The Grand, Grand Canyon

How does one describe the Grand Canyon? I have been trying to come up with something original to say about it but the only thing that comes to mind is the well used (sometimes nauseatingly so) word, awesome. Yes, the Grand Canyon is AWESOME!

We arrived at the South Rim of the Park just before noon. It was crowded and I began to wonder if this was not just another Niagara Falls except with a giant hole in the ground instead of a giant waterfall. To me, Niagara Falls has become a bit cheesy with touristy venues overshadowing the wonder of the falls themselves. And so, I entered the Grand Canyon National Park with a trifle of skepticism. Nonetheless, we found a place to park in the Market village, grabbed a small cooler containing our sandwiches and, for me, the requisite hot tea, and headed out to walk the one kilometre to the edge of the canyon.

It came upon us all of a sudden. One second it wasn’t there and the next, it was, a huge chasm of rock, sparse vegetation and leafless gnarled trees that opened up before us, a crater of purple, pink, blue-gray, soft green, rich brown and rust. It contained all of the colours of Arizona collected and distilled in one place and yes, it is awesome.

We walked another kilometre to get to the Yavapai viewpoint and it was well worth the effort. We even ventured outside the rock perimeter of the pathway and crept closer to the edge to get a better look. This, for me at least, was a quite a concession given my fear of high places. But it had to be done. One cannot go to the Grand Canyon and not expand beyond one’s own boundaries to meet it half way. It just wouldn’t be polite.

We had lunch sitting on a bench looking out at the expanse of rock and watching the ravens riding the air currents over the centre of the canyon, swooping down and then coming back up just as suddenly and making me wish, at least for a moment, that I could do that too.

After lunch, we took a drive along Desert view which leads to the east entrance to the park. It is 25 miles long with viewpoints along the way. This was the best way to see the canyon . It was less crowded and the views were spectacular. And along this drive, we could see the Colorado river snaking its way around the rocks disappearing and appearing at will it seemed, brown and uninviting but at the same time, compelling.

The Grand Canyon, a wondrous place indeed. Click here to see more images and enjoy. Better yet, plan to go!

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