The Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon - South Rim

First of all, I apologize for the length. I took notes along the road so that I would remember things I wanted to talk about--and there ended up being quite a few!

The day started out early. At 7:10 the tour bus met mom and I at our hotel in Sedona and we headed out to pick up the rest of the people. One couple was in Sedona, the rest in Flagstaff.

Our first sight, which only us and the other couple got to see, was Oak Creek Canyon. It's where all the water in a large portion of Arizona runs, so it has clean running water all year long. We crossed a bridge that went over this canyon and the sight was breathtaking. Ponderosa Pines were everywhere, making it look much more green and lush than you'd expect in a desert. These trees are apparently waterproof, and they used to use the wood for railroad ties, before they were put underground. President Roosevelt, to get Arizona to join with the rest of the States, had more of these trees planted over the meadows of stumps from logging.

In Flagstaff, we picked up the rest of our group. The first couple and two other couples were from various areas across the states, but then there was a woman in almost all pink from Manchester (UK) studying travel and tourism, and four Chinese girls. With me and mom as well, it was quite an interesting crowd.

Grand Canyon - East Rim

After a long drive with plenty of interesting stories from our tour guide, past a Flinstones-themed road stop and a mountain where they were mining volcanic stones for icy roads, we arrived at the IMAX theater near the edge of the canyon. We watched a 30-minute movie about the discovery of the grand canyon, with plenty of shots along the river and cliffs that took our breath away. Most of the things in the movie can't be done anymore, like having a helicopter fly into the canyon. In that case, since 9/11, planes and such can't fly over the canyon, so there aren't any "sky tours" of it and it can't be filmed like that. There were also cougars used in one scene, fighting with a human, which wouldn't be allowed these days. It also surprised me how rough the rapids are in the Colorado River down in the canyon. I thought the water was all still and serene, and not so wide across. National Geographic now owns the rights to the movie, and that IMAX building is apparently the only place you can buy a physical copy.

After this, before seeing the canyon, we had lunch at a hotel near the canyon's edge called Bright Angel. I had a bacon cheeseburger with fries, with cheesecake since we had a lunch and dessert coupon each from our tour package. It was delicious. In the gift shop, Mom saw a beautiful small painted horse with dragonflies on it, and I hadn't bought her anything really for her birthday or mother's day, so I bought it for her. I can tell she'll cherish it.

Instead of seeing the view from the hotel's restaurant, our tour guide took us to a much better overlook of the Grand Canyon at the South Rim. The view was breathtaking; I could barely comprehend the distances I was seeing. The canyon is on average a mile deep, and the vast area we were seeing was only a quarter of the entire canyon. I took a short video because I figured a panorama shot wouldn't do it justice.

At this same overlook, the Chinese girls wanted to take pictures, and ended up at the edge, where there wasn't a guardrail. One of them dangled their feet of the edge of the canyon, thinking it would be a great picture, posing for her friends. The tour guide freaked out but did a good job of hiding his fear, instead calmly telling them how people die at that spot--and it's true. Twenty people die at the canyon from various accidents every year, be it hiking, falling from overlooks, etc. He jokes and calls the spot "Natural Selection Point." The girls were fine but probably a little shaken up. Later on, there was a place where a wide ledge was below the rim of the overlook, and the tour guide frequently stops there to take funny pictures making it seem like people are falling over the edge. He explained to the Chinese girls how to take the best--safe--shot of them "falling."

Grand Canyon - East Rim

We went to a few more overlooks, which were all just as breathtaking. The last one at the East Rim (probably the best view) had a 30-foot tall tower that they'd built a long time ago to draw tourists to the area. We didn't go up since there were a number of old people in our group and the view of the canyon wouldn't really be any different from the top.

Along the road back, we took a different highway, and drove through a Navajo reservation area. We stopped at Little Colorado River Gorge, another smaller canyon that lies on Navajo land. Near the natives' newly-built viewpoint, they had a number of stalls open where they were selling hand-made jewelry, dream catchers, pots, and more. At the edge of the canyon, I stood still. It was so quiet and peaceful, probably from the un-developed, sparsely populated native land. Our tour guide told us, "We're not technically in the USA here." I also saw a dust devil, a mini tornado-like swirling wind, pass right in front of me while there. It was amazing to witness.

Little Colorado River Gorge

We stopped at another, more built-up Navajo trading site, the only place for miles with running water and electricity. Many natives hang out there because of it. My mom and I both felt a kind of sad, almost oppressed feeling in the area. Just a few decades ago we stopped taking their kids away to "educate them" (which we did do and is so outrageous), and they're just beginning to trust outsiders. Not long ago the land was a hostile area. You could almost expect to be shot. They live so simply and almost backwards, and don't seem like the sort of amazing native civilization we read about in old books. I don't think they've been introduced to the modern world in a good way.

On the final stretch home, we watched an old western movie in which our tour guide had actually made some of the set, called The Quick and the Dead. It was quite good. It made me want to watch or read more westerns. While watching, we drove past the beautiful Painted Desert, a canyon with more colors than the red rock we're used to seeing, and the smog-like smoke from nearby forest fires. They're really out of control right now, given the strange raining pattern in the last year. The sun setting behind the smoke was both eerie and beautiful.

It was soon dark, and the tour guide told us more stories about growing up in Sedona and driving movie stars around town. He's met and worked for Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and more. He worked creating mini-towns for movie sets, owned a limo ride company, and yet grew up on a farm. He kept us entertained till the end of the tour, with a short movie about two men who were the first people to photograph and film the Grand Canyon.

There are more things I could tell you, more stories of our tour guide's, but I think this blog is long enough.

Two more days. Now in Phoenix, then back to Scotland.