The Grand Canyon, about six million years old, is definitely one of the “Wonders of the World.”
There are similar places like the Waimea Canyon in Kauai, Hawaii.
There is also the 12 mile trail down the Samaria gorge on the Greek Island of Crete. It is, indeed, the largest gorge in Western Europe. It is, though, narrow at one point.
In essence, no place compares to the Grand Canyon.
Stretching for 277 miles, and 18 miles in width in areas, the Grand Canyon can be seen from space. Below is a picture from the International Space Station.
Most people visit the “South Rim” of the Grand Canyon as we did in 1968, 1984 and 2015. It is only 130 miles from Las Vegas. Nearly six million people visit this National Park yearly, second to only the Smokey National Park.
In the early 1900s, Teddy Roosevelt had plenty to say about preserving the Grand Canyon.
Far fewer people visit the “North Rim” as we did in 2007. Even though the rims are only 10 miles apart, it takes a good 5-hour ride to drive from one to the other.
At the North Rim, we were able to snag a room at the lodge.
We were able to take a 5-mile Widforss Trail hike along the ridge. We came across two trekkers wearing “University of Florida” Gator hats.
Mount Hayden can easily be seen from the North Rim.
One of my friends actually did the 23.5 mile “Rim to Rim” hike. And, then some of those hikers actually walk back to the other rim to pick-up their cars.
In the South Rim, there are plenty of lodges and a number of hotels located in what is known as “The Grand Canyon Village.” To obtain a National Park Lodge, though, a year reservation is highly recommended, if you are lucky.
We stayed in a Best Western in the Tusayan community about 7 miles from the rim.
In March of 2015, our car windows froze.
There is a larger community known as “Williams” which is sixty miles away.
Some people in Williams take the “the Grand Canyon Railway” to get to the Grand Canyon.
In 1984, I was with Dr. Tony Beonde driving to Los Angeles. Grand Canyon was definitely a must stop for us.
We drove Tony’s red Toyota Wagon. He put lawn chairs on top of the car!
It was at the Grand Canyon Village that we ran into Ken and Jimmy Rickson from Jensen Beach at that time. It is truly “a small, small world.”
Unlike our visits in 1968 and 1984 where you could take your car anywhere, there is today a shuttle system in the park to drive you along the South Rim.
One of the more picturesque spots is the Desert View Watch Tower. This tower is seventy feet high.
In 1968, my family took a sojourn out to California. It was at “the Ranger talk” at the Canyon amphitheater that we heard of “a walk down the Canyon” at 8:00AM the next day. This sounded fun.
We were at the South Kaibab Trail Head where we thought the Ranger Walk started. The Ranger never showed up! Were we at the wrong place? We decided to walk on our own. There was my dad (44 years old), myself (13), my brother Brandon (11) and my sister Kristy (9)while my mother waited for us at the top. We were carrying one gallon of water. We learned later that we should have had one gallon of water per person.
Going downhill is easy. We saw the green Colorado River below. On July 21st, 1968, the Colorado River was definitely green that day. Going to the river looked so inviting.
I wonder what the Colorado River looked like in 1869 when John Wesley Powell made his three month voyage down the Canyon? The sojourn was the first official U.S. government sponsored trip through the Grand Canyon. There are a number of pictures of John without his right arm. He lost it fighting for the Union in the Battle for Shiloh in 1862.
I walked faster than the family. I got ahead. A Park Ranger on a horse saw me and asked me where the family was? “On the trail coming down,” I might have said. When the Ranger saw my dad, he warned him “to get me!” The Ranger also told my dad that we had to trek back up Bright Angel trail as there are 3 water stops.
We were committed to walking down all seven miles. There was no water-stops on South Kaibab Trail except drinking from the Colorado River—which we did.
It took about three hours to reach the Colorado River. The river was cool and definitely good tasting. Almost a two mile walk from South Kaibab Trail to Bright Angel trail along the Colorado River. In the summer, temperatures are known to get 120F in the canyon. I definitely saw “waves of heat” rising from the white sandy trail.
Before we headed up the Bright Angel Trail, we all took a dip in the Colorado River. Even though there was a swift current, we stayed close to shore.
It was at this juncture we saw a man with two younger daughters. Younger even than my sister.
Looking up is a memory I will never forget. It was nearly 5000 feet to the top! Walls of stone.
Bright Angel Trail was over seven miles in length.
The good news is that there were THREE watering stops.
About 12 people die yearly exploring the Grand Canyon. Some people just fall off the rim. I heard one story of a woman who asked her husband “to keep stepping back” for a better picture. He stepped back one step too far.
My dad kept promising us “Dairy Queens” if we could walk out of this canyon. My dad knew we were in for a struggle.
Every so often, a sign would show up along the trail with a phone. It basically said, “Help could be provided through helicopter service.” The cost of this service in 1968 was $200 dollars per person. My dad would have had to dish out $800 dollars for all four of us to be flown out of the canyon. That wasn’t going to happen on his artist salary. Today that cost is $15,000 per person.
I still wonder how that dad with his two small daughters ever got out?
About mid-way is Indian Garden. Much like an oasis, it provided shade and much needed water. I remember a person showing us a “rattlesnake” they had just killed. They were going to eat it!
Bright Angel Trail is also used for people riding on mules. Today, for $160, one can take a mule ride down to Phantom Ranch. You will also have to stay-over night at the ranch.
There is no worst smell than mule dung along the trail. With each switchback, there seemed to be more dung—everywhere. Near the top, my brother and I sat really close to mule dung. We were so very tired. Our kid sister, Kristy, only 9 years old, passed us up going to the top.
It took about 11 hours to make the entire journey. What we did is known as “The Rim to River (and back) Walk.” We were supposed to have stayed the night down in Phantom Ranch.
We did hear an ambulance close by. Was it for us? No, a boy, ironically, had heat-stroke playing baseball.
My mom, who stayed at the campsite during our adventure, was not too pleased.
We walked over 16 miles that day, mostly without shade and half of it going up hill on desert terrain. We were thankful we had the Colorado River and the three watering holes on Bright Angel Trail to save us.
What we did is highly NOT recommended. My dad came through with the “Dairy Queens” via a gallon of vanilla ice cream. I remember sitting at a picnic bench saying to myself, “I will never do that again. The Grand Canyon is one heck of a hole in the ground!”
Thank you for joining us on our expose on Reminiscing Sundays.
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