5/27/08 A Look at the Hole in the Ground

Bonnie and John arrived at our campsite around noon.  That gave us plenty of time for our morning routine and to allow us to get some house straightening up done.  Of course we've only been here one day so how messed up could it get?

We sat outside talking around the picnic table for awhile and decided we should get on our way to go see the Hole in the Ground.

We didn't have to drive as the Grand Canyon National Park has an excellent shuttle system in place.  We walked to the entrance of the campground and waited just a few minutes for the next shuttle to arrive.  There are several places where you can get great views of the canyon and we were determined to see them all.  Again, the shuttle service will take you to each one and when you are finished in that area you just wait for the next shuttle which runs about every 10 minutes.

John and Bonnie had seen the canyon about 10 years ago so it was like seeing it for the first time all over again for them.  I was so excited about seeing the canyon, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  What a wonder it is!

This is the very first picture I took of the canyon.  It was hard to focus the camera with the tears in my eyes.  Look for the green sections on the canyon floor, that's the Colorado River which flows through the canyon.

I stood there with Bonnie and all I could say over and over again, Oh my God, this is so beautiful.  Trust me, the pictures do not do this justice!

I knew it was going to be big,,,,but I had no idea!

The length of the canyon is about 277 miles long measured along the river from Lees Ferry in the east to the Grand Wash Cliffs in the west.  The average width of the canyon is about 10 miles rim to rim.  But, a rim to rim trip from Canyon Village requires a 24 mile hike or more than 200 miles by road.

I really didn't know what to expect when we got here and was surprised by how many lodges/hotels/cabins there are available for rent.  I was even more surprised to see a Chase Bank, a full fledged grocery store, a medical clinic, a dental clinic and to learn that there is a school system in Grand Canyon for the full time residents of the canyon.  I didn't know that people lived here, owned homes and called the Grand Canyon HOME!

There are so many colors to the canyon.  Here is a section that has a green hue to it because of the vegetation.  On the bottom left side of the picture you can see a wooded area, this is Phantom Ranch.  There is a lodge there and cabins for rent.  How do you get there?  By mule of course!   I wouldn't want to be there in the dead of summer as the temperature gets to 120 - 130 degrees down in the canyon.

Here you can see a section of the Colorado River, keep in mind that the river is a mile DOWN from the rim of the canyon.

How does one describe this?

Awesome?  Beautiful?  Magnificent?  Stupendous?  Breathtaking?  They would all be right and none of them  are enough.

Bonnie and John taking it all in.

Every time we changed locations the view changed.

 

From yet another view point, take note of the change in colors yet again.

I can't wait to see this at sunset!

As we walked to on the viewpoint we came across this little fellow.  Obviously, he is very used to humans and paid us no mind while he had his afternoon snack.

Bonnie and I posing for John.  Take notice that the other people in the picture are in T-shirts.  Yes, we are way overdressed!  It didn't take long for those jackets to come off.

Don't back up Bob!

This picture was taken a couple of miles away from where the first one was taken.  You just have no idea how big this canyon is.

My dead tree picture for the day.

Bonnie hanging on to the tree to get a closer look.

More from the canyon....  click on each picture to enlarge.

We often remarked to each other today, "What did the pioneers say when saw this when they came west in their covered wagons?"  We thought maybe..."Holy S_ _ _ how are we get across this!"

Although we'll never get enough of looking at this wonder it was time to leave.  We stopped at the Yavapai Lodge for dinner.  It was a cafeteria style place but all of our meals were very good.  Expensive, but good!

On the way back we came across these elk.  Of course this one put his head down just as I snapped the picture.

This one decided to walk away as I trained the camera on him.

So this was our first of several looks of the Grand Canyon that we'll get while we're here.  Sorry Darlene, hole in the ground just doesn't get it!

As I told you earlier we tried all the adjectives we could think of to describe this magnificent work of God and then I remembered a word from my childhood that was to be used when no other word would do.  I think it fits here.  To me the Grand Canyon is definitely SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALDOCIOUS!