Colorado River

At the top of the rocky mountains begins the great Colorado River. It is not the longest in the country and can not boast of length. But still universally recognized in the world it is considered great. The fact is that for hundreds of thousands of years its unhurried waters formed an amazing natural landscape, gnawing deeper into the earth and rocks. The result of her work was the Grand Canyon, whose depth exceeds 2000 meters.

Surprisingly, the Grand Canyon was mapped a little over a hundred years ago, when geologist John Powell and a small team rafted along the entire riverbed. What a surprise he was when he first saw the Grand Canyon and realized that the cause of its formation was the Colorado River, which patiently continues to carve its way through the rocks. In ancient times, these places always belonged to the Indians and later these lands, especially the Monument area, became the main stage for filming Westerns. The Navajo Indians still live on reservations.

Today, the Colorado River is the only source of water for many hundreds of kilometers around, which gradually leads to shallowing of the river. More than twenty thousand tourists seek to raft from the upper reaches of the river to the Gulf of California. But the queues are so huge that you have to reserve an application two years in advance. An alternative option to admire the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon is to travel along its bed on foot or in jeeps.