Higher up, Douglas and white fir, aspen and mountain ash predominate. At the top of the San Francisco Peaks the earth's oldest living things are found - bristlecone pines. Here you can see wild turkey, deer, porcupines, bear, elk, chipmunks and mountain lions. Generally, the area around the Grand Canyon receives a small amount of precipitation, occurring mainly during the monsoon season in July and August. Snow fall is generally light at the Canyon with temperature well below freezing.
Summers can be intensely hot and short but severe afternoon thundershowers are typical.
These showers can cause flash floods in previously dry washes. April, May, September and October are ideal months for the Grand Canyon area. Two early native American cultures were prevelant centuries before Europeans arrived in the New World, the Anasazi and the Sinagua. Anasazi artifacts abound in the four corners region and Anasazi history is divided into Basket Makers and Pueblo periods. The late Basket Maker period lasted until A.D. 750, when the Anasazi lived underground in communities while hunting and gathering.