I have just returned from a week at the Grand Canyon, where our oldest son, Brian, is working as a Law Enforcement Officer for the National Park Service. The vistas were spectacular – pastels of pink, sage green and purple with an occasional California condor gliding overhead. We hiked, biked and explored the South Rim. Unfortunately the mule ride to the base of the canyon and the river rafting trips down the Colorado River are booked months in advance, so they will each have to wait for a future visit.
The Grand Canyon encompasses 2,000 square miles and is over a mile deep with the Colorado River running through it. It is 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide. The ecology of the canyon changes from north rim to south rim. From tall pines to desert cactuses, the canyon offers plants from 5 of the 7 vegetation zones in the U.S. The weather also varies greatly from the rim, where it is moderate and breezy to the base where it is much hotter (temperatures of 107oF expected today!)
I especially enjoyed learning about the history of the canyon and admired the architecture designed by Mary Colter to capture the essence of the southwest – a stone watchtower with the interior adorned with Native American mural and the Hopi House with its handmade Native American treasures – beautiful woven rugs of bold earth tones, turquoise and silver jewelry and splendid pottery.
This is a medicine bowl used for ceremonial purposes and is etched with drawings of a Yei or Navajo deity, similar to the Hope Kachinas. Navajo pottery is formed using rolled coils of clay which are then hand burnished and fired in a pit using wood and dung. The “fire clouds” or black markings that appear on the clay result from the hot coals directly touching the pots during the hand-firing process. Most pottery vessels were used in cooking. If it was used for water storage, it was covered in pine pitch to make it waterproof.
The Tusayan Museum in the park includes an 800-year old ruin of a U-shaped pueblo that contains living areas, storage spaces and a kiva, or ceremonial circle. Tree ring studies indicate that the site was occupied for about twenty years, beginning around 1185. I especially enjoyed the exhibits of Native American artifacts found in the park and the side trail which identified how the early inhabitants used the vegetation. The pinon pines, for instance, were used for firewood, their pitch was used to waterproof baskets and the pine nuts were harvested for food.
It was a great trip!