Room+11A

Josh Steinman, Jacob Allen, Axel Barry The Grand Canyon Description: The Grand Canyon officially measures 277 river miles from Lees Ferry to the Grand Wash Cliffs. The first three layers of the grand canyon are Kaibab sandstone, toroweap limestone and Coconino sandstone. We only hiked through these three layers.

What we saw: Four species of trees have adapted well to the rims of the Grand Canyon: the Ponderosa Pine, the Pinyon Pine, Gambel oak and Utah Juniper. Also common here is the yucca, one of the most common and useful plants in the American southwest. Native Americans have used it in the manufacture of soap, as a source of fiber for rope and sandals, and for its edible fruits which resemble small bananas. There are three types of sediment in this canyon, limestone, shale, and sandstone.

What we thought: we thought that there could still be a lot learned about the earth’s history from studying the Grand Canyon. We wished that we had more time to hike through the canyon and to see more of it.



The River Trip Description: The rocks on the wall on the canyon are Navaho sandstone. In the river there are only trout and they can get up to 24 inches long. The dark forested areas on either side of the Grand Canyon are the Kaibab Plateau to the north, and the Coconino Plateau to the south. For millions of years the Colorado River has left its mark on the land. Since the river was formed, it has been hard at work cutting great chasms, including the Grand Canyon, as it carved its 1,400-mile course.

What we saw: we saw most of the wildlife that was available to see during out time pontooning on the river. We saw trout, great blue herron and some Canada geese. The one thing we didn’t see was the California condor and from the stories of the guides we really wanted to. A green tree called the tamers tamarisk tree can drink up to 70 gallons of water a day it came from farmers from the Mediterranean, that took it to California then spread to the canyon, the environmentalist burned down the trees so they don’t drink the water.

What we thought: we thought that all the geologic stuff going on in the canyon of the river was really cool to look at and mind boggling to ponder how long that took.

Wupatki Description: The Wupatki national park is a place where the Hopi Indians used to live 900 years ago. The houses are pueblos, which means their made of mud. They had different circles of bricks which where mainly the sports arena and the meeting place of the council. There was also a blow/suck hole which is a naturally occurring air-source.

What we saw: we saw basically the stuff in the description but a little bit more. Like we saw the Colorado river through the mountains, you could just barely see it wind through the canyon.

What we thought: we thought that the structures being able to stand for 900 years were an amazing architectural feat. They were made of mud no less.

Sunset Crater Description: Sunset Crater National Monument is a cool place with cinders on the ground that came from the volcano, and green trees here and there, and one huge volcano. Sometime between 1040 and 1100 there were a series of eruption in and around sunset crater. Much of the ground is covered by lava flows or deep volcanic cinder deposits. Sadly we didn’t get to hike through the crater since we were short on time all we got to do was look from a distance while our teacher and the guides told us about it.