The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon

Neither of us had ever seen it.  Last spring I had an American Chemical Society meeting in Anaheim, Mary went with me, and our flight home flew right over the South Rim on a very clear day, so  we did get to see it from a great vantage point. Amazing.  Really revved up our anticipation to see it from the ground.

The plan was that this would be the climax of our trip, the biggest “wow!” moment. But could it be, after Bryce, and Arches, and Zion? I remember years ago going to Niagara Falls and wondering beforehand if it would measure up to my expectations. Niagara exceeded my expectations! But here, again, I wondered if I might be just a bit disappointed--my expectations for The Grand Canyon were very high.

Well—the result was yes and no. Esthetic opinion: the Grand Canyon is not as beautiful a place as Zion. It is not as artistically ornate as Arches. And It is not as fantastical as Bryce. But for sheer oh-my-god-I- think-my- heart-is-going-to-stop-I-can’t-believe-what-I-am-seeing-I-can’t-believe-I-am-here the GC is the champ.  There are other places in the world with similar impact (the teleforique up to The Needle, the  Aguille du Midi on the side of Mont Blanc comes to mind), but seeing the GC is a life-changing experience.

I am a scientist, and I know too much about the cruelty, the massive amount of death, the pain and suffering that is built into our physical world to have much romantic sentimentality about “the beauty of nature.” But to sit quietly somewhere on the rim of the GC and watch the sun and cloud shadows play across the vast canyons with their changing colors is to be transfixed by sheer joy, and wonder.

We visited the North Rim, because it fit in with our itinerary, and because our guide book said it was quieter (less people) than the South rim. We will HAVE to return to see the South rim someday. But the North Rim is also up in the ponderosa pines, being several thousand feet higher than the South.

The view from the Lodge is hard to beat.

That's Mary in the green jacket.

But the prime viewpoint on the North Rim is Cape Royal, where there are a couple of nearly 360-degree viewpoints.  There is a “fin” with a hole in it called Angel’s Window, a narrow precipice with a handrail you cling to with white knuckles—it was very windy:

See the people on top?

I couldn't resist, up there I walked up next to a guy hanging onto the rail for dear life looking into the vast, intricate scene and said "Is this all?" He looked at me unbelievingly and then we both exploded into laughter, it was just so high and exposed and we were both full of adrenalin. 

And here is a sample of what we saw:

A couple more pictures:

Wish I had a large-format camera and a way to put a 6’ by 12’ print in the basement. Oh well. The deal is, if you have been there, then you can look at your photos  and even though they can’t possibly do justice to the majesty, memory will supply the “ohmygod.” This memory, I think, will never fade.

ZION!

Zion means “sanctuary” and these magnificent canyons, high in the Colorado Plateau, are not only monumental on a scale like Yosemite, but also filled with beautiful cottonwood forests with water and flowers. Not exactly lush as the Blue Ridge, mind you, but full of life.  So Zion IS a sanctuary and has been for men and animals and birds from the Puebloan Ancestors to today. 

Zion was our favorite experience.  I’m careful not to say “our favorite park” because we loved them all.  But it was the best experience because, first of all, to mitigate traffic in this immensely popular park (over 2 million visitors a year, I think), driving up the main scenic canyon is not allowed, there is a free shuttle bus system that will pick you up at stops in Springdale, UT—one right across the street from our motel. It drops you off in the park where you pay your way in (or flash your pass) and then another system picks you up and takes you up into the canyon, stopping at a series of breathtaking places where you can stay as long as you like and then catch another shuttle back or onward to the next breathtaking place.  Or take a trail.  On the shuttles you get a recorded message that is interesting and you don’t have to drive and fight for parking spaces at the various scenic points. They come around about every 15’ from about 6AM until after dark.  Fantastic!   

Actually: I was furious when I first learned (a) I couldn’t drive around myself, (b) Bella was not allowed on the shuttles.  What to do?  In fact the system is GREAT. The shuttles even have elaborate lifts for wheel chairs, and there were many an elderly person there who the shuttles were perfect for.  So we put Bella up at a great kennel called (no kidding) the “Doggie Dude Ranch” in Springdale, and she had such a great time there we weren’t sure she would rejoin us at the end of the day.

