Before we get to the Canyon, lets take a detour!

Welcome to Montezuma Castle:

  • The first inhabitants of this Verde Valley dwelling was around 600 A.D. They were the Hohokam (Pima for "those who have gone"). The Hohokam were skillful farmers and grew corn, beans and squash. About 1150 A.D the Sinagua began building these large pueblos in the cliffs. The Sinagua (Spanish for "without water") occupied these cliff pueblos until around 1400 and then abandoned the dwellings entirely and no one knows why.

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Just some history for ya
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Pic of the pueblo. As you can see tourists are amazed as to how they actually could climb up into this village
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The Sinagua were peaceful people. They built the doors very small so that you needed to bend to get into the pueblo. That way they could overtake an intruder.

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Here is one now!
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And another!
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This pueblo was destroyed by fire at some point
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Picture of the "door" to enter
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Off to the Canyon......

The Grand Canyon at Sunset:
How Big Is It?

  • The park includes over a million acres of land: 1,218,376 acres/493,077 hectares, or 1,904 square miles/4931 square km. Most people measure the canyon in Colorado River miles. By that standard, Grand Canyon is 277 miles/446 km long. It begins at Lees Ferry and ends at Grand Wash Cliffs.
    The Colorado River is longer than Grand Canyon, flowing 1450 miles/2333 km from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the Gulf of California in Mexico. Grand Canyon is only one of many beautiful canyons carved by the river. Others include Cataract Canyon and Glen Canyon, the latter now lying beneath the waters of Lake Powell. Most people agree, however, that Grand Canyon is the most spectacular. No other place in the world looks quite like it.
    Width and depth of the canyon vary from place to place. At the South Rim, near Grand Canyon Village, it's a vertical mile (about 5000 feet/1524 m) from rim to river, or 7 miles/11.3 km by trail. At its deepest, it is 6000 vertical feet/1829 m from rim to river. The width of the canyon at Grand Canyon Village is 10 miles/16 km (rim to rim), though in places it is as much as 18 miles/29 km wide.
    A trip to the bottom of the canyon and back (on foot or by mule) is a two-day journey. Rim-to-rim hikers generally take three days one-way to get from the North Rim to the South Rim. A trip through Grand Canyon by raft can take two weeks or longer. Experienced backpackers have spent weeks in the more remote areas of the canyon.

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We got to the Canyon in time for the sunset.
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It was really cold and windy too.
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But this is sure worth it.
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DO NOT MISS THIS PICTURE!  YOU CAN EVEN SEE THE MOON
 
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We stayed at the south rim and had dinner and watched a show! One little...
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Two little..

 

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Three Little Indians..
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Time to wake up! Canyon in the AM
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What have we here?
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How come whenever Joe and I travel he attracts wildlife?
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Can you tell how windy it is here?
Back to Arizona pics To the Hoover Dam  
 

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