Big BANG!

So why would two "young" adults want to go look at a big hole in the ground? What makes this hole so special? Haven't we seen enough big holes or canyons in the last month?

We decided to go explore this hole because this one was created by something from out of this world. Literally. Lets back up and start at the very beginning of this story.

50,000 years ago this stretch of land before us was no different than the many miles around it. Relatively flat with a few hills to break up the landscape. Deep in outer space a collision occurred that broke off several pieces of an asteroid. One of these huge pieces weighing in around several hundred thousand tons and about 150 feet across came hurtling towards a young planet. It reached a speed of 40,000 mph. At that speed the earths atmosphere could do very little to slow it down. It hit this calm barren landscape with the force of 20 million tons of TNT. The force was so big that pieces of this meteorite vaporized on impact. Small pieces were later found.

What was left behind to tell what happened was a huge hole. It measures a little under a mile across and 500 ft deep. To give you an idea of the size of the hole you could put 20 football fields in the base of the hole and surround the fields with over 2 million fans on the sloping walls. If you were to stand the Washington Monument in the center of the hole you would be at eye level to the top of it by standing on the rim. Today, looking around you can see the evidence of the force created by this impact seeing huge chunks of sandstone rock that have been thrown up onto the rim. Some the size of houses. Looking at the cliff walls you can see the sandstone has turned into a smooth brown rock. Some of the sandstone that received less heat turned into a popcorn texture.

(click on this picture to see the entire crater)

The fascinating point was that not until 1960 did scientist finally declare that this was an impact area. They were still unsure of the possibility of a rock falling from the sky do so much damage. Since then, this area has been used by NASA to train their early astronauts for conditions of the moon when they got there. They were also taught what to look for on the moon by studying the rocks in the creator. Hollywood wasn't too far behind by using this as a backdrop for several movies. The biggest being "Space Man" with Jeff Bridges.



Standing on the rim of the creator it gave you a birds eye view of the surrounding area. In the distance we could see Humphreys Peak at 12,633 ft. and about 60 miles away. It being the highest peak in Arizona.

We were talking on our drive back to Road Hazard that on this trip we have learned so much. It has given us a first hand look at how nature really shapes this ball we call home. From the water creating giant holes in the ground and forming beautiful formations hundreds of feet below the surface. To the earths crust pushing together and falling apart to create canyons. To objects from millions of miles away falling into our gravitational pull and creating a huge hole in the ground and with it sending up tons of debris and dust into the air.

I have to say that it was pretty cool to look at a big hole in the ground.

On our way back we stopped at a local grocery store to pick up a few things. We have often wondered what people in such a small town think about living in isolated communities. It was answered when the young clerk asked us what we were doing here, so far from Maryland. After we told him of the places around here that we went to, his only response was, "Welcome to Nothing"! What a great phrase. I see maybe making T-shirts and selling it to all the tourists that come here. A big hole in the shirt with the words "Welcome to Nothing" splayed across it.

What do you think?