Реферат: Hiking The Grand Canyon Essay Research Paper

bottom, we traveled 6.7 miles, 5,000 vertical feet and 1.5 billion years of geological

history.

Upon reaching the bottom, we crossed over the Colorado River on a suspension

footbridge. Once on the north side, the trail runs west to where we came upon an

Anasazi Indian site. Only the foundation of some buildings and some old stone tools

remained. The Anasazi were the ancestors of the Hopi and other modern Pueblo

Indians.

Further along River Trail, we came upon a marker relating the adventures of

Captain John Wesley Powell, the leader of the first expedition to explore the Grand

Canyon. Powell accomplished this feat by traveling in small boats down the

Colorado River.

We crossed back over the Colorado River via the second suspension footbridge

where we could see through the bottom directly into the river. Once across the

bridge, we found ourselves a few rocks to sit on, ate lunch, watched the river rafters

go by, and rested.

Then we continued west for another mile or so. The trail remained level, and at

first, we spent a lot of time walking along the river’s edge through sand deposits left

from centuries of water pounding on the rocks. Actually, all of the trails were rather

sandy, much to my surprise. This was due, we later learned, to the many sandstone

formations comprising the Grand Canyon geology. Finally, Bright Angel Trail broke

off to the left (south) and we began ascending. Once we started up the trail, we

entered what seemed like a whole new world. When we began the ascent I had

forgotten we had run into some fairly steep switchbacks because I was too busy

looking around at the scenery. It was spectacular looking down at the trail we had

already climbed.

Bright Angel Trail follows Garden Creek, which flows, from the South Rim, running

through its own little “mini” canyon within the Grand Canyon — Garden Creek

Canyon. We lost sight of the Colorado River pretty quickly. Bright Angel Trail was so

green. The canyon was filled with Cottonwood trees for miles of the trail, which