One of the jewels of the American West, Havasu Creek is named for the people who have lived along it for at least the last eight hunded years. The Havasupai (the-people-of-the-blue-green-waters) have had a long struggle to hold onto their traditional lands in the face of westward expansion. Havasu Creek starts out above the canyon wall as a small trickle of snow run-off and rain water. This water meanders on the plains above the canyon for about 50 miles (80 km) until it enters Cataract (Havasu) Canyon. It then reaches Havasu Springs, where an underground river feeds the creek. This spring can be accessed by heading upstream when the creek is first encountered. The water stays at about 70 °F (21 °C) all year around. The creek is well-known for its blue-green color and distinctive travertine formations. This is due to large amounts of calcium carbonate (lime) in the water that formed the limestone that lines the creek and reflects its color so strongly. This also gives the creek an interesting feature as it is ever changing. This occurs because any items that fall into the stream mineralize very quickly, causing new formations and changing the flow of the water. This causes the creek to never look the same from one year to another. The breach of The Redlands dam by a flood on August 18th, 2008 completely destroyed Navajo Falls, one of three iconic waterfalls along Havasu Creek, and caused the evacuation of the village of Supai, capital of the Havasupai Reservation. Havasu Creek ultimately flows into the Colorado River at this point where its travertine water disappears into the confluence above Havasu Rapid (Class 2-4), with a 3ft drop.
Grand Canyon GigaView is a new school virtual tour of the Grand Canyon created with a collection of GigaPan images taken on a private rafting trip in April 2010 and geolocated in Google Earth, Bing Maps, and 360Cities. Explore the journey http://grandcanyongigaview.tumblr.com/