Room+6B

**Photo Journal**
by: Luke Heinemann and Ryan Olesen

**GRAND CANYON HIKE**

 * Description:** A steep sided canyon created by millions of years of the Colorado River flowing through it and eroding its walls. The Grand Canyon is approximately 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide. You can see some of the oldest rocks at 2 billion years in the canyon layers. The youngest rocks are believed to be 270 million years old.


 * What We Did:** We hiked part way down into the Grand Canyon on a trail and learned lots of interesting facts about its geology. Jake, our tour guide, hiked with us and told us fun stories about how the canyon was formed.


 * Environmental, Geological and Historical Facts:**

1. Once all the western part of the U.S. was under water. 2. The canyon is over a mile deep and visible from space. 3. The Grand Canyon has 34 species of mammals including 8 species of bats. 4. Explorers have found spider foot prints over 27,000,000 years old. 5. A giant sloth was living in the Grand Canyon at one time. 6. In 2011, rangers say, 21 people died while visiting the Grand Canyon. The most common cause of deaths in the canyon is from air crashes.

The view of the canyon was beautiful and a bit scary. The path was narrow with no guard rail to keep you from falling. We walked for what seemed forever, but never saw the bottom. It looked so far to the other side. It is hard to believe that a river could create such a massive canyon.
 * Our Thoughts:**

**RIVER TRIP**

 * Description:** Starting from the bottom of the Hoover Dam we took a three hour boat tour down river. Many layers of rock are visible as the cliffs rise up each side of the river.


 * What We Did:** About 15 of us were on a slow moving raft as we looked at and learned about the rock cliff formations we passed. The rocks of Black Canyon were a reddish color with black streaks.
 * Environmental, Geological and Historical Facts:**

1. The canyon walls reach around 2000 feet from the bottom. 2. Steamships used to run along this part of the river. They used these to ship materials and supplies to ranchers and miner in the area around Las Vegas. They stopped using the steamboats when railroads were built. 3. The dam was built because to manage flooding problems in the area. 4. Calvin Coolidge signed the Boulder Canyon project on December 1, 1928. Our tours was really cool. We have driven over the Hoover Dam many times, but didn’t realize it was the same river that came through the Grand Canyon and that down river was the interesting area of Black Canyon. Learning how the rocks were formed was fascinating. We felt small surrounded by the tall canyon walls. We finally reached a sandy beach where we got out and hiked along a trail. The area we explored had ancient drawings. It was fun to imagine ancient native americans living here once.
 * Our Thoughts:**

**WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT**

 * Description:** Located near Flagstaff, Wupatki has many Native American ruins. The ruins were built by the Ancient Pueblo People around 500 A.D.


 * What We Did:** We walked around the ruins of Wupatki and learned about the people who once lived there. There were remains of houses, a ball court, and kivas. We had to stay on a special path because the ruins are being protected from any further damage. We even saw a natural blow hole.
 * Environmental, Geological and Historical Facts:**


 * 1) “Tall House” was a pueblo house having more than 100 rooms.
 * 2) Around 800 years ago this site was the largest pueblo around.
 * 3) By 1225 the site was abandoned.
 * 4) The walls were built with local sandstone and mortar.
 * 5) The area is very dry and it seemed the people who lived there needed to trade with others for supplies.

The area seems so dry and very difficult to live in. I wonder what the people were like who lived there and I wonder if they were invaded. It seems they left in a hurry since they left objects behind.
 * Our Thoughts:**

**SUNSET CRATER**

 * Description:** Sunset Crater is a dormant volcano that erupted around 900 years ago changing the landscape around it. It is a cinder cone with a crater where the top of the volcano collapsed in.


 * What We Did:** We walked along a trail only for a short time. We walked across a bridge and on black rock from an old lava flow.
 * Environmental, Geological and Historical Facts:**

1. Hiking to the top is not allowed because of erosion from hikers. 2. It erupted, they think in 1085 A.D. with eruptions continuing for 150 years. 3. It produced a blanket of ash covering an area of 810 square miles. 4. Sunset Crater is the youngest volcano of the San Francisco volcanic field. 5. Native Americans lived there at the time and saw it erupt. It changed their lives.

The lava flow did not look that old. It would have been fun to have spent more time exploring the area. It was hard to believe that it used to be an active volcano that ancient people witnessed and lived next to. It had to change their lives.
 * Our Thoughts:**