California - Day 4 - Flagstaff (Grand Canyon)

Friday 17^th September

Grand Canyon and Flagstaff

Overview

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt  was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6.4 to 29 km) and attains a depth of over a mile (1.83 km) (6000 feet). Nearly two billion years of the Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted.While the specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon are the subject of debate by geologists, recent evidence suggests the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River continued to erode and form the canyon to the point we see it as today. Before European immigration, the area was inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon ("Ongtupqa" in Hopi language) a holy site and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.

Flagstaff

The first permanent settlement was in 1876, when Thomas F. McMillan built a cabin at the base of Mars Hill on the west side of town. During the 1880s, Flagstaff began to grow, opening its first post office and attracting the rail road industry. The early economy was based on timber, sheep andcattle. By 1886, Flagstaff was the largest city on the railroad line between Albuquerque and the west coast of the United States. At 7,000 feet (2,130 m) elevation, located adjacent to the largest contiguous Ponderosa Pine forest in North America, the area around Flagstaff is considered a high altitude semi-desert. However, ecosystems ranging from pinon-juniper studded plateaus, high desert, green alpine forest and barren tundra can all be found within a short drive of Flagstaff.

The Journey

Leaving Phoenix, we are travelling on route 17 towards the Black Canyon, then onwards to our first stop at Sedona (09.15). On leaving Sedona we travel through the scenic drive of Oak Creek Canyon and start the climb towards Flagstaff and then on to the Grand Canyon, on arrival at the airport all fliers will be checked in for the helicopter or fixed wing flights (12.30). Those not flying will be transferred to Bright Angel Lodge (13.00) for sightseeing and lunch, the fliers will then also be transferred to Bright Angel, later you will have the chance to view the great Canyon Story at the Imax, before we leave for Flagstaff and our hotel the Radisson Woodlands (18.30).