Though John Powell 'discovered' the Grand Canyon in 1869, native Americans have inhabited the area for thousands of years and the Canyon itself is the result of the Colorado River slowly carving its way through the many layers of rock for the last 6 to 10 million years. It is a mile-deep transverse section of the earth's crust and is as geologically important as it is stunningly beautiful.
Broadly, there are two sections to the Grand Canyon - the South Rim and the less easily accessible North Rim. The North Rim attracts substantially fewer visitors than the South Rim but is reputedly more beautiful. This brief travelogue is restricted to the South Rim which we visited.
The very first stop inside the park is Mather Point and it is difficult to believe that you can see the Grand Canyon right from the parking lot. It almost seems too easy, as though it were necessary to hike several miles through inhospitable terrain before one could be rewarded with such rugged beauty. There is a tour bus that starts from that point and takes you to the western-most point on the South Rim. There are almost a dozen stops and visitors can get off and on and each point and spend as much time as they like there. The Canyon is so huge that there isn't a very remarkable difference from one point to the other but some points do offer better views than others and the Colorado River is more easily visible from some of the more westerly points.
Perhaps in keeping with the spiritual feelings aroused in early explorers of the Grand Canyon, many of the rock towers are named after gods including Hindu gods : there is one called Vishnu temple, another called Isis temple and yet another, Osiris temple.
Some of the most stunning views of the Canyon are at sunrise and sunset. Mid-afternoon, the light is harsh and falls from vertically above : this takes away the beauty of the variations in the color and texture of the rocks. Indeed, some of the most gorgeous photographs of the canyon have been taken during early sunrises and golden sunsets when the canyon glows red as though it were burning from within.
Dozens of people turn up to watch sunrise, and sunset is a mega-event with practically everyone in the park lining up along the railings to get a good view of the sun sinking off the far west end.
Also, make it a point to go to the Eastern side of the South Rim (turn right at the fork after you enter the park). This has many vista points and ends at Desert View which is a good place to see the Colorado river and get some photographs of an old watch tower.
