Thomas Hayden's Snapshots

Nasty Holes by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #14 Hance Rapid - In the Rocks Above by Thomas Hayden

Formed by shallow rocks with water pouring over them, a hole in river terms is a hydraulic where water is recirculating back upstream. Running a boat through a hole can be a very violent experience that may lead to flipping the boat, damaging it against the rock, or causing persons to fall out of the boat and into a violent water situation.

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Shinumo Quartzite by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #14 Hance Rapid - In the Rocks Above by Thomas Hayden

This layer averages about 1,200 million years old and is composed of sandstone. This layer is only exposed in a few sections in the Canyon. Its color can be deep red, brown, purple or white.

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Hakatai Shale by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #14 Hance Rapid - In the Rocks Above by Thomas Hayden

This layer averages about 1,200 million years old and is composed primarily of shale with some sandstone. The color is a very bright orange-red red and is the layer that gives Red Canyon its name.

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Bass Formation by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #14 Hance Rapid - In the Rocks Above by Thomas Hayden

This layer averages about 1,250 million years old and is composed primarily of limestone with some interbedded shale. It is greyish in color and its fossil record consists of stromatolites.

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Snow on the Canyon Rim by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #14 Hance Rapid - In the Rocks Above by Thomas Hayden

Heavy snows still blanket the rim in early April in 2010.

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Aqua Partner by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #13 Hance Rapid - On the Boats by Thomas Hayden

Provided by PRO, this water filtration system saved our group time and energy that wasn't put into pumping water for filtration. After settling silting river water with alum particles, the Aqua Partner simply took only minutes to pump 5 gallons of water from one container to the other.

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Basalt Dike by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #13 Hance Rapid - On the Boats by Thomas Hayden

Volcanic in nature, this massive intrusion of basalt (and the rope-like thin one below it) forced its way through the Hakatai Shale.

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Pabst Blue Ribbon by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #13 Hance Rapid - On the Boats by Thomas Hayden

A Portland favorite

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Fluvial Deposits by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #11 The Little Colorado 2 by Thomas Hayden

Rapidly changing water levels on the Little Colorado River translate to rapidly changing deposition of the untamed river's silt.

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GigaPan Kit by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #11 The Little Colorado 2 by Thomas Hayden

One of many appearances of my GigaPan Buaer case in Grand Canyon GigaView.

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Heading to the Boats by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #11 The Little Colorado 2 by Thomas Hayden

With his Huck Finn hat, JB heads back to the boats.

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Sony Bloggie Camera by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #9 Nankoweap by Thomas Hayden

While the GigaPan was taking this image, I was hiding behind this rock structure and doing some video logging with this camera. I didn't realize that one camera could be seen by the other.

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Hiding photgrapher by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #9 Nankoweap by Thomas Hayden

It's not easy to find a hiding place on the side of a cliff.

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Storage or Defense? by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #9 Nankoweap by Thomas Hayden

What was the purpose of building this structure so far above the valley floor?

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Mixing waters by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #10 The Little Colorado Confluence 1 by Thomas Hayden

The dam-controlled Colorado River water runs fairly clear when compared to the free-flowing Little Colorado and its heavy silt load. The silt from the Little Colorado provides critical habitat to native fishes, such as the humpback chub, that are adapted the warmer, siltier water of the historic Colorado basin

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Chuar Butte by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #10 The Little Colorado Confluence 1 by Thomas Hayden

Location of the greatest air tragedy of its time in U.S. aviation. On the morning of Saturday, June 30, 1956, United Flight 718 collided with TWA Flight 2 over the eastern end of the Grand Canyon. Since the accident involved two of the largest commercial aircraft then in service--a Lockheed Super Constellation, and a Douglas DC-7--it resulted in the greatest loss of life, by far, in any accident of the time. The enormity of the loss gave impetus to a major improvement in air traffic control with the formation of the Federal Aviation Administration and the widespread use of collision avoidance radar on commercial aircraft. 128 lives were lost.

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Photographer caught on camera by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #10 The Little Colorado Confluence 1 by Thomas Hayden

Checking in on the GigaPan while it shoots a 360 degree image is a risky business. In this case, my curiousity got the better of me when I peaked around a bush to find the camera staring right at me. I knew I had been captured as part of the image.

