A Grand Day in the Canyon

Trip Start Aug 13, 2007
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Trip End Nov 12, 2007


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Flag of United States  , Arizona,
Saturday, October 6, 2007

We woke up this morning to a clear, calm fall day, with wide blue skies and hardly a breath of wind. We drove up to the airport and got on our Grand Canyon flight. In hindsight I'm glad that we didn't go on the plane yesterday, as even on such a still day it was still pretty stomach-churning in places. However, ignoring my stomach, I was stunned by the beauty and sheer massive scope of the Canyon. The name 'Grand' goes nowhere close to describing it. We flew a big loop around the canyon, and saw a lot of the North side, which was neat, as there was no way to fit a road-visit to the North side in this trip. Both kids enjoyed the experience, though I think Kate enjoyed the flying bit more than the scenery.

After our flight we drove into the National park & found parking for the truck. Then we boarded one of the three free shuttle buses that have loops all over the South rim. We hopped on and off at different stops along the shuttle route, enjoying the views and cringing at some of the stupid antics of other tourists (like posing on the edge of cliffs beyond the guard rail for photos). Later that day I bought a book from a canyon bookstore called "Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon"; it's a real eye opener to the danger of people who have lost their lives in this amazing park, most of the time because of their own carelessness. We stopped at the last stop on the route 'Hermit's Rest' and had a coffee and a snack. A raven kept us entertained while we nibbled with his funny antics. Josh at the canyon
Josh at the canyon
 He thought he'd scored when he pinched a packet of tissues from somewhere. He ripped open the bag and was pulling white tissues out and flinging them around, but nothing he could eat to his disgust.

Then we caught the shuttle back to where we started, and continued to walk along the paved rim trial, before stopping for a talk on the California Condor by a very entertaining elderly park ranger. We did spot some of these amazing birds, they have a wing span of 9 feet and can glide with these huge wings for up to 150 miles! We also learnt plenty of other fascinating facts about condors, thanks to our ranger. Like how they keep cool: they wee on their feet - the kids in the audiences LOVED that one, and you could see the ranger really enjoyed telling them!

After the ranger talk we hopped on another free shuttle and went back to the visitor centre so the kids could get their junior ranger badges and certificates. When we arrived at the centre we saw two male deer (complete with big antlers) munching away in the visitor centres garden area - they just hopped over the guard rail and started eating. Of course everyone whipped out their camera's to take pictures - myself included.

We decided to stay for the sunset, so took another shuttle to Yavipai point, which has an inside viewing station. By this time the temperature was dropping rapidly as the sun was going down, and we were very glad for our hats, gloves and winter jackets. The detail of the base of the canyon once the sun wasn't blaring on it was worth waiting for and obvious the over-keen photographers with their tripods RIGHT on the canyons edge thought so too! The sunset was pretty spectacular, with the pink & orange sky lighting up the canyon for a brief, magnificent moment before the deep shadows of the night took over. Afterwards, we (and a whole bunch of other tourists) made a dash for the free shuttle. Back at the truck we decided to grab a pizza for dinner on the way home.
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Comments

mike.g
mike.g on Oct 8, 2007 at 06:55PM

Canyon
Hi All,
glad you had a calm day for your flight in the Canyon. Sounds if though you had a very full day. Photos are awesome. Keep it up. _ M.G. -

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