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Published: July 13th 2006
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Me and Dolon visited the Grand Canyon on the 29th and 30th of May,2006.It was a much awaited and a distant wish to visit the natural wonder.This was also a trip that combined our exhilerating experience at Las Vegas,Nevada.
We made a quick decision to visit Vegas and G.C while I was working at North Carolina.It was the coming of a long week end (Don't remember which one) and we wanted to visit some place beyond the East Coast.Las Vegas was the one that seemed most exciting.
We took a flight to Atlanta and then a 4 hour flight to Las Vegas.More on Vegas on my next blog! We rented a Chrysler PT from our hotel in Vegas and drove down to a town called Williams.The road trip was quite an experience.In fact I had never driven through the Wild West of America and this was one.Las Vegas to Hoover Dam was much to do with crossing the Mohavi Desert of Nevada.Dry,arid desert with sparse vegetation.(all sorts of Cactii) Pretty much reminded me of the cowboy movies.
In about an hour and half we reached Hoover Dam,the largest man-made dam in US that is situated at the intersection
of Nevada and Arizona.The dam is pretty much enclosed by continuation of the canyons and houses a vast water reservoir and also the largest man-made lake,Lake Mead.We did not stop by the observatory,but got a fair idea of the vastness of the project.
We continued our journey and now through Arizona,the Grand Canyon State.It was a striking difference in the surroundings.From a flat and deserted Nevada,the view was changing to a hilly and shrub infested vegetation.Pretty soon we could see ourselves surrounded by a hilly range that had a rusty red appearance.There were these small,stunted trees that populated the hill slopes.Still no township or habitation,just an endless one lane road and a few cars crossing by from opposite direction every 10-20 mins.We must have driven about 80-90 miles on this road cutting through the wilderness till we reached our destination,Williams.We checked in at a motel there.
Without mush rest we drove towards the Grand Canyon National Park.The afternoon sun was blazing and we did not want to miss out on the famous sunset at Grand Canyon.We drove a distance of 60 miles from Williams and reached the National Park.
The Park provides 10 miles of trail running
by the edges of the canyon's South Rim.The trails are divided into parts.The walking trail runs to about 2-3 miles where visitors stop by and take a peek of the canyons through the Mather Point and Yavapai Observation Point.Beyond Yavapai there are shuttle bus service that run every 8 minutes and visitors can get down at most points through this shuttle service.The bus shuttle runs to a distance of 8 miles with 10-12 points in between.
First day we walked to Mather Point and Yavapai and caught the spectacular sunset over the Grand Canyon.It is believed that the Grand Canyon was once a flat land,1 billion years ago and it is the Colorado River that constantly abraded its surface.Through these billion years the fissures developed by water cracked through the rock surface leaving behind minerals and salt particles.Today the South Rim of the Canyon is 6000ft deep and the North Rim is 8000 ft deep and the Colorado river is still at work,flowing it's might through the deep gorge.
When the sun falls on the canyon,the minerals and salts and the metallic deposits reflect, producing magical colors.During sunset the colors of the rocks diffuse and create a magic
of rainbow colors.This is an awesome sight and people flock to the various points to witness the wonder.
Also noteworthy is the fact that the temperature differential at the surafe and at the pit of the canyon is considerable,almost to a point of freezing at night.
Next day morning we visited the Grand Canyon again,this time to avail of the bus shuttle.Throughout the shuttle service,the bus driver explains the various points and what to look for.This way we got a lot of information.There are also magazines and newspaper that the National Park offers to its visitors to guide their trip.We visited several points like the Hopi Point,Maricopa Point,Powell Point,the Gorge and Mohave Point.From Hopi and Powell Points one can see the Colorado river winding it's way through the canyon.It really looks like a blue ribbon.
There are many who hike through the Canyons for several days and there have been incidences of people loosing their way and occassional suicides.Today a traveller will need a special pass and enroll with a guided tour operator to hike the canyons.Ceratainly hiking the 6000 ft gorge is not that easy and that would be the greatest obstacle.But there are simpler ways
to reach the base through guided Helicopter tours.
After two days at Grand Canyon we headed back to Vegas to catch our 11'clock flight at night to Atlanta and then to North Carolina.
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