There are certain sites that take your breath away and leave you speechless. Both of us being classic over-communicators, it’s perhaps even more rare that we find ourselves without a word to say, but such was the case upon arriving at the South Rim overlook for the Grand Canyon.
First of all, let me recommend that you utilize the South Rim for Canyon-viewing if you, like so many of us, are on a budget and looking to see as many sights as you can for as little coin. The South Rim will run you about $30 per vehicle, whereas the North Rim began at around $40+ and was not self-guided, requiring a hop-on-hop off to each site. Notably, as well, the North Rim starts at around $40 and increases in cost based upon how many sites you would like to see. They do have an allegedly awesome “Sky Bridge” allowing for glass-bottom viewing, and I would assume that it would be worth it if you had the money to burn. We found the South Rim to be more than sufficient and reviews from locals in the area seemed to be in agreement on this.
Few natural wonders can compete with the Grand Canyon. Along our trip, we’ve seen a few of the most notable ones that the U.S. has to offer, Mt. Ranier, the giant trees of the Redwood Forest, cliffs of the Northwestern Coast, but none of them left us speechless and in awe like the canyon.
277 miles by 18 miles of a geological masterpiece, The Grand Canyon, is vibrantly painted with colors caused by years of water and wind erosion that have revealed the plethora of subterranean sediment. Like the rings of a tree, the layers reveal the age and history of the age of these sediments, and you can see up to 2 billion years of this history within the Canyon’s mile depth. The nearby Pueblo natives considered this a holy site, making pilgrimages here regularly. Today more than 5 million people make pilgrimages of their own, and I would say that if anything would qualify as a “holy” experience, the Canyon would certainly be a contender.
I was unprepared for my very first rendezvous with the Canyon. Spencer and I arrived at sunset, which in retrospect couldn’t have been a perfect time to do so, as the escaping sunlight painted both the sky and canyon in brush strokes of vivid oranges, pinks, reds and purples. As I gazed, mouth agape, at all the beauty that lay before me, Spencer turned and said, “So, what do you think?”
“I.. well I…” I stammered, finally declaring “There are no words to do it justice. I am speechless, for once.”
I still hold that to be true, and in that spirit, I will not try to describe what we saw, as there truly is no way for me to do it justice. My recommendation, is that you go and see it for yourself. Hopefully, it will inspire and revitalize you, as it has done for us. I’ll leave you with some pictures to enjoy and maybe light a fire under your butt to get down to Arizona and check it out!
