The Grand Canyon.. Earning Its' Name

First and most importantly. Christine has temporarily lost her phone. If you call her please leave a phone number so she can call you back using Phil's phone. Thanks.

First off the part that caught me most by surprise about the Grand Canyon was the fact that it is found at the end of of a forest. From most pictures and views I had previously seen we were expecting more of a desert atmosphere. Instead we found trees and wild life, not the exact scene we had pictured in out minds heading into this endevour.

On the long road that leads to the canyon we saw many "look out for this animal being in the road" signs. The common deer sign, the elk sign (more common here), the panther sign and the cow sign. Huh? Wait? Cows crossing sign. Sounds odd right. After all who has ever heard of a wild cow walking through the forest. Silly Arizonian's and their signs.

When we speak of the Grand Canyon we must break it up into two separate and totally unequal parts. We first stumbled upon the North part of the canyon. There were cabins everywhere and lodge with a huge dining hall and theater all over looking the canyon. Very touristy and it was difficult to find some way to interact with the Grand Canyon like we had with the Bad Lands. We walked what we could and took what scenic photos we could, but in the end there wasn't a whole lot to do there.

We were planning to stay in that area for the night, but after planning it through we desided to make the 40 mile, 2.5 hour trip to our camp ground near the southern part of the canyon. You might be wondering, "How could it take 2 hours to go 40 miles?" Well, if you went directly across the canyon, like via airplane or helocopter it was 40 miles from canyon to camp ground. Unfortuniatly for us, the canyon is kind of in the way, and while the Aveo has been an off roading beast so far this trip, we didn't want to brave the journey. So we had to go back out the long winding road that led to the canyon, down a road going east, that leads around the canyon, and then a southen road to get where we had to be.

The next day we headed out for the Grand Canyon once again. This time we would be attacking from the south. When entering the park we came to the gaurd booth, where they collect your money and give you a pass. By this time we have been to so many National Parks that we now have a pass, and do not have to pay to enter. We got to the booth, showed the ranger our National Parks card and license as proof of identity. He looked at it and said, "New York, eh." To which Phil replied, "Yes, we have traveled very far to see your canyon."

Th good part was that the South was a lot better than the North was. Yes, this is one of the few times where the South actually beats the North in something, other than marrying one's own sister, or barbeque. There were many scenic overlooks and trails to walk around. At the Grand Viewpoint we actually walked down the majority of the canyon. We would have gone to the bottom, but didn't have water and had read earlier about people getting stuck down there and needing to be rescued due to dehydration or extreme fatigue. In retrospect we probably could have made it down to the bottom and back up, but at the time it wasn't worth the risk.




We took many pictures and have some great video footage, but it really does not do justice to what a spectacular scene and view and really is. The canyon really is grand. There were many times that we looked over the view and said that it was so beautiful, it almost didn't look real. It looked like a picture of a post card someone would buy and send you. The reds and tan colors of the mountains with sporadic greens sprouting off of them. The the blue and white horizon are a perfect contrast for the mountainous area and the shifting of the shadows from the sunlight provide a constantly changing dynamic. You could stay in one place all day and feel like you saw 9 different places around the area.