land cruise 2015: Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

March 23-27, 2016

After almost four months on the road, we reached this landmark. And grand, it certainly is!
Everything about the Grand Canyon is on a massive scale. The Canyon is more than 200 miles long, 10 miles wide (enough to fit New York City inside it according to a Park ranger) and over a mile deep.

We managed to secure four consecutive nights in one of the park-run campgrounds by booking more than two months ahead. Even still, there was not a single campsite available for those four consecutive nights. We had to move twice, not an onerous task, but an example of how busy the Park is. We tried to go to the Canyon after school breaks were over. However, "Spring break" is staggered over several weeks in the US to prevent over congestion of places such as these. There were hundreds of people! Many families, clearly there during school break but also many, many tourists, from Europe and Asia, and even a few Canadians! The Park is prepared to accommodate the crowds and, if one picks one's spots to view the Canyon,one can indeed get away from the feeling of congestion.
There are several large parking lots which fill up quickly in the morning. Line-ups at the Southern (most popular) entrance apparently can be miles long during peak periods. Private vehicles are not allowed on most Park roads. Instead, there is a very efficient system of free shuttles buses, which run all day and evening, for sunrise and sunset viewers and photographers.


Sunrise


Sunset

There are a few accommodations on Park land, most of which were designed in the 1920s and 1930s by Mary Colter, an architect keen on meshing designs with the natural environment. Needless to say, these lodges book years in advance!

Hiking opportunities abound in the Park. One can take a leisurely stroll along the Canyon rim trail, which goes for miles and miles and provides beautiful views at all times of the day. There are a few trails leading into the Canyon and, again, one can hike a few minutes, hours, days or weeks. One can join a trail ride aboard a mule (booked months ahead!).


Canyon Rim Trail


Bright Angel Trail


Good advice any day of the week!

There is a small number of cabins at the bottom of the Canyon (Phantom Ranch), where one can stay after hiking the several hours needed to descend the canyon's full depth and before launching into the very arduous climb back up. One can also obtain permits to camp on one's own inside the canyon. We met a group of four men returning from a six-day trek and, rightly feeling quite proud of their accomplishment!

The geology of the Canyon is very complex, involving 14 layers of different rock types forming over several hundreds of millions of years. Much of the erosion has been done by the mighty Colorado river, or mighty as it was prior to be dammed at both ends of the Canyon, creating two reservoir lakes: Glen Canyon Dam creating Lake Powell on the upstream eastern end, and the massive Hoover Dam on the western downstream end, creating Nevada's Lake Mead.


The Colorado River seen from above

There is plenty of wildlife to bee seen in the Park, and we enjoyed the many elk, some of whom are quite unfazed by the traffic! The elk are shedding their winter coats now, getting ready for the heat of the upcoming months. Most are sporting the springtime "scruffy" look at the moment!


Everyone on the shuttle enjoys the elk!

We saw many ravens in the park. We were warned by campground staff not to leave ANYTHING out as the ravens would quickly get at it. We were told that a raven took some car keys left on a picnic table the day before our arrival, resulting in a $500 tow! The raven is deservedly known as the trickster in some Native cultures.

"Raven was not thought of as a god. He was thought of as the transformer, the trickster. He was the being that changed things—sometimes quite by accident, sometimes on purpose."
—Christian White, Haida artist