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Wilson! by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #10 The Little Colorado Confluence 1 by Thomas Hayden

This basketball had quite a ride down the Little Colorado before finding a resting place in this final eddy above the confluence. When the party in this image picked it up, they continued its journey downriver by tossing it into the enormous holes at Crystal and Lava to see what the experience might be like for a swimmer. We watched Wilson get recirculated twince in Crystal hole before popping up like a cork 20 yards downstream. Good fun.

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Pushing off by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #10 The Little Colorado Confluence 1 by Thomas Hayden

The first raft of the trip pushes out into the current to continue on downstream.

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Climb On! by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #8 Nankoweap Group by Thomas Hayden

Our trip leader takes an exploratory hike

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Our Party by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #8 Nankoweap Group by Thomas Hayden

Five hikers visit the ancient graneries

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Handwash Station by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #7 Nautaloid Canyon Camp by Thomas Hayden

For sanitary needs of cooks and campers alike. This simple design transforms two buckets into the proverbial kitchen sink.

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The Raft Guide Nest by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #7 Nautaloid Canyon Camp by Thomas Hayden

These luxury accommodations include a cot, paco pad, sleeping bag, and tarp (pillow is extra).

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Fire Pan by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #7 Nautaloid Canyon Camp by Thomas Hayden

The fire pan allows us to have a fire, but dispose of the ashes responsibly without leaving evidence of our fire for the next group that camps at Nautiloid Canyon.

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Alta - The Best Snow on Earth by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #7 Nautaloid Canyon Camp by Thomas Hayden

This chair and its own hail from the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Range of Utah, where the snow piles up high, but the lift lines never do (because they don't allow snowboards on the mountain).

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Dry Bag - NRS Billy's Bag by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #7 Nautaloid Canyon Camp by Thomas Hayden

Key to any river trip to keep the items you depend on dry for the moment you need them the most.

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Aluminum Can Bag by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #7 Nautaloid Canyon Camp by Thomas Hayden

This became an experiment in resource management. How to fit the cans from 38 cases of beverages into one bag? You smash them tight again and again.

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Ammo Can with Essentials by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #7 Nautaloid Canyon Camp by Thomas Hayden

Binoculars, Candle lantern, Leatherman, Bag of GORP, assorted books - a look inside a boater's can says lot.

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Photographer by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #6 Redwall Cavern by Thomas Hayden

The great thing about GigaPan is that it takes the pictures while leaving you time to enjoy a tasty beverage.

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Beavertail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris) by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #5 North Canyon by Thomas Hayden

Instead of spines, this relative of the prickly pear has tufts of "glochids" that make the plant unpalattable to grazers.

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Century Plant (Agave utahensis) by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #5 North Canyon by Thomas Hayden

Blooms only once after 15-25 years of age, sending up a tall flower stalk that is covered with white, fleshy flowers in the spring when conditions are right. The petals of the flowers are edible and have the consistancy of iceberg lettuce. The century plant has an exclusive, symbiotic relationship with the yucca moth that visits the flower stalk to feed on nectar while polinating the plant, begging the question; "which came first?"
The spiked leaves of the century plant have long been used as a source of fiber for sandals, rope, and other goods requiring strength and flexibility.
Take care when hiking in areas were these and other yuccas flourish as the tips of the leaves can easily pierce through clothing and skin and produce deep wounds that are difficult to heal.

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Desert Varnish (Patina) by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #5 North Canyon by Thomas Hayden

From Encyclopedia Brittanica:

Desert Varnish or Patina is a thin, dark red to black mineral coating (generally iron and manganese oxides and silica) deposited on pebbles and rocks on the surface of desert regions. As dew and soil moisture brought to the surface by capillar action evaporate, their dissolved minerals are deposited on the surface; studies indicate that the varnish materials generally are extracted from the surrounding rock and earth material. Wind abrasion removes the softer salts and polishes the patina to a glossy finish. The rate of varnish formation varies: it generally is thought to take about 2,000 years for it to form.
Rock art referred to as petroglyphs are often found in heavy deposits of desert varnish where the art has been created by the contrast of the light, natural rock color exposed when the patina is chipped away. Ancient rock art is often aged by determining how much desert varnish has returned since the art was created.

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Driftwood by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #5 North Canyon by Thomas Hayden

During the busiest season in the Grand Canyon, the NPS restricts the burning of driftwood because many communities of organisms depend on it as shelter and a food source. Chances are there are both scorpions and they're prey under this log at this very moment.

