The Grand Canyon Experience

For anyone planning to visit the Grand Canyon my advice would be to visit the North Rim. The North rim is closed in the winter, not easily accessible and simply amazing. Worth every minute of the long winding drive. My friend and I drove all night in order to see the sun rise over the Grand Canyon. The experience was truly out of this world. The sun rise was at 5.16 am. We arrived at the north rim at 5.13am and greeted by a bunch of people already waiting at the look out point with cameras focused east.

At first the sky turned golden. It reminded me of the Chinese tradition where Golden symbolizes royalty. It seemed as though the sky was preparing for the arrival of its king! A little later a small fiery ball was visible over the horizon partially hidden behind the canyons. Now it all made sense as to why the poets refers to the sun as a ball of fire, why children draw the sun as a yellow semicircle nestled in between mountains. The small ‘ball of fire’ soon got larger and seemed to be evidently rising higher with angled rays of light emanating from it. The rays lit up the canyon in a majestic manner and it’s no wonder it is called the ‘Grand canyon’.

After a lovely sunrise we hiked to Bright angels point from where we could hear the roaring springs, see the Angels gate, Deva temple and the other projections on the canyon. Later, we signed up for an hour’s mule ride through the canyon. I would definitely recommend this!

My mule’s name was Supai and he was a lazy fellow. He would take his own sweet time and nothing would hurry him on. He was a sure footed mule though. There were times when he would walk on the outer edge of the rim and it was scary to even look at the canyon below. I was in a group of nine riders, four of them being children. They made the ride very lively with their camp songs and their chitter chatter. After the mule ride we drove to the cape royal point. This trail has the famous angel’s window. This is the only location on in the north rim from where you can see the Colorado River. The angel’s window is a crack in the canyon. Through this crack the Colorado River is visible. The view above the Angel’s window is something. Pressed for time we slowly wrapped up the Grand Canyon trials and made our way to Page.

The drive from the North rim back to the highway must be done in daylight. It is an hour-hour and a half drive but always add an extra hour for I assure you the scenery on the way will slow you down. There are many view points ideally located. At each of these points there are people selling Indian artifacts.

About 90 miles from the Jacobs Lake (the entrance of the north rim) is the town of Page. This is a must visit place for all the Canyon state visitors. The ride to Page takes you on a road cut out in between the rocks. The must see places in Page are the Antelope canyon, Horse shoe bend and the Glen canyon dam. Planning is essential. The antelope canyon closes at 5.00 pm (The lower antelope canyon is a better visit I have heard). Also since this canyon was formed due to water running through the canyon it is prone to flash floods.

The Antelope point or the Slot canyon is a wonder. I don’t think I will do a good job in describing this breath taking marvel. There is a narrow passage in between the canyons going down ward. The narrow slots on top which is ground level filter the incoming rays of the sun resulting in a colorful display of lights down below. It is a photographer’s haven. I saw a number of them with their high end camera patiently waiting for that ‘perfect moment’. On conversing with one of them I learnt that one needed a tripod and an exposure of over a minute in order to get a good shot. Anyway my camera did a pretty good job without both.

The way through the canyon is very very narrow and steep and at some places tricky. While I was negotiating the narrow turns through the canyon I was amazed to think that at one time this had been a solid piece of rock. One River did all this!!!!! The power of ONE.

The other must see place in Page is the Glen canyon dam. The glen canyon dam is a dam in between the canyons and over the Colorado River. It’s a nice ‘hot’ spot to sit idly and gaze at the Colorado River if you are brave enough to face the Arizona sun. This is the second largest dam in the country. The city of Page is a consequence of this colossal dam. A mile across the bridge over to the other side is the Waheep Marina. This Marina is stretches across to Utah. On the edge of the Marina on the Utah side are look out points called coves facing the blue Lake Powell. The lake is calm, blue and serene occasionally disturbed by a speed boat. On the other side are the Navajo mountains with its contrasting white and brown colors. And to think one river did all this.

Our last spot that day was the horse shoe bend. Just as they say save the best for the last. To reach the spot is a three quarter of a mile trek through hot beach sand which makes the walk seems longer. Taking a bottle of water with you is a good idea.

Once you reach the horse shoe bend the walk fades away in to oblivion. What greets you at the end of the trek is beauty beyond compare.

The horse bend is a meander formed by the Colorado River and as you guessed, in the shape of the Horse shoe. You will need a wide angle camera to get the entire meander. The view will sweep you off your feet. Hold on with care because my dear you are at the edge of the rim. One small slip and you will fall about a 1000 feet into a sleepy Colorado River.

We lay down on the wafer like rocks with our chins resting on the edge of the rim. Despite the fact that there were quite a few people at the spot there was a certain solemn silence in the air. Everyone was taking in the moment. I am sure the same thing was running in everyone’s mind “Ah, all the beauty in the world”.

It was sunset time. But it was not to be a picturesque sunset. It was a cloudy evening so slowly everybody packed their gear and left before it got dark. On the way back I did not seem to mind the distance. I kept looking back wanting to remember as much as I could.

There is so much to see in this world. If only we could make the time “to stand and stare.’

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~ by Marie Lisa Jose on July 21, 2008.