Grand Canyon — Finally!
Fantastically Big or Disappointingly Small?
I feel a bit disappointed (even cheated!) when something — an event, a person, a site, an accomplishment — doesn’t live up to expectations. Sometimes the things we long for come up short and end anticlimactically. I’ve never been to the Statue of Liberty, but many people tell me that when they saw it for the first time, it was smaller than they imagined. I suspect everyone has a favorite story or two about a hoped for experience that failed to live up to the hype.
So what about the Grand Canyon? Over sold? One-and-done? Or is it truly beyond imagination?
A 65 year dream in the making, Lois and I were very quiet and pensive as we approached the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, eagerly awaiting our first glimpse. For me, my emotions ran deep. I braced myself for every feeling from utter disappointment to unimaginable awe. We slowly inched closer. “5 minutes to the rim” a sign said. More steps taken. “The first view must be just around the corner?” I thought. “No wait! Perhaps over that next rise?” Apart from scattered signs along the way, it was impossible to know when and where the canyon would emerge, for all we could see in the distance was meadows and forest gently sloping to the North.
Then suddenly — just like that — the excruciating tease was over. There it was! The tiniest sliver of a view of the North Rim on the opposite side of an expansive abyss. Between the two of us we quietly gasped “Wow… WOW! It’s unbelievable. Amazing!” As we continued our approach to the South Rim, our view of the Grand Canyon first grew deeper, then wider. Slowly, but surely, it revealed itself — an unimaginably complex landscape, a seemingly bottomless canyon with countless internal cliffs giving shape to mesas on top of bigger mesas. Large numbers of dry inlets fed small canyons that, in turn, coalesced into deeper cuts in the ground, all flowing towards an expansive bottomless center gorge where the unseen Colorado River raced below. And the layers (so many layers!) of earthen yellows, reds, grays and browns stacked themselves, one upon another, painted down the faces of cliffs thousands of feet high.
Over sold? Ha ha… no possible way! I’ll let our photos do the talking, but the feelings that coursed through Lois and I were awe, magnificence, and beauty on a scale that defies imagination. It was in fact a very spiritual moment — one that stoked our Christian faith. It was as if the Grand Canyon brought to life Jesus’s words as He made his final triumphant entrance into Jerusalem:
As he [Jesus] was drawing near… the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees [religious leaders] in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these [multitudes of people] were silent, the very stones would cry out.” — Luke 19:37-40
The Grand Canyon is undeniably an amazing inspirational place. Through the lens of our Christian faith, its stones cry out to the magnificence of God.
South RIm/West Side — A Never Ending Grand Canyon
We chose to explore the west end of the South Rim during our first full day at the park. As you would expect, the further we drove away from the area around the busy South Rim Visitor Center, the quieter it got.
The views are amazing, and some of the turnouts have scary points you can optionally venture out to with sheer cliffs dropping out of sight on most sides. The first time I (Alan) encountered one of these, I was startled to learn I am no longer comfortable with heights (gasp).
Picture this. At a typical stop along the canyon, it is a short walk from the car to the rim where you are greeted with a stout guardrail and a wonderful view. But if the turnout has a point you want to venture out to, you must first gather your courage, then pray fervently as you wave goodbye to the safety fence. At least that’s my approach. 😱
During my first encounter with one of these, after peeling my fingers off the guardrail, I gingerly coaxed myself 40 yards across a skinny isthmus of land with sheer thousand foot drops just 12 feet away, either side of center. And people passed me going the other direction — can you imagine that! The walk ended with me standing on a giant spire, stout rail thankfully restored. Fortunately, this journey to the abyss rewarded me with amazing views and out-of-this-world photo ops. I (obviously) lived to tell the story. Hope the photos were worth it!
A word from Lois — “My picture of the cute mule is because I would have loved to ride one to the bottom of the canyon. What marvelous creatures they are to be so surefooted and strong to carry people down and back again over so much distance and up such a grade.”
South RIm/East Side — The Grand Canyon Leaps Out of the Desert
On our final day, we traveled to the east end of the South Rim where the landscape rapidly and dramatically transitioned from the relatively flat Arizonan desert on the right to the Grand Canyon on the left. From the vista points, one can also see the Colorado River beginning its trip as it dives deep into the canyon.
One of my (Lois’s) favorite places at the Grand Canyon is the nearly 100 year old Desert View Watchtower. It is a meticulously built 5 story tower. The middle 3 floors of the interior were painted by a Hopi artist. For the Hopi Tribe, it is quite a religious place. I have to say from the moment I climbed up to where the artwork began, it took my breath away. It felt like a sacred place, and I just wanted to stand there in silence and take it all in. The best way I can describe it is it felt like the Native American version of the Sistine Chapel. I love the organic nature of the tower and its paintings.
Another fun time was when Alan and I got to have lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Raven. They are such intelligent birds. I could almost hear them asking us to share our food with them, but we obeyed the park rules and didn’t give them a morsel. The ravens waited until we put everything away, and then gave us a disappointed look and dove off the canyon cliff to find other gullible tourists. 😀
The remaining pictures are just celebrating the glory of such an amazing place! I’m so happy Alan and I were privileged to see such a Creation.
