The Grand Canyon stands as one of the most magnificent natural wonders on Earth. Carved by the mighty Colorado River, its immense size and vibrant colors attract millions of visitors to Arizona every year. Furthermore, the canyon holds deep spiritual significance for Native American tribes who have called it home for millennia. Consequently, the gorge hides countless secrets within its ancient walls. Explore these intriguing details about the Great Unknown.
Grand Canyon
Surprisingly, a village inside the canyon still receives mail by mule. The Havasupai lives in Supai Village at the base of the canyon, and it remains the most remote community in the lower 48 states. Therefore, the United States Postal Service employs a mule train to deliver letters and packages to the residents every day.
Geologists cannot explain why millions of years of rock are missing. This phenomenon, known as the Great Unconformity, occurs where 250-million-year-old rock layers lie directly on top of 1.2-billion-year-old rocks. Mysteriously, over 900 million years of geological history simply vanished from the record without a trace.
The Grand Canyon creates its own distinct weather patterns. Because the elevation changes so drastically, the temperature at the river can be 30 degrees hotter than at the rim. Thus, hikers often experience winter chills at the top and scorching desert heat at the bottom on the same day.
Pink rattlesnakes live exclusively in this region. The Grand Canyon Pink Rattlesnake evolved a unique salmon-colored hue to blend in perfectly with the reddish rocks of the gorge. Consequently, this camouflage makes them nearly impossible to spot until you are right next to them.
Newspapers once reported a hoax about an ancient Egyptian city in the canyon. In 1909, the Arizona Gazette claimed that archaeologists found a massive underground citadel filled with mummies and hieroglyphs. However, the Smithsonian Institute denied the story, and experts now regard it as one of the greatest archaeological hoaxes in history.
Rock squirrels pose the biggest threat to visitors. While people fear scorpions or mountain lions, these small rodents bite more tourists than any other animal in the park. Frequently, they attack people who try to feed them or take selfies too close to their faces.
The Hopi believes the canyon serves as the gateway to the afterlife. According to their traditions, a person’s spirit travels westward through the canyon to reach the “place of emergence.” Therefore, they view the Sipapuni, a mineral dome near the Little Colorado River, as a sacred connection between worlds.
Teddy Roosevelt used his presidential power to save the canyon. When he visited in 1903, he famously declared, “Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it.” Subsequently, he bypassed Congress to designate it a National Monument, protecting it from mining and development until it became a National Park.
California Condors almost went extinct before they returned to the canyon. In the 1980s, fewer than two dozen of these massive birds remained in the world. Fortunately, conservationists successfully reintroduced them to the park, and visitors can now see them soaring on their 9-foot wingspans.
Impressively, the canyon contains over 1,000 hidden caves. Although hikers and researchers have discovered countless caverns within the limestone walls, the park service keeps the locations secret to protect fragile ecosystems. Currently, they allow the public to visit only one cave, the Cave of the Domes.
Technically, it is not the deepest canyon in the world. While the Grand Canyon is famous for its size, the Cotahuasi Canyon in Peru and the Kali Gandaki Gorge in Nepal plunge much deeper. Nevertheless, the Grand Canyon remains unmatched in its visual scale and intricate landscape.
The Kolb brothers operated a photography studio on the edge of a cliff. Emery and Ellsworth Kolb built their home dangling over the rim to photograph tourists riding mules. Daringly, they also filmed the first motion picture of a river run through the canyon in 1911.
Federal officials periodically flood the canyon on purpose. Because the Glen Canyon Dam stops natural sediment flow, the river beaches erode over time. Therefore, engineers release massive amounts of water from the dam to stir up sand and rebuild the camping beaches for rafters.
A glass bridge allows you to walk over the abyss. The Skywalk, owned by the Hualapai, extends 70 feet out over the rim with a glass floor. Bravely, visitors can look down 4,000 feet directly to the canyon floor beneath their feet.
Finally, no dinosaur bones exist in the canyon walls. Although the rocks contain fossils of ancient marine life and early reptiles, the canyon layers formed long before dinosaurs walked the Earth. Thus, the only dinosaur evidence you might find would be track marks in the youngest rock layers.