Here’s the kind of thing you saw when you would get off the shuttle at a stop:

There are condors in this area but we didn't get to see one

One of our favorite stops was a majestic grove of cottonwood trees with picnic tables, where you could sit in the shade of the treesand look up at the surrounding walls:

Y
ou could take great pictures without ever getting off the shuttle, just stick your camera out the window.  And therein is a problem. When I was a hiker and backpacker (30 years ago), I remember treasuring such contempt for those who would just ride through a park, stop at the scenic spots, take a picture, then move on.  But on this tour sometimes we had to do what I used to despise!  Of course you need to get out of the car—or shuttle—and get into the woods, see things on your feet.  At most of the parks we did that, but between my knees and Mary’s sensitivity to both heat and cold we are limited to no more than a few miles’ walk. But the Parks are great about providing easy, as well as epic hikes.  At Zion, where you can be down in the canyon in the shade instead of cooking up on the rim, we took a great hike up toward The Narrows, Zion’s most famous feature—a 2000’ canyon that narrows to a few yards wide and the only place you can walk is in the Virgin River itself. However, a good deal of rain and snowmelt had swollen the river to where The Narrows was closed to hikers.  But we did follow the river for about 3 miles up into the canyon. In spite of crowds of people—it was paved and you could have been on a sidewalk in New York—the hike was magnificent.  First thing, a wispy fall reminiscent of Yosemite:

 2000' Waterfall

Saw a canyon wren and many flowers in “hanging gardens” growing on the walls where there were seeps.

That evening we took a walk on the only path where Bella was allowed to go, walked along the roaring river and watched the sun set:

The only downer was during the day when 3 young guys got on the shuttle, hiking boots, massive backpacks, in from a week of hiking, tired but happy. Wish I could have gone with them.

We really hated to leave The Sanctuary.



GIMME A BREAK: KODACHROME BASIN

I’m sitting in an open pavilion containing a ping-pong table, hot plate, and sinks for campers, at a KOA in Cannonville, UT.  Still, the view is not bad:

Our plan was to spend three nights here and visit Bryce Canyon NP one full day and Zion NP one full day.  This would have added up to three of our greatest National Parks in four days.  Too much! We did Bryce yesterday and it was of course the place that defines “scenic.” But this morning we are so tired we are just hanging out at camp. We will pack up tomorrow, reserve a motel near Zion and give Zion a day and a half.

We got here day before yesterday after driving across what may be the most outrageously scenic interstate in the US: I-70 west of Thompson Springs starts out as flat desolation and then as you go west the geology just gets wilder and wilder.  This is the huge sedimentary seabed from the inland sea that used to occupy the center of the US, which dried and a piece the size of Nevada, roughly centered at the Four Corners, was shoved upward tectonically—to about 9000 feet above today’s sea level. It is called the Colorado Plateau and all the canyons and fabulous features of Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon are nothing more than cuts and carvings made by rainfall and river erosion, ice and sandblast  into that plateau, which has hundreds of layers of different hardnesses and colors.

Every 5 miles or so on I-70 you see a sign: “scenic turnout,” and you should, because each one throws some unbelievable panorama at you, with a sign explaining the geology. For example:

We eventually turned south on US 89.  Knowing we were going to be setting up camp the weather looked worrisome:

In the end we only got a few exciting drops after we set up. Meanwhile. before we got there we needed a place for our PB&J lunch and saw a “rest area” sign; turned out it was an amazing little place with nice bathrooms and covered picnic tables (nice given it looked like we were going to be rained on), hidden in the woods away from the road and next to a pretty creek (in this country any running water is beautiful to see).

Saw a western tanager almost immediately, also a spotted towhee and black-beaked magpie.  Rest area was apparently maintained by the “Hoover” community, though we never saw the community! It was so pretty after a long drive.  It was really appreciated, Hoover!

We arrived in Cannonville, UT and its’ KOA late afternoon yesterday, but in plenty of time to set up. We saw some glimpses of the rocks on the edge of Bryce and it was clear we would be in for a treat.

Overall the Cannonvile camping was a good experience; it would have been great if the wind had been just a little warmer:

 Picture of Mary freezing; I have pictures of Mary Freezing at all the National Parks...

Being aged (Bella too), we would have to crawl out of bed (which really was comfortable and warm, Mary admits) in the night and walk over to the bathrooms, taking Bella to the pet walk as well.  But the KOA was friendly, well-maintained, the sites spaced nicely among the trees and hills, and our gear worked very well. I had a prejudice againt KOA's, having been told that they typically really crowd the campsites together. Not true at the Cannonville UT KOA.

KODACHROME BASIN STATE PARK  VALLEY

After a very nice day just hanging out in camp but getting restless, in the late afternoon we ran down to a small UT State park called “Kodachrome Basin,” named (with permission from Kodak) by the National Geographic because of the colors. Turned out it was an absolute gem! We took a small nature trail (we could take Bella, this not being a National Park) and it was a chance to get close to the sticky-shoe rocks, which I and Glen and Neal loved to run around on in 1972. This time I carefully inched around trying not to inflame my knees.

Because we did this walk at our leisure, we had time to contemplate individual stone sculptures and made a game of naming them; for example:

An Old Couple Snuggling In Bed

The Buddha Speaks

The Monk Contemplates

The White House

The area is famous for its many stone columns; here is “Chimney Rock”

Note Mary at the bottom

Dead pinon pines make some nice scuptres too:

What started out as a little side excursion turned out to be a very fine evening, wouldn’t you say? The last thing we saw was a scrub jay.