Grand Canyon photo by G.Wilson

If the word awsome can ever be applied to any site on earth without a hint of humbug or hyperbole, it is the Grand Canyon. This prodigious profile of the earth's crust, comprised of 21 sedimentary formations, causes one to stand spellbound at the brink of the gaping gorge, Arizona's deepest chasm. Nearly 278 miles long, varying in width from less than a mile to more than 18 miles, and in places greater than a mile deep, the Grand Canyon is one of the world's most impressive geological features.

Profile of the Grand Canyon

The canyon is part of what is known as the Colorado Plateau, which spreads across half of Utah and smaller sections of Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. It is comprised largely of the sand, mud and organic debris, that was laid down by the rivers, wind and the sea, as sedimentary rock from 50 to 550 million years ago. The thickness of the rock ranges from four miles in Utah to nonexistent where it has been eroded away at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. In addition to sedimentary rocks, the canyon contains igneous and metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks are fire-formed and melted within the earth that then rise to the surface. Metamorphic rocks have been baked and crushed by the movement of the earth.

Grand Canyon photo by G.Wilson

Another view of the Grand Canyon photo by G.Wilson

Grand Canyon photo by G. Wilson

Donkeys Rest after Traipsing About Treacherous Trails photo by G. Wilson

From the safety of the top, we could see treacherous-looking trails meandering about the sides of the wide wasteland below. Occasaionally we could see fearless or foolhardy tourists riding, one hopes, sure-footed donkeys along narrow ribbons of road, daring fate and fatalities as they ambled along. Many tourists stood at the top and watched, wondering how many of their fellows had fallen into the abyss.

Rivers Criss-crossing the Colorado Plateau

The force that fashioned the Grand Canyon [*][**] is erosion resulting from water, ice and wind. The master carver of the Canyon is the Colorado River. While it rains infrequently, when it does, the sky opens and rain comes down in torrents. Plants that grow in the Grand Canyon tend to have very shallow root systems in order to be able to absorb as much water as possible on those rare occasions when it rains. Consequently, the shallow root systems do not deter erosion by holding the soil in place.

With lots of water and no place for it to go but down the Colorado River, and with nothing holding the soil and rock in place, the resulting flash floods roar down a side canyon. The force of this flood can move boulders the size of automobiles, buses and even small houses. In addition water flowing down hill carries with it fragments of soil and rock. Using these particles as coarse sandpaper, the river unceaseingly scrapes away new particles from the old rock. Nature uses nothing more than millions of tons of fast flowing sediment to cut and carve, and over thousands of years, the Colorado created the Grand Canyon. Erosion is a very slow process - a century would show little effect on the land - but the evidence of its effort is awful to behold.

The erosive force of the Colorado River has slowed somewhat, since it is now cutting through harder granites at the bottom of the Canyon instead of the softer limestones, sandstones and shales near the top. This rigid rock takes a lot longer to erode.

Arizona is hot and very dry, a perfect prescription for deserts and one of its most famous is Sonora just west of Tucson. Its sandy surface is carpeted with a multitude of menacing kinds of cacti, all of which ironically, are the most succulent of plants. They are made up of 90 per cent water. Plants lose water through their leaves so cacti have cut their losses by evolving reduced leaves - spines - through which no water can evaporate.

Cacti from left to right: Saguaro, Prickly Pear and Teddybear Cholla

Starting life as a shiny, black seed no bigger than a 'period', the largest and most fascinating of cacti is the saguaro (sah-War-oh) found only in Arizona and Mexico. One saguaro produces tens of thousands of seeds annually. In its lifetime of 175 to 200 years, some 40 million of these mites will be produced. Despite its prodigious production, in all likelihood only one will take root annually and rise to the heights. Called the king of cacti, it can grow in a lifetime of 150 years up to fifty feet tall and weigh 12 tons. Its root systems lie just below the earth's surface so that they can quickly lap up any rainfall. It is possible for a plant weighing six to eight tons to absorb a ton of water. During frequent dry spells, the cacti use up all their stored moisture as a result of which their girth shrinks and the plant's trunk is pleated to allow this.

London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona photo by G. Wilson

In 1962 London Bridge was falling down. Built in 1831, the bridge couldn't handle the ever-increasing flow of traffic across the Thames River, so the British government decided to put the bridge up for sale. The winning bid of $2,460,000 was submitted by the founder of Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The bridge was dismantled, each stone numbered and shipped 10,000 miles to Long Beach, California from where it was trucked to Lake Havasu City. Reconstruction began on September 23, 1968 with a ceremony presided over by the Lord Mayor of London who laid the cornerstone. On October 10, 1971 the bridge was dedicated.

London Bridge Over the Havasu

Arizona revels in its reputation as an important part of the wild west and one of its biggest claims to fame is a notorious fire fight hyped to have been held at the world's most famous gunfight site. Tourists are invited to tred where Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday did on October 26, 1881, when guns roared and riddled five rascals at Mongomery's OK Corral. The battle lasted less than half a minute. In that time three men had died and two were wounded seriously. The casualties included Clantons and McLaurys.

