Wow. Pictures just don't do it justice. I arrived in Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim around 7:00pm. After reading the Ranger events I realized there was a Ranger talk at 7:30pm. I ran into my room dropped off all my bags and went right to the Shrine of Ages to listen to the 1 hour presentation.
The next morning I attended a 9:00am Ranger hike and talk about pre historic (before written record) times in the canyon. These Ranger events really are fantastic. The next day I did a 5 mile hike on the Western edge of the park along Hermits Trail. Hiking in the Grand Canyon is totally different from most hiking I've done. Here you actually start the hike by going down and finish by going up.
They say that several people a year die from exhaustion while hiking the Grand Canyon. Many attempt to go down to the Colorado River at the base of the Canyon and back in one day. Everyone feels fine going down but run out of steam on the way back.  The Rangers suggest Hopai Point as one of the best sunset views in the park. Unfortunately everyone goes there. There were maybe 1000 people there. Kids running around and screaming, parents yelling at kids, basically not the place for a quite sunset and a peaceful view of the canyon.
I was shocked as to how crowded the park was. I thought Yellowstone in the middle of July would be about as bad as it gets. However, the Grand Canyon, even in October and mid week, was packed. The only way to get away from the crowds is to get off the rim and hike into the Canyon. That alone eliminates 90% of the people there. My second day I did a 6 mile hike that was absolutely fantastic. Amazing views and very challenging terrain. You can see from these pictures that the trail got very thin at points with the Canyon dropping thousands of feet on either side. This was a great way to get away from the crowds and I could not have picked a better day to do it. The weather was perfect. About 2 miles down I ran into a rest area for the mule trip. These are very popular for those who want to get down into the Canyon but can't hike it on their own. Believe it or not these mules take the same trial I was hiking. They say that a mule has never fallen and a passenger has never been hurt. Still that's lots of trust in the mule.  My destination was 3 miles down in the Canyon. I had an awesome view of the Colorado River from my lunch point. The river was only another 3 miles down. I was very tempted to give it a go. Ultimately I decided against it given the 5 different signs saying if you try to get to the river and back in one day chances are very good you won't make it.
I've got to come back here. I attempted to get in last minute on several guided hiking/camping trips into the Canyon. I can see how this could get addicting. The closer you get to the Canyon floor the more you want to get right up next to the river. All of the trips that hike down, camp over night for a couple of days and hike back were totally booked. They even had multi-day white water rafting / camping trips. I very much want to plan ahead and camp in the Canyon. They provide you with everything you need and even cook your meals.
Bummer, for the first time on this trip my "wing it" plan didn't work. I guess it goes to show you how popular a destination the Grand Canyon is.  After my 6 mile hike I rushed to the Yavapia Center for another Ranger talk. This guy was a riot. He's been with the park for 25 years. He gave the whole presentation with his eyes closed. In addition, he had a bit of a saliva problem and was basically spewing spit everywhere. The group would stategically move around him to avoid the spray. Saying that this guy was a wealth of information. I learned so much about the Canyon and theories on how it was formed I can't even begin to type it on this site. Really it was totally facinating how the Canyon came to be.
Now off to Sedona! |
