Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is an enormous rift in the middle of the Colorado plateau, and it's dramatic vistas are basically unparalleled anywhere in the world. It's one of those select places you really feel like you ought to see before you die.

It's also the sort of place that's so well known it's almost redundant to photograph or describe. I imagine the first westerners to explore it were able to fill letters and articles with many well earned superlatives of praise, but, let's face it, the audience of this blog has seen so many pictures of this spectacular act of God that they have no need to read or peruse more here.

Never the less, pens cannot rest on the laurels of their forefathers, and I press forward with mine to record our experience for our own small family's sake.

While a winter visit to the Grand Canyon is cold and carries the hazards inherent in that season, it also brings a new beauty to the red rock. Snow and ice cover the ground and rest in the boughs of the pines and junipers along the south rim, collecting temporarily in the aged rock's strata. The forest is a frosted a smooth white, and the canyon itself is dusted with powdered sugar. Entering into this fantastic landscape, Libby and I oohed and ahed from each subsequent vista. You can see for miles, especially in winter, and we gaped at every rock formation and rift as it appeared through the crystal clear air of a southwestern winter. I even felt my stomach contract and curl when we stood atop particularly precipitous buttes. It's an uncomfortable distance to the bottom, despite the iron railings.

Still, discussing it later, we both felt that the best experience of the Grand Canyon would require you entering it and getting lost in its vastness. Looking down and across this gulf in the earth is almost so overwhelming that you can't appreciate it fully. I feel like if I was in it and looking up and around at the towering cliffs I'd have more of a feel of my own small relationship to its impersonal size. Plus, that's the way I'm used to experiencing yawning heights from the Sierras, and they're sort of my benchmark for judging any similar natural wonder.

We spent our whole day droving up and down the road running along the south rim. We did take one short walk - from Yavapai Point over to the Bright Angel lodge. We then took a bus back to our car. The hike along the rim was over snow and ice most of the time, and it took some caution because the ice was incredibly slick in places. By walking carefully and slowly we avoided any spills.

Naturally, we also took time to enjoy the birdlife of the canyon. Common Ravens and Dark-eyed (Gray-headed) Juncos seemed to be the most common birds, but we were also able to find our life Juniper Titmice (Titmouses?). That was neat - although they appear basically identical to the local Oak Titmouse we have here in California. That's not surprising, considering Oak and Juniper Titmouse were considered conspecific until the 90s. We also saw our only Clark's Nutcrackers of the trip (just two - but it seems like kind of low altitude for these birds), our first interior Western Scrub Jays (Woodhouse's group - paler and without the blue necklace of the coastal California group - it may be a separate species), Steller's Jays, Western Bluebirds, and a Eurasian Collared Dove. No Condors during the winter, unfortunately, but you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.

By the end of the day, we were ready to go home. We'd been away for a long time, and California was only a few hours away. Plus, a storm was blowing in overnight, and we didn't want to get stuck. I'm not sure how much fun the Grand Canyon would be in the middle of a snow storm, but we didn't much want to find out.

Pictures aplenty in the normal place: Grand Canyon set.