The Grand Canyon
We visited the canyon one October which seemed like a good time of the year to go. Very pleasant climate (one of the driest months there too) and crisp clear skies, so good photo opportunities. Also, there were none of the congestion issues getting into the park that I have read about in the summer.
The night before visiting the canyon we found a motel in Williams. Bit of a one-horse town, but the lack of light pollution in the area meant that I did get to see the Milky Way clearly and 2 shooting stars that night on a short drive out of town!
In the morning on our quest to find breakfast we stumbled across the Williams Depot (http://www.grandcanyonrailway.com) – who have some fabulously restored old trains that will take you on a return trip from Williams to the Canyon’s south rim. The return trip just for the train seemed a little expensive but packages are available for accommodation, meal(s) and return trip. I believe you will have a limited number of hours at the canyon and only stop at the one area of the canyon. They put on a bit of a ‘shoot-em-up’ cowboy show before the train departs in the morning that we hung around for. I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it but it’s probably OK for kids.
While walking around Williams we found a shop that sold quite interesting paintings and some of the best Native American turquoise jewellery that we’d seen in our entire trip, and at reasonable prices. If you are interested in that sort of stuff I’d definitely recommend a stop/stay at Williams.
We arrived at the canyon’s main visitor’s centre/area late morning when the light (for photo’s) wasn’t at its best. The south rim is open all day, 365 days a year but the less visited north rim is closed between October and May. At the main stopping point on the south rim accommodation is available (I think you have to book way in advance and there is a pretty good visitors centre. There are also a couple of museums, including the notable Kolb museum where we bought a rather morbid book entitled Over The Edge: Death in Grand Canyon’ that described the ways in with people have met their maker, mainly by accident. Interesting read none-the-less.
Well, where can I start about the canyon itself?! My lasting impression is one of peace & quiet. The size and depth of the canyon seems to kill sound – a bit like falling snow. We spent some awe inspiring minutes watching an eagle obligingly soar and catch thermals. Throughout the day we stopped at the different view points and got out for some walks along the rim – I really would recommend stopping at several of the places to get different perspectives over a period of time. It’s the only way to take in the changes in light, shadows and colour at different times of the day. There are a number of trails going down into the canyon, one of which we saw people on donkeys descending. The trip costs in the region of $350 per person (including an overnight Lodge stay) and needs to be booked months ahead. The bit of the trail we could see from the rim looked dauntingly steep and narrow and I didn’t fancy it on foot, let alone on top of a wobbly donkey!! Apparently it takes two days to hike down to the river and back on foot. Definitely not for the faint hearted!
The final stop we made along the rim was one of the best because it was the only place we could get sight of the river at the bottom. There was stretch of rapids that from where we were standing looked about an inch long. The information board stated that those rapids were in fact a mile long. For me that really put it into perspective.
Since our trip to the canyon the ‘Grand Canyon Skywalk’ has opened (March 2007) in the Hualapai Indian Reservation (5 hours by car from the South Rim in the remote Western edge of the canyon). It is a 4 inch think glass walkway, shaped like a horseshoe, projecting out 70 feet over the canyon that safely accommodates some 120 people at a time (designed to hold 72 million pound of weight). The skywalk will give you a view under your feet of 4,000 feet down to the Colorado River running along the canyon floor. It was build using more than a million pounds of steel and is meant to withstand winds exceeding 100mph. The astronaut Buzz Aldrin opened the skywalk and it will cost you between $57 and $150 (depending on the other activities you do) to experience the skywalk for yourself.
If you are going to the canyon I’d would really recommend the book menationed above:
My partner and I were fighting over reading it as it gave us both an increased respect for the potential dangers the canyon holds.
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