The Grand Canyon: Rim Trail

“The glories and the beauties of form, color, and sound unite in the Grand Canyon – forms unrivalled even by the mountains, colors that vie with sunsets, and sounds that span the diapason from tempest to tinkling raindrop, from cataract to bubbling fountain.” John Wesley Powell

The Grand Canyon has been on my ‘bucket list’ for a long time and, this year, I finally made it. Words can’t describe what it’s like to stand on the crater rim or to walk part of the way down into the canyon, but what I can say is this – the experience surpassed my sky-high expectations. And that is no mean feat.

My first look at the Grand Canyon was from the Desert View Watchtower. It was late afternoon and the light was golden; intensifying the colours of the landscape. The shadows, in all the nooks and crannies of this remarkable chasm, ebbed and flowed, as the sun drifted behind the clouds and back out again. Then, further along the canyon rim, I walked from Mather Point to Yavapai Point – just as the sun was setting.

Have I mentioned that I love any landscape in the late afternoon light? It could be a rolling patch of farmland or a rusty car abandoned in field. There is beauty in everything at this time of the day. But here, an already awe-inspiring view was increased a thousandfold.

The timing of my first view of the Grand Canyon was perfect; a gift from nature!

Here are some photographs, which, like words, don’t do it justice. I think the Grand Canyon is one of those places you just have to visit, to really understand how amazing it is.

“Nowhere in the world has the sun a greater chance to set in glory than here where the Painted Desert and the Grand Canyon meet.” (Words from a postcard that accompanied a painting by Gunnar Widforss.)

“Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.” Theodore Roosevelt

“The whole canyon and everything in it is sacred to us, all around, up and down.” Rex Tilousi, Havasupai elder