Destination: Meteor Crater

From a distance, someone once said “viewed from the flat, barren plain that surrounds it, Meteor Crater is little more than a low unremarkable hill.” Well quite frankly this huge hole 1,265m in diameter and 175m deep is still pretty unremarkable up close. Meteorite Crater, the technically correct name as a meteor upon impact is then referred to as a meteorite, lies 50mi east of Flagstaff and not far from one of the Colorado’s tributary rivers, although you would never know it from its desert-like surrounding. While the tourguides were not shy is over-emphasizing the importance of this discovery, I found the history of the Meteor Crater to be more fascinating. Discovered in the 1880s, it was generally thought to be a volcanic crater that imploded on itself after erupting. As the idea of a gigantic meteor started to gain credence, a certain fanciful geologist named Daniel Barringer, convinced of this, decided to buy the land and proceeded to dig looking for the meteor’s core which he believed was still lodged underneath the hole’s surface. Although he never did find the core, he did unearth enough nickel-iron and rare silica that could only be produced under conditions of extreme temperature and pressure to confirm of the crater’s extraterrestrial origins. Even being credited with this discovery, he unfortunately never did reap the rewards, monetary or otherwise, from this obvious tourist trap.