No Obstacle Allowed: An Intimate Look at the Grand Canyon by Wayne Ranney
Our very special guest speaker for December 1, 2022, was Wayne Ranney, who provided an “Intimate Look at the Grand Canyon.” Wayne says that in the mid 1970’s he went to the Grand Canyon for a visit and never came out. Wayne worked as a backcountry ranger, finished his geology degree, became a river guide on the Colorado and San Juan rivers, received an advanced degree in geology, and worked as a geologic interpreter around the world. He is now a geologic educator, author, and lecturer on outdoor adventures and worldwide expeditions. He has written a number of books about the Grand Canyon and surrounding areas. He has given over 100 rafting tours on the Colorado River and over 400 hiking trips inside the Canyon.
The Canyon is 1-mile deep in parts and is 278 miles long. On average it is 10 miles across as the raven flies and 23 ½ miles rim to rim. Wayne gave us a virtual tour of a Colorado River rafting tour. The trip starts at Lee’s Ferry on a motorized boat. Stanton’s Cave contained 84 split twig figurines dating back 4,095 years and a trove of other archeological material, including a 15,000 year old teratorn skeleton (ancient bird species), ancient goats, and a 43,000 year old driftwood stash. The cave goes 400’ into the wall of the Canyon. Vasey’s Paradise is a waterfall shooting out of the Canyon wall but is currently suffering the effects of climate change. He also took us through other notable geologic and archeologic sites, including ancient granaries, homesites, lava falls and down to Havasu Creek at the lower end of the journey.
Wayne also discussed how the Canyon was created. The most obvious factor is the effect of the Colorado River, but this may not be the most important factor. Prior ancient rivers probably had much to do with the development of the Canyon. A more important factor in the Canyon’s development are the catastrophic floods that over the past several million years have caused huge boulders, some 100’ in diameter to pound and abrade the bedrock beneath the river, deepening the Canyon each time.
Wayne also mentioned that there are 213 active volcanoes near the Canyon. Lava flows from these volcanoes created dams that can last for many years. There is evidence of at least 17 historical dams found in the river, at least 4 of which failed catastrophically creating instantaneous cataclysmic floods. One of these events happened as far as 51 million years ago. The Colorado River’s motto seems to be “No obstacle allowed.”
Thank you, Wayne for the great presentation. We all learned so much geology and archeology. Now all we need is a river rafting tour!
To view the recording of Wayne's presentation, Click HERE. I will be available for a limited time.
