The Grand Canyons, plural

Trip Start May 09, 2009
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Trip End May 29, 2009


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Where I stayed
The Kaibab Lodge

Flag of United States  , Arizona,
Sunday, May 17, 2009

I first visited the Grand Canyon National Park about 23 years ago. I was returning to New York after working for a period in San Diego and the route was taking us near the canyon so we had to stop. After all, it's the Grand Canyon. We had stayed in Death Valley, then drove through Amargossa and Las Vegas to arrive at what I figured would be more desert. I was not prepared for the ponderosa pine forest bordering the canyon. We naively thought we could find an open campsite; instead we stayed for a few hours, walked with hundreds of other visitors the popular Bright Angel and Transept trails, took some pictures and found a campsite down the road in the Kaibab National Forest. We left the next morning.

This trip I was not expecting much from the canyon, with all the crowds and such. How wrong I was. Sure there were lots of visitors, but the canyon is immense and seems to absorb the numbers of people it attracts. I found it easy enough to take them in stride while gawking at the amazing scenery. The lodge was a madhouse having only opened for the season a few days before, but we were still able to find a wicker love seat on the outdoor patio with a beautiful view of Transept Canyon and beyond. When Jackson strode by and asked us if we would like a drink, we were in heaven. And for all the people, there was a sense of respectful reverence, with most watching the sunset and enjoying the scenery without being the usual load Americans.

Our first full day at the canyon we did some actual hiking. We drove out to the Walhalla Plateau to visit the Vista Encantadora, Point Roosevelt, and Cape Royal while walking some of the shorter trails near the overlooks. Afterward we hiked a couple miles among ponderosa pine to Cape Final. For most of the hike we had the trail to ourselves and it was very peaceful. The view from Cape Final was stunning as we could look down several side canyons and see peekaboo views of the Colorado River. Jane asked me, "Why do they call it the Grand Canyon since it's actually many canyons." We finished lunch as others began arriving and began back towards the car. Later we walked the Bright Angel Trail and snacked at the Grand Canyon Lodge for dinner before returning to our cabin at the Kaibab Lodge.

We also sat in on a ranger talk about the California condor program led by a nervous young ranger Jeremy. This was the first time he led the condor talk and he kept referring to his notes and repeating points. At one point he mentioned, "I hope a condor flies over to save me," but if one did I'm sure he would have shit his pants. Only an hour later while walking out to Bright Angel, I glanced up above and sure enough there were two California condors as well as another couple of buzzards floating way above the canyon rim. Ranger Jeremy had noted their wingspan to be about nine feet on average. They were beautiful to watch, gracefully gliding on the updrafts from the canyon below - they didn't even need to flap their immense wings to control the flight, they merely adjusted the outermost primary feathers of the wings to bank.

The Grand Canyon was a great place for nature watching. I was always pulling out my binoculars. Besides the California condor, we also saw some some wild turkey, a golden eagle, a porcupine, a Kaibab squirrel (larger than our grey squirrels, with a brown body, tufted ears, and an oversize fluffy contrasting white tail), horned lizards, lots of whiptails and sagebrush lizards, and plenty of mule deer.
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