The Grand Canyon, symbol of the American southwest, the site that put Arizona on the map of the world, example of the power nature and one giant fricken chasim. This was the main reason for even coming to Las Vegas in the first place, through going there I learned many things. Most of the canyon you see today was formed only 6 million years ago thanks to the wildness of the Colorado river although the process of destruction and reformation has been going on for around 2 billion years. However the most imporant thing about the canyon I learned is; do NOT take a tour there, go on your own means and stay theare. Even just to walk around the rim because the canyon is 5hrs from Vegas that means even if you start at 6am you aren't making it back to Vegas until 10pm because of traffic and that includes a very short (for me) 3hr stay at the canyon.
The trip out there is quite boring but you can drop off the interstate and travel along the historic route 66 which was the first almost trans-contiental road to be paved across the US (being it only went from Chicago to Santa Monica that isn't fully east - west). You can get some great shots of the desert but the main attraction is of course the canyon itself which does run around 900 miles long and can be as wide as 10 miles across in some places. Where most tourists and tours get off is the main rim area which has 2 walks which total about 3 miles. You are about 8000 feet above the canyon floor at this point and really the scenery on a clear day looks like it was painted off in the distance, it is a spectacular view.
The problem with being on the clock at beautiful place like the Grand Canyon means fighting without multitudes of people all vying for the best shot and massive queues to get the shot. Being I biologically had to get these shots I waited and that ate up a lot of time setting up shots. Another problem was a rainstorm had swept in and drenched the entire area but I wasn't going to let some damn skyjuice stop me from getting the shots I wanted! I kept going while everyone else scampered back to the visitors centre while I forged on in my slouched hat. The problem was the haze that the raiin made messed up the long distance shots but fortunately it meant got ahead of everyone and was able to setup all the shots I wanted once the rain passed and things cleared up just as rapidly as they had clouded.
The next problem was the clock as walking the 3 mile stretch while setting up the shots took a lot of time and the last mile was pretty much done on the run and I missed some good shots of the Condors and the village near the canyon itself. We just made it back to the bus before it got underway for its 5 hour trip back to Vegas. To all those who intend to visit the canyon I offer this advice. STAY THE NIGHT! That way you can do things at your own pace and the canyon itself is entertaining enough for the entire time. I would even start thinking well ahead of time to schedule a hike or a mule ride down into the canyon because they fill up months and months ahead of spring/summer. I know I will be doing that next time I visit Southern California.
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