Happy Father's Day

Happy Father’s Day to Ken and Chris and Edward and all you fathers out there! Jeff called Ken this morning to wish him a happy Father’s Day. His big news was that the Air Force had announced that the planned force reduction that had led Jeff to expect that he would be let go this fall—that reduction isn’t happening, so it’s back to plan A, and he’s counting down the time until he has his 20 years in again (about three more years).

We were out of cell phone range much of the day, but tonight Ken was able to retrieve a couple of voicemails. Chris and Anara called to wish him a happy day. Rebecca called to wish him a happy Father’s Day and to talk about our upcoming visit with her and Cathy. We have to get in touch to coordinate plans for that.

This morning we walked over to the Yavapai Geology Museum to look around and to attend a geology talk called “Greatest Stories in Stone.” The museum includes lots of displays on the various rock layers laid bare by the Colorado River as it cut its way through the Colorado Uplift. One of the most interesting displays is a 3D model of the canyon with the river and the various buildings and overlooks of the park indicated. It gives a sense of perspective to see the whole thing laid out to scale, with the river winding and the side canyons cutting in to widen the canyon.

At 11:00 a.m. Ranger Eric called the group together and invited everyone to walk with him along the Trail of Time. At our first stop he started by talking about the water cycle and how rain and snow melt drain down through limestone layers, which have caves that act like pipes to direct the water downward. Then when the water encounters an “aquitard” (an impenetrable layer, like shale), it spreads out and drains towards an ocean—usually. In the case of the Grand Canyon, the plate tectonics caused water here to drain towards the Rocky Mountains instead. Some water makes a complete cycle in only a few days, while other water takes thousands of years.

Like most rangers, Eric did an especially good job of involving the kids in the program. He described the layers of rock deposited on the Colorado Plateau as being like a stack of pancakes and the Pacific Ocean plate pushing under those layers as like a pop tart. He talked about the “Law of Superposition,” which says that newer rock layers are deposited on top of older ones. The basement rock in the Grand Canyon is Vishnu Schist.

We spotted a cute little Juniper Titmouse along the trail, but so far no condor sightings.

We walked over to the General Store to pick up some salty snacks (necessary to prevent hyponatremia when hiking in the canyon). While we were there I found a nifty stainless steel S-biner. I’ve broken a couple of cheap carabiners using them to attach my water bottle to my fanny pack belt. This stainless S-biner looks like it will last a bit longer.

After dinner we drove out along the Desert View Road, stopping at some of the overlooks. We were most impressed by the Lipan Point, which offers the best views of the Colorado River. Our goal was to explore the Watchtower, attend a ranger sunset talk, and view the sunset.