Grand Canyon Village, Arizona, United States
The Grand Canyon must be one of the greatest spectacles on
earth, a sight that never ceases to impress, possibly the grandest of all of
America’s national parks. This is probably the fifth or sixth time I’ve been to
the park, but I still feel like there is much more to see there despite doing a
four-day guided hike into the canyon in October 2021. While this trip was a
little rushed, leading us to only spend a half day at lookout points along the South
Rim and hiking a very busy stretch of it near Canyon Village, I still have an
agenda for future trips to the canyon. Those include rafting the Colorado River
through the Canyon and doing the rim-to-rim hike over two days with a night at
Phantom Ranch.
There are many places around the world that compare
themselves to the Grand Canyon as “The Grand Canyon of ________”, but I
honestly haven’t found any of them to compare to the real thing, even if they
are impressive or beautiful in their own right. In terms of size, depth, and
overall magnificence, the Grand Canyon is unique in the world.
One thing about the Grand Canyon that surprises people is
how cool the temperatures are along the rim at over 7,000 feet in elevation. There
was still some snow on the ground when we were there in late March and I was on
the chilly side with just my sweatshirt on and no jacket. Down by the riverside
it is, of course, about 25 degrees hotter than along the rim. One thing we did
this time that I missed on my 2011 and 2021 visits was to explore some of the
historic structures along the South Rim, including the El Tovar, one of the original
national park lodges, Hopi House Trading Post, Lookout Studio, and the Kolb
Studio, now a small museum of western art.
2025-05-22