On a shuttle bus today, the driver said many visitors to the Grand Canyon initially have difficulty believing what they see is real. It’s an unusual statement, but after seeing if myself, I think I’ll have to agree.
The canyon was carved by a river over a period of 4500 million years. It’s thousands of feet deep and miles wide. It’s incredibly big and deep, and like nothing at all I’ve ever seen before.
We got up very early and headed to the canyon shortly after sunrise. As you can see, we were blessed with beautiful weather.
There are many miles of lookouts and viewing points along the south rim, and we spent a few hours walking along the edge admiring the views.
This is a very popular tourist destination, especially for foreign tourists, and as the day went on the paths became more and more populated. Everyone poses for photos at any convenient place, and all-too-often they get dangerously close to a fall that apparently kills a few every year.
You can descend into the canyon if you like, via one of several available trails. The most common takes up to 9 hours (to travel less than 1km!) and is quite popular despite its danger. The signs warn specifically of death for the unprepared. In this next shot you can see the path (which is also used by the famous pack mules) as it snakes down the side of the canyon:
The area is a national park, and at the top (an elevation of over 6000 feet) is mostly evergreen pine forest. There are many animals to be seen, including deer…
Lizards…
And very friendly rock squirrels:
I had no food for him, and wouldn’t have fed him anyway even if I did. But I did touch him briefly. Maybe I should have read this sign first:
We spent the entire morning at the canyon, and walked for hours. The afternoon was siesta time (during which I wrote 17 postcards) in which we recharged our batteries for the next few sure-to-be-busy days.
Oh, and we met Mike Rowe 😉
Who is Mike Rowe?
It all looks spectacular. The little squirrel was cute too with his fleas.