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North Canyon Rapid (Class 4-5) 12' drop by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #5 North Canyon by Thomas Hayden

Even a small rapid near camp offers a soothing sound to sleep by.

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Temple Butte Formation by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #5 North Canyon by Thomas Hayden

From Wikipedia:
Temple Butte Limestone is a cliff-former in the western part of the park where it is gray to cream-colored dolomite. Fossils of animals with backbones are found in this formation; bony plates from freshwater fish in the eastern part and numerous marine fish fossils in the western part. Temple Butte is 100 to 450 feet (30 to 140 m) thick; thinner near Grand Canyon Village and thicker in western Grand Canyon. An unconformity representing 40 to 50 million years of lost geologic history marks the top of this formation.

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Redwall Limestone by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #5 North Canyon by Thomas Hayden

From Wikipedia:
Redwall is composed of thick-bedded, dark brown to bluish gray limestone and dolomite with white chert nodules mixed in. It was laid down in a retreating shallow tropical sea near the equator during 40 million years of the early to middle Mississippian. Many fossilized crinoids, brachiopods, bryozoans, horn corals, nautiloids, and sponges, along with other marine organisms such as large and complex trilobites have been found in the Redwall. In late Mississippian time, the Grand Canyon region was slowly uplifted and the Redwall was partly eroded away. A Karst topography consisting of caves, sinkholes, and subterrainian river channels resulted but were later filled with more limestone. The exposed surface of Redwall gets its characteristic color from rainwater dripping from the iron-rich redbeds of the Supai and Hermit shale that lie above.

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Campsite by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #4 Soap Creek Morning by Thomas Hayden

Our bomb-proof Sierra Designs tent survived a number of wind storms that would have broken poles on lesser tents.

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Supai Group by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #4 Soap Creek Morning by Thomas Hayden

From Wikipedia:
An unconformity of 15 to 20 million years separates the Supai Group from the previously deposited Redwall Formation.[36] Supai Group was deposited in late Mississippian, through the Pennsylvanian and into the early Permian time, some 320 million to 270 million years ago.[38] Both marine and non-marine deposits of mud, silt, sand and calcareous sediments were laid down on a broad coastal plain similar to the Texas Gulf Coast of today.[38] Around this time, the Ancestral Rocky Mountains rose in Colorado and New Mexico and streams brought eroded sediment from them to the Grand Canyon area.[39]

Supai Group formations in the western part of the canyon contain limestone, indicative of a warm, shallow sea, while the eastern part was likely a muddy river delta. This formation consists of red siltstones and shale capped by tan-colored sandstone beds that together reach a thickness of 600 to 700 feet (200 to 200 m).[31] Shale in the early Permian formations in this group were oxidized to a bright red color. Fossils of amphibian footprints, reptiles, and plentiful plant material are found in the eastern part and increasing numbers of marine fossils are found in the western part.[40]

Formations of the Supai Group are from oldest to youngest (an unconformity is present at the top of each): Watahomigi (see 5a in figure 1) is a slope-forming gray limestone with some red chert bands, sandstone, and purple siltstone that is 100 to 300 feet (30 to 90 m) thick.[41] Manakacha (see 5b in figure 1) is a cliff- and slope-forming pale red sandstone and red shale that averages 300 feet (90 m) thick in Grand Canyon.[42] Wescogame (see 5c in figure 1) is a ledge- and slope-forming pale red sandstone and siltstone that is 100 to 200 feet (30 to 60 m) thick.[43] Esplanade (see 5d in figure 1) is a ledge- and cliff-forming pale red sandstone and siltstone that is 200 to 800 feet (60 to 200 m) thick.[44] An unconformity marks the top of the Supai Group.

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North Canyon Rapid (Class 4-5) 12' drop by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #4 Soap Creek Morning by Thomas Hayden

Even a small rapid offers a wonderful sound to fall asleep to.

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High angle wake up by Thomas Hayden from the GigaPan Grand Canyon GigaView #4 Soap Creek Morning by Thomas Hayden

Because of fluctuating water levels at Glen Canyon Dam, approx. 50 miles upstream, the water level can rise or drop dramatically at scheduled times each day. Knowing what effect that will have on each individual beach is a complex equation of angles, slopes, and eddy size. North Canyon's beach experiences a significant change enough to leave our boats high and dry by morning as this sleeping party member woke up to. Because the change in slope was so gradual, it did not wake him up, but it was a long, restless morning trying to adjust for the extreme angle.

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