grandcanyon – Exposing The World

Grand Canyon

Erosion on Display

The Colorado River was already an “old” river by seven million years ago, meandering across a level sandstone plain in bands and oxbows, like a limiature Mississippi. Then the plain began rising, slowly enough that the river could keep its course as it etched down into the plain to keep up. Now that the plain has become the Kaibab Plateau, the canyon has reached over a mile in depth, cutting down through all of the sandstone layers and into the continental basement rock below it.

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Into the Canyon

Description

Ravens abound on the south rim of the Canyon

For n on-hikers, mules are the best way down

From the edge of the outer Canyon, you can look down on the river and its passengers as they float by

One of the River rapids. Each one of these is a special and ever-changing challenge for boaters.

At the bottom, two footbridges cross the river, the “B lack” and the “Silver.”

Phantom Ranch, where hikers can stay in cabin accommodations

The altitude and climate at the bottom is approximtely the same as Phoenix

East in the Canyon

Grand Canyon’s main entrance is from Tusayan on the south rim. From that entrance, a road east along the rim provides views for many miles to the East Entrance at Cameron Trading Post.

R: The stamped metal ceiling of the Trading Post.

The Watchtower is an architectural folly built in the 1930s by Mary Colter, chief architect for the Fred Harvey Company, original concessionaire in the Canyon.

The lowest, legest room in the tower is the Kiva Room. The ceiling is made of woven logs rescued from the old Grandview Hotel.

Artificial “rock art” on the inside walls

The Kolb Studio

Originally constructed as the family home of photographers Ellsworth and Emery Kolb, they maintained it as their studio. Now it is a museum of their work. It clings to the very edge of the Canyon on the south rim.

The gallery floor, almost ready for public viewing

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