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Rocks in my head, rocks in my pockets Fossil hunting in the Kaibab National Forest


You probably think this is just a bunch of rocks. Maybe even leverites, as in leave it right there. But you’d be wrong.

OK, I’ve been promising fossils for a while. It’s only been a week and a half since I went camping and fossil hunting at Marble View in the Kaibab National Forest.

Worm castings on veranda wall
After I give a geology talk I encourage Grand Canyon visitors to look for fossils on the walls of the lodge and veranda while I put props away. Then I lead a fossil walk part way out Bright Angel trail.
Bright Angel Trail
Kaibab limestone makes up the top layer of rock walked on here at Grand Canyon National Park. It was deposited about 270 million years ago when an ocean covered southern New Mexico and most of Arizona, Utah and Nevada. Many marine fossils can be seen.

Brachiopods are ocean bottom dwelling bi-valves yet are not related to clams or oysters. They were the most plentiful fossil on earth from the Paleozoic Era yet are rare in today’s oceans having never fully recovered from the devastation that occurred during the end of the Permian.

Sponge fossil in limestone and small fan coral on lower left corner
Sponges are also bottom dwellers and the simplest form of multi-cellular animals. Sponges feed, breath, reproduce and excrete by pumping water through the pores in their bodies. They vary in color, shape and size.

Crinoids, also known as sea lilies or feather-stars, have a stem formed of many stacked discs and grow in colonies on the ocean floor. The stem is topped with multiple feather-like feeding arms that filter small particles of food from the water.

The button-like crinoids have long been gathered and used for beads. Archeologists excavating at the Grand Canyon discovered crinoids strung by the Ancestral Puebloan Native Americans that lived here about 1000 years ago.

A work in progress
So I’m going to string some of my fossil finds along with some turquoise. That is if I ever get off the computer long enough.

For more glimpses into life around the world go to My World Tuesday by clicking here.

 

Arizona, Kaibab National Forest, My World Tuesday , , 39 Comments

Carraro Castle in Yarnell Arizona

Carraro Castle
Jim, Doug & Karen from the turret
A typical tour of Yarnell would normally take about 20 minutes unless you get lucky and meet the current owner of the Carraro Castle.  Doug knows his history about about the place and the man you built it and loves to share as he showed us around.
Carraro Castle
Carraro’s Castle
Some locals call this “Noah’s Ark” or The Castle.
Carraro Castle
From 1957 to 1964 this was the home of Alessio Carraro, who carved his niche into the granite boulders even naming some of the rocks after the animals they resembled.
Carraro Castle
Eagles Head
Carraro was an Italian immigrant and after making his fortune in sheet metal in San Francisco moved to Phoenix in 1928.
Tovrea Castle
Tovrea Castle taken by loydeskildson
He had dreams of building a resort castle surrounded by cactus studded desert. The castle was built and eventually sold to the neighboring stockyard owner E.A. Tovrea in 1931. Tovrea Castle and the Carraro Cactus Garden is now owned and maintained by the City of Phoenix.
Carraro Castle
View of Yarnell from the “Top of the World”
Doug has plans to resurrect Carraro’s dream and build an unusual octagonal house on a small flat area on top of the boulders. The 8 feet on each side base will be topped by another octagon of 24’ feet on each side. Stone steps or a tram will provide transport to him and his wife from the garage/parking area several hundred feet below.
Carraro Castle
View from inside the remains of Carraro’s living area
Doug walked us all around the area telling about his and Carraro’s dreams for these 3.5 acres of mostly boulders.
Carraro Castle
Looking down from outside the living area
They currently live in Phoenix and come to Yarnell on weekends where they stay in a small home on the property next door.
Carraro Castle
Jim in Miracle Grotto
Doug says he gives several tours a day to people who stop and admire what’s left of Carraro’s Castle.
Carraro Castle
His future plans include signs for self-guiding along the many trails.
Carraro Castle
Boulder roof and wall of Miracle Grotto
When Doug first approached us I asked if we were in trouble for trespassing. It turned out to be an excellent surprise tour. And, I highly encourage you to visit FabGrandma’s for a different version.
Carraro Castle
Located at bottom of boulder pile near beginning of trail
Arizona , , , 14 Comments

Hiking the Grand Canyon 2008 Part 2



After hiking down to the bottom of Grand Canyon to Phantom Ranch, reservations required, I didn’t see the river until I left the bunkhouse at 6am to hike out of the canyon and up to the South Rim.

Bright Angel Bridge
Two foot bridges cross the Colorado River. East of camp .5 mile the Kaibab Suspension Bridge leads to the South Kaibab Trail which climbs just under 5,000 feet along a ridge in about 7 miles to top out on the South Rim near Yaki Point. This route offers no water or shade.

Bright Angel Bridge
The Bright Angel Suspension Bridge carries hikers and the transcanyon water pipe across the Colorado River. Water from Roaring Springs is gravity fed to Indian Gardens then pumped to the South Rim supplying all water needs.

Colorado River
I opted for the slightly longer 9.3 mile Bright Angel Trail with three nicely spaced water sources. Then I didn’t have to carry the added weight of four large bottles full of water.

Devils Corkscrew
After crossing the bridge, the sandy River Trail winds above the Colorado for 1.5 miles before veering away from the river up the Pipe Creek drainage to a series of switchbacks called the Devils Corkscrew.

The trail tops out onto the Tonto Plateau to follow Garden Creek to Indian Garden, about a 1500 foot climb. This is a great stopping point to eat, fill water containers and rest for the final 4.6 mile climb up to the top.

Mules at Indian Garden
If you don’t feel up to hiking the canyon you might consider riding a mule. But no matter how you get there and back, something is going to hurt.

Gaelyn with North Rim on horizon
A side trip from Indian Garden 1.5 miles on the Plateau Point Trail leads to a dramatic view of the canyon and river below. Many day hikers make the 12.2 mile round trip from the South Rim.

Looking up to the South Rim
I didn’t add those extra miles.

Jacobs Ladder
After the first rather gentle half mile, there’s a series of tight switchbacks called Jacobs Ladder that continues a 2860 foot climb.

Three-mile house on upper right green ridge, green patch on the flat is Indian Garden
Three-mile House was a welcome sight to stop, rest, eat and fill water bottles. And it meant only 3 miles to go.

Almost to the top
There’s another rest shelter 1.5 miles further up the trail. From there I was so tired I basically walked 60 steps and stopped, 60 steps and stop. In fact being it was Cinco de Mayo I repeated a mantra, “salty crusty Margarita.” I was on the trail for 12 hours, granted not hiking the entire time. I stopped a lot to eat, drink, rest and take photos. I certainly wasn’t the first of my fellow rangers to make the rim, but I wasn’t the last either.After a meal, long soak in a bathtub and a good night’s sleep, I could barely walk in the morning. Yet I attended three days of training before returning to the North Rim to prepare for the summer season.

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

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Arizona, Grand Canyon National Park, National Parks and Monuments , , , 27 Comments

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