Grand
Canyon Pictures
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Trek
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The Grand Canyon [Arizona] seen from the North Rim's Bright Angel Point.
Well,
it's certainly grand - the biggest canyon in the world of course -
the view is awesome and the silence inspiring, but if it
was a horse the Big C would be a one-trick pony.
The initial reaction after the long drive is 'Jeez, look at the size
of that!' followed by a rush to the short path along the [in our case
north] rim. But after a wander around in the afternoon, followed by
another look early the next morning, when the scene was fundamentally
the same even though the sun was pointing a different way, it was
impossible not to feel 'Is that it then?' 270 miles long, 11 miles
wide and a mile deep and you get one shot? [as Eminem might say].
The
Bugcrew feel that compared to the wild, colourful rocks and varied,
fabulous hikes of nearby Zion or Bryce Canyons [see links below] the
attractions of the Grand Canyon may be overrated. However it's true
that:
a] a couple of alternative hiking trails were closed due to managed
burns when the Bugcrew were there.
b] fit visitors with lots of time can hike - or mule - down to the
canyon base and get all sorts of new angles.
c] the South Rim is a lot busier than the North [which we visited],
offers a lot more activities and is easier to get to from most places.
And
by the way, don't consider driving to both North and South Rims unless
you're ready for 215 miles of slow roads between the two.
Bottom line is, you've got to see the Grand Canyon but try to plan
something other than just looking over the edge...
...such
as walking the Hualapai Indian's Glass Skywalk
that projects 70ft [20m] out from the Canyon Rim so you feel you are
walking on 4,000 ft[1,220m] of air. Opened in March 2007 visitors
have to pay to enter the Hualapai Indian National Park as well as
$25 to walk on the scary glass along with a max of 119 others.
Location: the southwest rim at Grand Canyon West, 55 miles from Peach
Springs on Route 66 or 47 miles from Pierce Ferry Road off Route 93.
From: Las Vegas NV, 121 miles; Flagstaff, AZ, 216 miles; Phoenix AZ,
253 miles; Scottsdale AZ 273 miles; Sedona AZ, 249 miles; LA via Hoover
Dam, 375 miles
.
Of
course you could take a white water ride through the canyon that would
be wild, but you'd better book it way in advance. In fact
the National Park Service permits only one private trip to leave Lee’s
Ferry [the nearest launch point above the Grand Canyon] daily, and
there is now a 13 year waiting list! Yes, you read it right, thirteen
years!
Of course there are several pricey, mega tourist rafts a day that
don't have the same frisson of thrills, spills and a turbulent death
by drowning...
The Bugcrew obviously visited the Grand Canyon's North Rim. We feel this was a mistake for although there were far fewer visitors than on the South Rim it was a long drive to get there and we believe the views and potential activities were more limited. We think that our suggested Grand Circle tour would be improved by visiting the South Rim as the last stop before returning to Las Vegas.
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