Day 2 Nautiloid Canyon to Nankoweap Canyon

We began our day with a short hike into Nautiloid Canyon. This small canyon has some remarkable meter-long nautiloid fossils, which are ancestors of squid and octopus. These fossils are so large that they are hard to see unless they are covered with water.

We took several more hikes during day 2, one at Saddle Canyon, and another at our camp at Nankoweap Canyon. Saddle Canyon has a small stream running through it. The vegetation and wildlife in this slender gap is completely different from the surrounding desert - cottonwood trees, ferns and other plants are present that require a constant source of water to live. Our hike ended with a small waterfall.

Nankoweap was one of the primary settlements of the Anasazi Indians in the Canyon. They grew crops on the outwash plain of the Nankoweap in the canyon between 900 and 1050 A.D. Seven hundred feet up a steep slope lies the grainaries, places where the Anasazi women would carry their crops for storage and protection. The difficulty of this hike put in perspective for many of us how hard they must have worked to survive here. That night, before dark, I wrote a poem.

I have a few questions.

It is evening, and the bats are dancing

At the end of your day, your harvest,

When your grain is secured high above

How do you feel?

I spent a few minutes at your workplace.

I wonder -

what would you think after visiting my school, my city?

There are many high peaks to climb there

And rivers of men and machines

I will sleep tonight near your ancient home.