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July 3, 2007

Canyons are mountains in reverse

Yesterday, Klidre, OM (Klidre's girlfriend), and I went to the Grand Canyon. Some observations:

1) Most of my former climbing has been on mountains (or hills) and you can see them coming. That gets you excited as you get near. The Grand Canyon however, despite being huge, can only be seen from the ground when you are near. That said...

2) Klidre said that the first time you see the Grand Canyon, your face lights up in wonder like a 5 year old at his first baseball game. I can vouch for that. It was simply amazing. You witness it and you have to appreciate the wonder of creation. The size, the colors, and the plant life (it was lush compared with the desert I imagined) combined into a stunning view.

3) It was an interesting mix of easy and difficult. We hiked Bright Angel Trail (Description and Pictures). What made it difficult was that the heat in the sun was brutal, and the grade was quite steep and you do the easy part (down) when you are most well rested. On the other hand, there is water at points along the trail, so you don't have t carry a whole day's water at a time. The trail isn't crowded, but it is in heavy use, so if you need a Band Aid for a blister someone will be there to help. Unlike say, the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, there is also shade. The overhang of the cliffs provide shade, and in places, shade even at noon. That made rest stops much more restful.

4) The parks department is well run, at least at the operational level. The trail was well maintained and the view was just amazing. The signs were clear and didn't distract from the natural surroundings more than necessary. We asked a few rangers for advice over the course of the day. they had suggestions on trails, techniques, and were knowledgeable about terrain, plants, and the canyon's rock formations.

5) Many hikers were not properly prepared. People wore foolish and impractical clothing while hiking, and many (though inexperienced) set out on long hikes without regard to their duration. We saw a group of college age girls who said their hiking experience was one hike the day before carrying a liter of water each (about a third of what we brought) continuing on after we gave up at the 1.5 mile marker.

6) The rangers are nice and effective cops. While waiting stopped for bus to finishing loading, a woman in an SUV backed her car up into my rental car. She smashed up the front of my car, leaving it drivable but damn ugly. She and her husband were French, nice folks on tour of the US. We called 911 and they sent over rangers to fill out an accident report. Ranger Sias was polite, efficient, and arrived promptly. She had extra pens so we could fill out our statements, was able to make copies and process lots of information right from her vehicle. The driver of the SUV ended up with a $135 ticket for "dangerous backing up". All and all we were delayed by 45 minutes and no one was hurt, that's about the best accident you could hope for.

Hertz again showed effortless competency, comping me for my half tank of gas, and giving me a new car withing about 15 minutes of dropping off the broken one.

Posted by OneEyedMan at July 3, 2007 11:18 AM

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Posted by: -M- at July 3, 2007 6:59 PM

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