Ten Mile Rock, Grand Canyon Colorado River

The Grand Canyon National Park is home to the Ten Mile Rock, an interesting feature found in the path of the Colorado River. It is one of the least seen rock formations, usually only seen by a few hikers and some rafters. However, it has become less and less visible with rising waters.

Though millions of years old, the Ten Mile Rock is a little known feature of the Colorado River's run through the Grand Canyon. Its fascinating location and form intrigue those who notice its presence, but as the river levels ebb and flow annually, rising higher slowly, it has become apparent that its appearance may be disappearing forever.

Researchers have been studying the park and the river for many decades. In the 70's scientists turned their attention to an almost three hundred mile length of the river's gorge, where varied rock formations lined the riverside or sat within it, slowly being eroded by its ferocious waters. At that time the rock, a huge slab of sandstone sat, jutting out of the water by quite a bit. Then the river volume was only running at twelve thousand cubic feet every second. However, since then a lot of has changed. It became apparent, some 5 years on that the river was increasing its volume in the months that passed the time of the spring run-offs. That summer the volume had almost increased over five times, and the rock was struggling to keep its stone head above water.

As scientists and the average person began to understand, the prehistoric erosion that created the canyon and its incredible expanse, had not stopped. It was a continuing process that even today makes every riverside feature no longer a timeless series of entities for all to see, but things that need to be preserved and recorded, even if only in the written form and in photographs. Even the great canyon will not exist forever.