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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 1990)
SCIENCE December 5,1990 THE CLACKAMAS PRINT Page 5 Snively, Dykes explore the Colorado River By Richard Marx Staff Writer This past summer two Clacka mas Community College staff members took a trip to the Colo rado River. CCC science instruc tor John Snively and registrar Mary Dykes were part of a group of sixteen people who rafted their way through a portion of the state of Arizona. As a geology instructor, Sni vely traveled to this region to obtain first hand information for his Natural History of Parks and Monuments class which will be taught during winter term. “One has to first receive a per mit to take one of these rafting tripson the Colorado, sometimes taking as long as seven years be fore finally getting it,” said Sni vely. An acquaintance of his had acquired his permit for a group and had an opening for an extra person. In this way, Snively was invited to go along. The trip started at Lee’s Ferry and extended through the Grand Canyon. Also a section of their trip went into the Hopi and Ha- vasupai Indian reservations. All of this covered a total distance of about 236 miles. Snively was the oarsman of the raft that he and Mary had shared. “We never flipped a raft or a boat,” boasted Snively, “but we filled them to the rim with water repeatedly.” “Reading the water was the most important skill because once you start your path, there is no turning back. You had to watch out for whirling eddies that form whirl pools which could suck the raft right under the water. Though we were caught several times in a circular motion we were never pulled under,” Dykes commented. The Colorado River is famous for its rapids. “Every day there is a fluctuation between 4,000 to 30,000 cubic feet of water per second in this river,” added Sni vely, “which runs out from Lake Powell.” People traveling this stream ride waves or troughs down the river. The rapids are rated accord ing to water levels running on a scale from one to ten. Snively stated that “these are quite differ A view of the Grand Canyon from the top. Each layer of rock in the outer canyon is a remnant of the receding and advancing shoreline from an ancient sea. ent from our Northwest rivers which are rated from one to six, with six beingvirtually impossible to run and leading to certain death. Rapids of the six and ten cate gory can be manageable on the Colorado however. This is be cause while the water volume is large enough to create twenty foot waves, there are not the potential obstructions such as boulders as our northwest rivers have. “Nevertheless, the Colorado can put the fear of God in you,” he added grimly. Because of its geography, the area is a global mecca for geolo gists. The Grand Canyon region is composed of rock formations that cover a time span from 1.8 billion to sixty million years in age, which covers about one half of the earth’s age. According to Snively, this stratigraphy is different from the geological formations of Death Valley, those of the Grand Can yon being neatly layered one on top of the other rather than jumbled. “The Grand Canyon is actu ally composed of both an inner canyon and an outer canyon,” said Snively. The inner canyon was carved out of 1.8 billion year old schists and granites, and is the gorge through which the Colorado River flows. Sedimentary sandstones, limestones and shales make up the geology of the outer canyon. These areabout400million years old, thus are roughly Paleozoic and represent the transgressing and regressing seas over the con tinent. Included here also is the Cambrian formation which dates back to about six million years, where fossils abounded for the first time in earth’s history. “Aside from the thrill of doing the Colorado River, seeing from bottom to top a sequence of the earth’s history was the most fasci nating aspect of the trip,” said Snively. The Grand Canyon runs in elevation from 1700 to 9000 feet and includes all lifezones ranging from lower Sonoran (typical sout fa- west desert) up to the Hudsonian (timberline) at the north rim. The groupspent most of their time on the river which runs through the Lower Sonoran, venturing away only occasionally to explore a few side canyons. “The inner canyon walls are very steep and the only place along this stretch where you could hike outof the canyon wasat Phantom Ranch,” Snively commented. While Snively was concen trating on the geologic aspects, Dykes said that she was mainly interested in animal life. One of the rafts on a calm section of the river. The group journeyed down the Colorado River during the summer break. “It was fascinating to wake up in the morning and see all the ‘crit ter’ tracks, including those of the tiny sand scorpion, toads and also the slither marks of snakes, in the sand,” Dykes said. One of her most memorable experiences was seeing a rattle snake. “When John (Snively) went to tie the raft around a tamarisk bush he saw a large three foot long Grand Canyon rattlesnake in the middle. Iwas called over to look at it but did not see it at first because of the beautiful camouflage. The snake was very passive and non- aggressive and I was very impressed with its gentleness,” Dykes recalled. Of mammals, there were sev eral Desert Bighorn Sheep ob served, including a ram that you could walk up to within twenty feet Also there were ringtails, a relative of the racoon, that would raid the camp every night. A number of birds were also observed in cluding peregrine falcons, pinon jays, great blue herons, American avocets, as well as blue wing teals in drab summer plumage. The last threespecieswereobserved along the river. “It was a strange site to see great blue herons sitting on the lock outcrops along the river when we associate them with the offi cial city bird of rainy Portland,” Snively commented. Dykes was amazed to See the variety of birds there and at how the wading birds could manage to balance themselves and view their prey in such rough muddy waters. The vegetation was mostly in a dry condition, the only plant flowering being a fish-hook cac tus. A number of different cacti species were observed as well as century plants and ocotillo. “We saw a whole forest of ocotillo right after a rain, their spiny whip-like branches covered with delicate tiny light green leaves,” noted Dykes. . The weather was a hot 100 plus degrees, but was actually be low the usual August average of 115-120 degrees. “We were blessed with three days of heavy monsoon-like rain fall, which turned the river into pure chocolate and also prevented us from exploring several side canyons,” Snively said. “The rain was warm, almost tropical,” he added, “with the side canyons fill ing 15 to 20 feet high, but we had the rare opportunity to see 2000 foot waterfalls every quarter mile. Incredible!” Everyone was impressed with the no impact style of camping. “Every campsite was pristine,” said Dykes adding that, “you pack eve rything out!” The forest service checks to see you have the equipment to do that. The trip was enjoyed tty all, but perhaps Mary Dykes* state ment expresses it as well as any: “I loved it even though it was terrify ing.” Photos by John Snively Mary Dykes, college registrar, stands at the entrance to one of the side canyons. During heavy rain these canyons were filled with water.
