This morning we went to the market early, wrote some postcards and attended a ranger talk/walk along the Trail of time. This path shows the layers of rock formations, explains their origins and puts the timeline to scale along the trail. We learned what makes the canyon so susceptible to erosion and why the Colorado river was able to carve this masterpiece in only 5-6 million years. This is Ty, our guide :) He was very knowledgable, as are all the rangers we've encountered. Programs are numerous and available everyday. I was worried about the results of the sequester on this trip, but I must say we haven't felt it at all, even at the smaller parks and monuments.Later we visited Grand Canyon Airport. We are booked on a flight over the canyon at 9:00am tomorrow. Think of us at noon your time! It is a small fixed wing aircraft....maybe the pilot will let Mark have a go at it!
Had another brief storm today so attended the national geographic IMAX movie on the secrets of the Canyon. We all enjoyed it. It highlighted John Powell's first exploration of the entire length of the Colorado river, as well as the history of all the people and cultures that have lived in the canyon over the past 12,000 years. The last 5 minutes was of a man flying his ultralight through the canyon. I think he had the camera strapped to his head! Anyway, hoping the rain will clear so we can go for another bike ride and attend the family campfire the park hosts at 6:30.... More later, xo
I'm glad the parks are managing so well, but they have all (including Cape Cod National Seashore) had 5% of their budgets cut and are now preparing to cut 3% more, assuming our "leaders" won't get their act together and pass a budget. Seems a safe assumption....grrrr.
ReplyDeleteHey Mark ! That dude has his arm around your wife. :))
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