A family and political feud resulted in multiple deaths. Virgil Earp, marshall of Tombstone, requested the help of his brothers and Doc Holiday to disarm Clanton and the McLaurys who were threatening trouble for Tombstone. Firearms were forbidden within the city limits, so Virgil and his vigilantes set out to disarm them. As these lawmen approached the lowlife at the OK Corral, Virgil bellowed at the bad boys, "I want your guns." In response to this chllenge to the chaps, Clanton drew his six shooter, fired at Wyatt and missed. Less than thirty seconds later, three men lay dead and three were red from blood oozing from their flesh. Doc had shot each of the cadaverous critters at least once. Virgil had been shot in the leg and Morgan through both shoulders. Wyatt, the only Earp to survive unscathed, died years later in bed. 'Tombstone's most deadly gun', Doc Holliday, the dentist, died in his bed, stricken by galloping consumption.

Draw Stranger or Scratch Gravel! photo by G. Wilson

The Earp Boys and an Activist Crime Fighter photo by B. Wilson

The 'Good' Guys

Old Tucson and Tombstone, "A Town Too Tough To Die" are major tourist attractions for they conjure up images of what the wild west must have been like - windswept streets, saloons, gambling houses, hitching posts, gallows and grave yards - fun places.

Losers Lie in Tombstone's Boothill Cemetery photo by G.Wilson

Foul Play? Sign in Boothill Cemetery beside the tombstones of the losers of the gun battle at the OK Corral Someone thought these men had been murdered.

Old Tucson photo by G.Wilson

Tombstone's Gallows photo by G.Wilson

Justice in Tombstone was rough and ready. Close by the Court House in a high-walled jail yard stood the gallows where not a few felons saw their sentences quickly carried out. Sometimes citizens took a hand in the hanging. On one such occasion when enraged folk objected to one loser getting life behind bars, they formed a necktie party and hanged a man named Heath on a handy telephone pole.

Heath Hanged Illegally photo by G.Wilson

Five Hanged Legally photo by G.Wilson

Opps, Sorry!

Arizona's hot, dry climate ensures a long life for historical artifacts. Not the least of these are hundreds of vintage airplanes filling a field at the Pima Air Museum.

Pina Air Museum, Tucson,Arizona

Popular among them is the plane used by John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.

Presidents' Plane photo by B. Wilson

Boeing B 52E photo by G. Wilson

SR 71 Blackbird - in 1991 the fastest plane in service. photo by G. Wilson

Indians are an important part of Arizona's heritage. They have inhabited this region for at least 10,000 years. Their numbers included the Cochise who lived here until 500 B.C. Largest of all the Indian reservations in America today is home to the Navajo, some 140,000 of whom occupy much of the northeastern Arizona plateau. Another name that resonates through history is the Apache, fierce fighters all who were mountain people. Led by the great Geronimo in the 1800s, they fought fiercely to preserve a way of life they eventually lost.

Geronimo Poised but Prepared

Geronimo and an admirer photo by G.Wilson

Despite the state's inhospitable nature, wildlife abounds everywhere. One should tread with care for serpents like sidewinders strike with a sudden, unerring accuracy. Others just laze about finding relief from the searing sun wherever they can find shade.

A contented cougar photo by G. Wilson

Beware! photo by G.Wilson

Red Rock Country is a favourite for those who love spectacular scenery. It is situated in a unique geological area that has mesmerized tourists for decades. Indeed, this picturesque city is surrounded by beloved red-rock monoliths named Coffeepot, Cathedral, Duck-Bill and even Snoopy because their massive shapes resemble these distinctive objects.

Duck-Bill

Sedona

Sedona

Ted DeGrazia is an Arizonian painter whose style is unique. He achieved international acclaim with his Los Ninos Christmas card for UNICEF. Notwithstanding the fact that during his lifetime his work was reproduced more than that of any other living artist, he refused to think of himself as famous. It entailed, he said, too much responsibility. "People forget you are human."

Ted DeGrazia, Artist Extrodinaire

DeGrazio's Father Kino photo by G.Wilson

DeGrazio's Church photo by G. Wilson

If it were possible to look through the windows of Montezuma Castle, a National Monument in Arizona, it is said we would have been staring into one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in North America. Since 1951 no one has been permitted to climb up to the ruins and enter the castle because of its unstable condition. This 20 room high-rise apartment nestled into a towering limestone cliff reveals a 1,000 year-old story of ingenuity and survival in an unforgiving desert landscape. The 5-storey structure built into a recess in a white limestone cliff is about 70 feet above the ground.

When the ruins were first re-discovered, they were thought to be Aztec in origin, hence the name given them by early explorers. They belong to the Sinagua Indian people who farmed the surrounding land between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries before abandoning the area.

Despite the region's inhospitable appearance, Arizona contains some of North America's oldest records of human occupation. The civilizations that developed within Arizona were highly organized and advanced. Many of these Native American groups lived in durable masonry villages called pueblos from the Spanish word meaning "town' or 'village'.

Montezuma Castle photo by G. Wilson

Montezuma Castle photo by G. Wilson

Greyhound racing is popular pastime in Arizona. The dogs dash along the track chasing an artificial hare until they arrive at the finish line. It is a popular form of gambling, similar to horse racing. When these beasts retire, some of them find homes in Canada.

