively give the Grand Canyon a visual complexity that changes with every vantage. Many of these pinnacles are named after Hindu gods and popular figures in Greek and Roman mythology. This unconventional nomenclature is a noticeable departure from typical public lands in the U.S., and generates no small amount of interest in Grand Canyon visitors, especially the 30-40% traveling from overseas.

Although the Grand Canyon is most revered for its spectacular geology, it also offers critical habitat to an amazing variety of flora and fauna. Grand National Park’s 1.2 million acres includes numerous biotic communities. From the sub-Alpine forests of the North Rim towering 9,000 feet above sea level, to the desert scrub that covers the Canyon floor more than a mile below.
Grand Canyon is home to an 1600 species of plants making it one of the most biologically diverse national parks. In fact, nearly every botanical “life zone” found in North America is represented in the Grand Canyon.

Indeed, an individual making the fourteen-mile hike from the lofty North Rim to the bottom of the Grand Canyon would encounter the same diversity of plant life that one might encounter on a coastal walk from central Canada to central Mexico, a journey of several thousand miles.

Grand Canyon also sustains numerous creatures. From the endangered Humbpack chub to the equally-rare California condor that has made a comeback from the brink of extinction. The Canyon serves as a major migratory corridor, an invaluable refuge in a region that is sacrificing critical habitat at an alarming rate to accommodate urban development. By the numbers there are at least 305 species of birds, 76 species of mammals, 35 species of reptiles, 26 species of fish, and six amphibians that inhabit this wonderland of cliff and crevice.

Mankind was a relative latecomer to Grand Canyon. Recent archaeological evidence suggests that the first arrivals date back as far as 11,000 years—shortly after the close of the Ice Age. Over the centuries, these Paleo-Indian hunters were replaced (consecutively) by more sedentary indigenous farming communities, contemporary American Indian tribes (a few of which still call the Canyon home centuries later), Spanish explorers, post-Civil War miners and trappers, and, ultimately, by the modern park visitor arriving in air-conditioned luxury via car, train, or plane.

Of course, it is impossible to determine what the Canyon’s earliest residents and visitors drew from their collective experience. Was the Canyon for them a source of food, shelter, or sanctuary? Was it a religious destination, a trade route, or sporting grounds? There is not even an oral history to shed light on how the Canyon was regarded by our forebears.

Gauging reaction in today’s visitors, on the other hand, is as simple as lingering at one of the scenic overlooks, Inner Canyon oases, or pristine beaches along the Colorado River. Typically it is a giddy blend of awe, excitement, and bewilderment; perhaps with mild vertigo thrown in for good measure. It is a connection that sets in quickly, and can last a lifetime, bringing visitors back year after year to the world’s most-famous chasm.
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Grand Canyon Related Links

Arizona Vacations — Arizona golf, hotels, casinos, skiing, hiking and more! Visit Grand Canyon, Sedona, Phoenix.
Bruce Aiken Fine Art — View the magic of Grand Canyon painter Bruce Aiken.
Grand Canyon Association — Your source for Grand Canyon information and activities.
Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce — Information on hotels, lodging, activities, Grand Canyon WebCam, and more.
Grand Canyon Field Institute — Leading provider of outdoor educational classes and backpacking trips at Grand Canyon.
Grand Canyon Hikers & Backpackers Association — GCHBA promotes, encourages and advocates the interests of the hiking and backpacking community in the regions of Grand Canyon.
Grand Canyon Music Festival — Each year celebrate autumn at the Canyon with classical music on the South Rim.
Grand Canyon National Park — The National Park Service's official Grand Canyon site.
Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association — Advocate for the self-outfitted boating public.
Grand Canyon River Guides — Protecting Grand Canyon by setting the highest standards for the river profession.
Grand Canyon Youth — Dedicated to providing Middle and High School students an experiential education along the rivers and canyons of the Colorado Plateau.
Hit the Trail — Everything you need to know to hike the Canyon safely and enjoyably.
Kaibab.org — Everything else you need to know to hike the Canyon safely and enjoyably.
Mike Quinn — A treasure trove of Grand Canyon historic photos, memorabilia, and fun facts.
Southwest Vacation Travel — Dedicated to people who love the American Southwest.
The Canyon.com — Grand Canyon web directory for hotels, shopping, activities, and such.
USCity Directory — A national network of state and city directories.
Y.E.S. — A non-profit organization offering creative, healthy, and family oriented activities to serve the needs of youth in communities across the Navajo Nation.

Friends of GrandCanyonPrints.com
Courtney Pulitzer Creations — Fostering relationships between people who contribute to the world technically, artistically and socially.
Daily Eats— A great all-about-food site written by our friend and Grand Canyon backpacking buddy, Tery Spataro.
Grand Circle Field School
— Offering educational adventures in and around the Arizona Strip.
Keith Perry Photography — Specializing in unique, high-end wedding and studio photography in Greater Phoenix.
Kim Buchheit - Buchheit Creative Services — Offering a wide range of creative services to assist small to mid-size businesses
in achieving their advertising, design, web, and communication goals.
PhotoClicks — Photographer's directory
PhotographySites.com — A thematic photography directory designed to promote the exchange of traffic among similar types of online photo galleries.
SeeJaneShoot.com — Longtime friend and expert photographer, Jane Melgaard.



 

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