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Grand Canyon
E. Yun
12/23/06
Introduction
In the northern upland of Arizona, amid the symphony of wind in the cathedral pines and the call of coyotes
lies a huge chasm which bisects the lush Kaibab National Forest. This is the ubiquitously known Grand
Canyon, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World; it is about 18 miles wide and nearly 280 miles
long. As one of the most spectacular creations of geological erosion in the world, Grand Canyon awards the
most majestic vistas to visitors on the rims with stunning beauty and mystic.
Every year millions of visitors from across the USA and around the world come to see this nature’s
wonderland, other than casual sightseeing at the vista points, one may hike or take a mule trip to the bottom
of the canyon where the mighty Colorado River roars; anyone with an adventurous spirit may even take a
white water rafting trip down the rapids. In the vastness of the Grand Canyon, one may still find soothe and
escape from his boisterous urban life even amidst the flood of tourists!
History of Grand Canyon
Many million years ago, northern Arizona was hardly above sea level; action of plate tectonics caused the
plates to collide and bulge up which formed the Rocky Mountain ranges and the rise of the Colorado
Plateau; this upsurge has steepened the stream gradient of the Colorado River and its tributaries, which in
turn has increased their water flow speeds and their ability to cut through soil and rock.
The Grand Canyon has been shaped by the action of the Colorado River which cut through layer after layer
of sediment of the uplifted Colorado Plateau and carried the wreckage away resulting in rock walls exposed
by six million years of erosion that formed the spectacular chasm and scenery.
The first Europeans sighted the Grand Canyon area in 1540. In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
ended the Mexican American war and a huge extent of the Southwest was ceded to the US by Mexico,
leading the US government to send surveying parties to chart the newly acquired territory.
In 1869, Major John W. Powell, a Civil War veteran and geology, let an expedition force of nine members to
explore and study the Rocky Mountains and the canyons of the Colorado River; he was the first to use the
name “Grand Canyon”.
The Grand Canyon was proclaimed a national monument in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt and
Congress promoted it to the status of National Park in 1919. The park was greatly enlarged in 1975 by the
addition of Marble Canyon National Monument and part of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. In 1979
the park was designated a World heritage site.
The eroding action of wind and water that carved the Grand Canyon still goes on relentlessly today!
The Park
The center of activities in the park is the Grand Village on the South Rim where most of the visitors start
their tour of the rim, below and beyond. The width and depth of the Grand Canyon vary from place to place;
here at the Grand Village it’s a vertical mile from the rim to the river below and 10 miles from rim to rim.
An imposing hotel El Tovar which features varnished log interiors and decorations rich with striking
Southwestern ambience provide a first class accommodation in the park; it was built in 1905 by a hotel
baron Fred Harvey. Large campgrounds, a number of various cabins and lodges together provide
accommodations for a hodgepodge of visitors.
A typical tour of the rim at the village starts at Hopi House and ends at Mather Point with various spectacular
vintage points in between.
(Map: http://gocalifornia.about.com/library/weekly/n_az_gc_map_vlg.htm)
One mile east of Hopi Point is the Trailview Overlook where starts the 7.8-mile Bright Angel Trail which
winds its way down to the Colorado River. A half mile east is the Powell Memorial which commemorates
the first white man to explore and chart the Grand Canyon. On the other end of the rim walk is the Yavapai
Point which is about a mile from the Grand Village. The scenery from Yavapai Point epitomizes a typical
Grand Canyon postcard view. The adjacent Yavapai Observation Station is an observation room with big
viewing windows; there are exhibits showing the geological history of the canyon.
During the peak season from April to September, the National Park Service closes the 8 mile long rim drive
and provides free sightseeing shuttle buses to move tourists around.
Going to Grand Canyon
The South Rim of Grand Canyon is about 400 miles east of Los Angeles, a pleasant drive of less than
seven hours by way of mainly I-40 (Interstate Highway 40.) Motor travelers from Southern California usually
stop at Laughlin (a riverbank casino town 90 minutes south of Las Vegas) as a side trip before moving on to
the gateway town of Williams and then turn north to the park by way of highway 64.
For foreign visitors to Las Vegas, the easiest way to visit Grand Canyon as a side trip is joining group
excursions offered by various tour operators. One may choose luxury touring coaches, single engine planes
or helicopters. http://www.grandcanyontourcompany.com/
A unique alternate way to visit Grand Canyon is taking from the gateway town of Williams a train tour
offered by the Grand Canyon Railway which revived the service after a 21-year hiatus in 1989; it features
vintage trains reminiscent of the 1920’s. The company had originally operated the service from 1901 to
1968 and terminated it in the advent of the popular motor traveling age. http://www.thetrain.com/
Opinion
The Grand Canyon is more than just an awe-inspiring view; it is a geological theatre where the force of
nature in changing the face of the earth through climate swings is still in action. The well preserved
geological records exposed in the walls of the Grand Canyon reveal the immensity of geological time which
is beyond the imagination of the common people.
In the view of the spectacular panoramic scenery of the Grand Canyon, here one has a chance to pause
and ponder the diminutive and brevity of one’s life, a grain of sand within the extent of the prodigious
universe or a dayfly that exists in a split second in the flow of time!