The Grand Canyon

When it comes to the Grand Canyon, there are statistics and there are sensations.  While the former are impressive  - the canyon measures in at an average width of 10 miles and length of 277 miles and depth of a mile - they don't truly prepare you.  Seeing the canyon is an astounding experience - one that's hard to wrap your head around.  Its more than an experience ... one that is only just beginning to be captured with the superlative "Grand."

You look down ... and you realize that you're not seeing all the way down ... even further down is the Colorado River.  In some spots you get a glimpse of the river and it looks rather small - its really 300 feet wide.

Here's a little bit of the river - I had to zoom in to get it so you don't really see how many layers down it is.  You can't fit it in the camera lens.

There are several trails down into the canyon.  It cannot be hiked round trip in a day - there is a campground halfway down and several "bathrooms" on the way down.

This picture shows the beginning of the Bright Angel Trail - it starts where the brown building is at the middle top of the picture.

This is looking down on the trail ... we walked just a little bit ... its crazy

Here's the next part ... because I couldn't fit it all in the first 2 pictures.

This doesn't show the campground ... but with binoculars you could see one of the "restrooms"

After you hike down .... you have to hike back up!!!

There is lodging and a campground at the bottom.  You have to obtain a permit for overnight hikes ... they probably want to make sure that you're mentally stable.  It zigzags 8 miles and 4,460 feet down to the river.

The North Rim of the canyon wasn't open yet - still had snow.  We did see snow on some of the walls of the canyon on the south side too.

The weather was beautiful the first two days ... then it got very windy - 35 mph winds and the next day was predicted for 60 mph with snow that night.

We stayed for breakfast that day and a little walk along the canyon and headed out around noon.

It was crazy with the wind.

We had breakfast at the El Tovar Hotel.  Probably the nicest place to stay at the canyon.  There is a lot of history here even beyond the indian tribes that lived in the canyon way back - in the early 1990's it was sort of like the grand camps on Lake George.  And then there was the whole mining history - crazy.

I got three pancakes (blue cornmeal, buckwheat, and yellow cornmeal) with pine nut butter and prickly pear cactus syrup and maple syrup.  They were huge - the size of your head huge.  Tom had pancakes eggs and bacon - the best he ever had.  Guess the Walmart frozen pancakes just don't compare.  You would have to hike the canyon to work off that meal.

The price wasn't bad (around $25) and the decor and atmosphere was definitely worth it.

This is another method of transportation into the canyon. They are booking a year and a half out but you can get a cancelation. I would love to do it. Tom didn't want to be that much higher up off the ground on a narrow gravel path with crazy drop-offs. They say they are velcro-footed mules!

I think he looks reliable!

Elk are just beginning to grow their antlers back. They weigh up to 1100 pounds - pretty big.

This is the best way to get around - its free and they have stops everywhere.

This is another way of getting to the GC without having to drive.

It comes from Williams Arizona

A walking trail runs all along the rim of the canyon - you can walk for miles and miles - some parts of  the trail have railings, some have stone walls - and some have nothing at all!!!!!  I can't imagine bringing a child - five deaths a year from people falling - but they do have 5 million visitors a year too!  Males between 18 and 25 account for those deaths.

We walked a lot along the canyon - took the bus to other spots too far to walk ... and the canyon still continues another 175 miles past the National Park on the Indian Reservation - incredible!!!

We stayed at Mather Campground in the park - it was nice to be right there.  The Grand Canyon has its own community of people who work and live at the top of the canyon - there is even a school.

Spring was a great time to visit (except that the weather turned cold) because there were not a lot of people.  In the early morning you could walk along the canyon pretty much alone - until the tour buses arrived and the hotel people had breakfast.  That's also the best time for colors in the canyon - when the sun is lower it brings out all the reds and greens - just beautiful.

We did several ranger programs - California Condor - Early Native Americans - and Fossils. They were great too!!!!  The Hopi tribe believes that the GC is where they came up from the third world into the fourth world - at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers.  The whole western rim is Indian Reservation and they are open to tourists also.  That is where the giant plexiglass platform goes out over the canyon - we didn't go there - just not enough time!!!!!

Anyway ... the weather and wind didn't allow ... so we headed south to Southern California ... how could we come this far and not set foot in California!!!  We drove through a huge dust storm - two hands on the wheel - lots of wind!!!  And it didn't get much warmer .... but that story is for tomorrow ....