It’s good to wait a day to make some posts. I found out from our guide up Grand Mountain that the gorge was caused by an earthquake. Makes sense, eh? From up in the mountains where we were yesterday, you can see the Alcantara River as it begins to make it way down through the Gorge to the sea.
Note the particularly interesting gray color of the water. You’ll see where the gray comes from when you see the color of some of the rock formation in the gorge. Now a series of photos of the rocks (for you geology fans out there).
According to the map we got at the park, the river has had several names since Greek times, but the origin of the current name Alcantara (for you word fans out there) comes from the name given by the Muslims when they ruled Sicily (827 to 902). They called it Al Qantarah or Cantara. Al Qantarah means the arched bridge.
My picture of the arch is not very clear. (I’m trying to see if Julie has a better one so this post might get updated if she does.)
bunkerwrites.com 
In typical backward fashion, I’ve been reading from newest to oldest posts, but it is all fascinating! I will reread in the correct order and with a map so I can get back on track.
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