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| SundayGrand Canyon was huge! Grand Canyon was awesome! Grand Canyon was even more! But now I'm getting ahead. Sunday morning Bill and me took off early in the SUV for the four-hour ride up North to the South rim of Grand Canyon. We had a quick breakfast snack in a gas station while filling up the truck. Miles and miles of road went by, and the nature changed colors and shapes on the way. We had a quick break at one highway rest stop just to take a stationary look at the scenery.
Bill is quite an expert on the canyon, he is a frequent visitor on the hiking trails and rafting and boating trips in the canyon, as opposed to just taking a peek of the big hole on the ledge, which was all we had time for. So I hear quite a few facts and stories about the place -- too much to replicate here or even remember. Anyway, the traveling hours were spent quite successfully.
Near the the Grand Canyon National Park, there was an IMAX theater showing a film about the canyon, a mixture of historical facts and just sights. The huge screen really made a difference comparative to its size, and at times the feeling of presence was almost dizzying. Finally we arrived at the National Park entrance. There was already a fair bit of queue but we made it through in reasonable time.
We parked the car for the first look at the canyon in the parking lot closest to the entrance and walked to the edge. The view was absolutely breathtaking, a steep drop of several hundred meters downwards, and this canyon landscape extending some twenty kilometers forward. Obviously words are not enough here so this page will be laden with pictures (and more on the Mo' Pix page). <pix><scan of route used> Anyway, at this point we needed to get some supplies from the shop. The sun was shining in a manner suggesting liberal use of sun block. I had managed to completely ignore this piece of equipment when packing at home, but here I got a tube with block factor of 50, somewhat harder to come by in Finland. Also a few bottles of water felt like a good idea -- and maybe a bite to grab when hungry. The shop was actually quite large -- but then, this place has <<<>>> visitors each year. It was also time for lunch, so we drove the car nearer to <<<>>> and went into the restaurant next to the canyon and had some. The restaurant's selection was quite largely various burgers and breads instead of "real" food but we got by. The we started the real deal, hiking westward some 3 kilometers from <<<>>> to <<<>>>> Mojave Point on the rim of the canyon -- that actually sounds like more work than it was, in slow pace, often stopping and taking in the sights. The viewpoints were protected with handrails but often on the paths there was nothing between the death drop and the pathway, besides some vegetation. That made me first somewhat uneasy but I soon got used to it. At Mojave Point it was already getting time to get back to be able to make the care ride to Phoenix by a reasonable hour. We caught the last vision and pictures -- the Colorado river was visible here for the first time on our hike. The we caught the pendulum tourist vehicle back to the car. <to be finished/pics to be popupped>
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