Room+10A

Room 10A’s Photo Journal Assignment. By Tyler Benson & Nick Thomson.

Welcome to our wikispace! Here is our photo journal from the time we’ve been on the Grand Canyon trip. It has information on and pictures of the places we went to. Enjoy!

South Rim and South Kaibab Trail By Tyler Benson The first place we visited was the South Rim. From there we hiked to Ohhahh Point. On our way down we learned that the top layer of rock in the Grand Canyon was limestone. Limestone is only formed at the bottom of the sea so where the Grand Canyon is now was once underwater. Also we learned that the South Kaibab Trail is the only trail in the Grand Canyon that follows a ridge line not a fault line. The hike had an amazing view but had very little shade. It was tiring walking down then back up it again. The trail had just enough room for two people to pass by each other and was very rocky. At first it zigzagged down the cliff but then it followed the side of the canyon at a gentle slope.

= Visiter center/desert veiw/page/lake powel After we hiked in the South Kaibab Trial, our bus drove to a cafeteria. I had an individual cheese pizza, chips, and a piece of apple pie. When our group finished eating we all noticed that it was snowing outside. We expected to be cold from the snow, but it stopped when we went to the bus in the parking lot. As soon as we entered the bus it started to snow again. As our bus was driving on the highway the snow started falling in heavy flakes, and made nearly horizontal streak lines as we drove. The hotel we stayed at was part of the Best Western chain; it is located in Page, near Lake Powell. I slept overnight with Tyler, and my other roommates you can see on section 10B. =

= River trip Our river trip was very exiting and was the best part of our school trip in my opinion. The start of the trip was a short drive from our hotel in page. The landscape was filled with red rocks, mountains, and boulders; it looks like Sedona if you’ve been there. In the distance you can see the start of the Grand Canyon; it looks like a huge enlarged crack. We reached a parking lot and they had to search us for weapons. Our group boarded a bus and it went in a high security tunnel to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The tunnel is so deep they built a fallout shelter in it. I think I saw it when a cell phone camera flashed, it looked just like the movies; it had huge iron doors and a large wheel to open it. It was surprising when you immerged from the tunnel; a huge dam was towering over us. It seemed like it would fall, because it just looks like a thin arch. Adding to the effect, a man gave us hardhats as soon as we left the bus. We walked a ramp down to where the boats were stored. The boats are large metal boxes with floats attached. They weren’t speedy, but the guide was talking the whole way. He told us the huge amount of cement used to make the dam and other details. Hover dam is 726 feet high and 660 feet thick at the base. I learned many things as our group floated down the river. There were so many people they split them into three separate boats. It was really cold with the wind blowing in your face, and sometimes spray came up in your face. I can’t imagine what rapids would be like, because we were on still water. =

= Wupatki Wupatki is a very interesting place. It was build by Native Americans a very long time ago. Even though it was an archeological site we could still walk inside it. Wupatki is built upon a huge bolder that was flattened at the top. The structure blended into the surrounding landscape because it was made entirely of the surrounding rocks. This two story building was also a matter of debate. There was a huge quart yard in the center that was atypical. The leading theory guesses the small walls were aligned with the horizon, and the quart yard served as a viewing place of the heavens. =

Sunset Crater By Tyler Benson The final place we went to on the trip was Sunset Crater. Sunset Crater is not an accurate name because it is a cinder cone volcano not a crater. We saw a lot of dried AA (ä ä) lava which is lava with high viscosity. In other words we saw slow moving lava that dried out. When AA dries air inside it tries to escape forming air bubbles and holes in the rock. We weren’t allowed up to the top because walking on the trails up there kills the plants that are trying to grow. It looked like a dome of rock with little life growing on it towards the top and light grey scars where trails once were. Also there was a lot of less significant volcanoes doted around close to sunset crater. I thought it was pretty cool to see but wished we could go to the top.