They're Off - Greyhound Racing photo by G. Wilson

We rented a car and drove up Mount Lemon passing through various landscapes that included desert, deciduous woodlands and finally snow-clad hills down which skiers were whizzing. After the stifling heat of the desert, it was refreshing to breathe the cold, fresh air at the top of the mountain. It did not take long, however, before we eagerly descended to soak up the sun and the heat.

Tucson From On High photo by by G. Wilson

Ponderosa Pines photo by by G. Wilson

Skiing on Mount Lemon photo by by G. Wilson

The Stage Outta Here photo by G. Wilson

[*] From the CBC dated Feb. 5, 2008

"The Grand Canyon is being intentionally flooded in hopes of restoring its ecosystem. The torrent was set loose from Glen Canyon Dam on the Arizona-Utah state line today and is expected to flow for three days. Officials say the canyon's ecosystem was permanently changed after the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963.The Colorado River downstream used to be warm and muddy, but now it's cold and clear. The shift helped speed the extinction of four fish species and has pushed two others close the edge. Scientists hope the flooding will stir up sediment and redistribute it through the canyon."

Visitors to the Grand Canyon always want to know: How old is it?

"Park rangers are instructed to tell them that the canyon has been carved by the Colorado River for the past 5 million or 6 million years. The National Park Service's Web site, under Frequently Asked Questions, notes that the rocks exposed by the canyon are up to 2 billion years old and then adds: "The Canyon itself -- an erosional feature -- has formed only in the past five or six million years. Geologically speaking, Grand Canyon is very young.

"That might need revision. The canyon is more like 17 million years old, according to a new study published online today by the journal Science. And the Colorado River may not be the only river involved in its formation. The new study contends that a smaller river cut the older, western part of the canyon. Gradually the canyon formed from west to east on westward-flowing river. Then something happened about 5 million or 6 million years ago -- what, exactly, is unclear -- to accelerate dramatically the rate of the canyon-carving. "The canyon is older than we think," said Victor J. Polyak, a University of New Mexico geologist and the lead author on the Science paper. "And there's a two-step process, I guess you can say.

" Not so fast, says Joel Pederson, a geomorphologist at Utah State University who has spent his career studying the Grand Canyon. He says the estimated age of 5 million to 6 million years is based on abundant evidence amassed by scientists over many decades. The 17-million-year age is impossible, he says, because there's no evidence of a large quantity of sediment flowing out of a canyon prior to 6 million years ago. "They clearly have not taken the time to be rigorous and actually understand the regional geography," Pederson said. Polyak's research paired new lab techniques with intrepid field work. Researchers had to climb canyon walls to reach ancient caves containing crucial evidence of the canyon's history. The scientists examined mammillaries, also known as cave clouds, which are rounded rock structures that tend to form underwater near the top of a water table. In the canyon, these rocks also contain abundant amounts of uranium.

" In recent years scientists have improved techniques for dating rocks based on the predictable decay of uranium into lead. Polyak and geologist Carol Hill suggested the research project to geochemist Yemane Asmerom, Polyak's boss at the University of New Mexico: Why not use the new lab techniques to measure the ages of the mamillaries? That ought to tell the story, Polyak reasoned, of how the river gradually cut through the plateau and lowered the water table. Asmerom was skeptical. Scientists have long struggled to figure out the age of the 277-mile-long canyon, which is 18 miles across at its widest and reaches depths of 6,000 feet.

" Evidence of how and when the huge incision into Earth's crust took place tends to get eroded away. "Forget it. That was my reaction," said Asmerom. But he was persuaded to join the effort. Not least among the challenges was simply reaching the caves, some of which are hundreds of feet high on a canyon wall. Polyak and his team rafted the Colorado River, hiked side canyons, and used ropes to ascend the canyon walls. Expert climbers led the way. One cave was 400 feet up the face of a cliff. "I always get nervous," said Polyak. The mammillaries offered strong evidence of where the water table had been in the past. But Pederson, the critic of the study, says Polyak went too far in assuming that the water table tracks the canyon-carving. Pederson notes that sometimes a spring will gush from the side of a canyon wall thousands of feet above the river. Pederson also raises what might be called the where's-the-dirt question. "In order to cut a large canyon in the place of today's Grand Canyon," Pederson said, "you have to remove that mass and put that detritus somewhere." But there's no sign of that detritus, at least not from more than 6 million years ago, Pederson says.

" Polyak acknowledges that his study raises some difficult questions. "Where's this material go? Where is it? I think it's a good question, it's legitimate," he said. His collaborator Hill argues that there are multiple locations where material from the canyon could have landed. And keep in mind, she says, the older canyon wasn't that big. "We're not talking about the canyon that's there now. We're talking about a small canyon that's slowly and steadily starting to down cut," she said. "It's not the Colorado River, it's what we might call the proto-Colorado river." So then: How did the proto-Colorado River turn into the much more dramatic Colorado River, which, in turn, transformed the Not-So-Big Canyon into the Grand Canyon?

'That's the $64,000 question,' Hill said."

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