On Sunday, we entered the Grand Canyon, entering the park around noon. The visitor center area was packed and we walked along the south rim for a few hours. Lots of helicopters flying about too. Whether they were for tours or rescue crews picking up a stranded hiker, who knows. But of course the main attraction is the Grand Canyon, and what an appropriate name. There are so many vistas from which to see the canyons far below. Every time you look at the thing, it seems like it’s a new view you’ve never seen before. And you can’t possibly take it all in in one glance. It’s overwhelming to try and imagine how such a canyon could form hundreds of millions of years ago (at least that’s what the geology ranger said at the visitor center). I have seen canyons before on my trip, but even a sliver of the Grand Canyon trumps all the others. More than a mile down from rim to the Colorado far below, there are sheer cliffs of red, orange, salmon pink, and white rock, depending on when the layers were formed. There were more gradual slopes as well, and plateaus down within the canyon too. All in all, a straight line shot from south to north rim is about 10 miles, with a hike from rim to rim of at least 24 miles. If you wanted to drive from south rim to north rim, the only road that passes over the Colorado at Navajo bridge, requires a 250 mile trip. Not even man has been able to penetrate this vast landscape with his roads. There are no driveable roadways going down into the canyon, all the wall are too steep. The only way down is by hiking, or by pack mule. After getting our bearings on where we wanted to hike on Monday, Justine and I decided on a hike that would go from the south rim, down the Kaibab trail, with the option of descending all the way to the Colorado river at the bottom of the canyon. A good night’s sleep was necessary for such an endeavor, so we were both out cold by 10.
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