The Grand Canyon is one of my favorite sites in the whole world. I have hiked there 7 times, being on all but one of the major trails. We made it to the river four times. We actually failed to make the River twice, and once we only did day hikes with a guide
Borcher Rapids to left.
One of my favorite memories is the first time into the Canyon. We went down the Hermit Trail. We ran out of time to make the River. Hermit trail had badly washed that spring and I was having nightmares about retracing that route. We have to traverse a 60+ degree slope which ran down about two hundred meters to a drop of over 800 meters. So we decided to hike the Tonto Platform and Bright Angle Trails back. It was dark as we climbed up Bright Angle Trail. In the skies was bright Hale-Bopp Comet to the North, and a near full eclipse of the moon to the South.
Yes, all of my children have accompanied me into the Grand Canyon at least once. That greatly added to the memories. I remember my daughter standing on the Tonto, looking with wonder down another 1500 meters into a side Canyon. I remember one of my sons guiding us along the North Bass trail, his finger to the map. I remember my other son topping out over the red wall shortly after dark on the Thunder River Trail. I remember hiking down Tanner Trail with a friend. Coming back up, the fog was pouring over the edge and down the gully that is Tanner Trail – truly a wondrous sight. Once we took a foreign exchange student. Unfortunately we did not get to see the Canyon. There was an Inversion and the Canyon was filled with clouds. It looked like we could have walked across the top. I now know that inversions like that are a rare event, to be cherished.
I know of no more powerful Spiritual place than the Grand Canyon. It’s immensity. It’s grandeur. It’s hidden small beauties are all magnificent. An memory that stands out is hiking up the Hermit Canyon and finding it like a Japanese Garden with the running stream full of red rocks and small rapids and overhanging trees. I did not get a picture, but once we stopped by a 2 meter clay cut beside the trail. It had been cut by the wind and water so as to resemble a closet of spindles on rows of shelves.
Another time we were at Thunder River Spring, relaxing in the shade. After about an hour we glanced over to our right and recognized a huge rattle snake also relaxing in the shade, just a little deeper under the tree than we were. Needless to say, we changed trees. Twice I have seen the native “pinkie” rattle snake. The first time, on the Tonto, one struck at me, but fortunately missed.
One more memory before the pictures: The group of 8 of us climbed up out of the Canyon onto Grandview Lookout, one of the major tourist points of the South Rim. The crowd encircled our group amazed, asking questions for over an hour til Bruce and I rescued them with the SUV and lots of soda and sugar. I am sure that to this day, there are pictures of the teenage marvels who crawled out of the Canyon “right in front of our eyes” being shown in home videos and scrapbooks. Yes, they were a sight to be hold having been in the Canyon for 5 days, without showers, dirty clothes, and broad smiles at “making it out alive.” On that trip we had met three men who had come down Tanner and went overland on the Escalante Trail, to New Hance Trail. They were shaking and white and very very glad to find people. Also we had a newly wedded couple who the day before had tried to go up the trail we used from the bottom of New Hance to Grandview Loop. They reappeared shortly after dark having lost their way in the braiding of the trail.