I visited the Grand Canyon on a family summer trip in the summer of 1983. I’m pretty sure I have the year right, meaning I was 11 years old. It was incredible, and we even did a helicopter (or small plane?) tour.
My second visit was when Leena and I moved from Chicago to San Francisco. Because it was February, we basically traced Route 66 to Los Angeles before heading north up the I5 in California. That took us within an hour of the Grand Canyon so we made the side trip. We drove along the southern rim and though I again remember being in awe of the place, I also remember pulling off one of my better driving maneuvers. Our rig was a U-Haul truck and we were towing my car on a trailer. I managed to head down a dead end lane without a turnaround. I had to back up and swing the car perpindicular into a short driveway to turn around. Traffic stopped so I had the pressure of an audience. A couple of guys jumped out to help spot me. I nailed it on the first try. I have to thank my brother David for this – he insisted on teaching me how to back up up and steer with an axel. He taught me first on a riding tractor pulling a grass catcher, then later on our station wagon towing a camper. It’s counter intuitive: you have to steer the car a bit one way to get the trailer going the other, then steer the other direction to catch up and follow. Thanks, brother.
Anyway, where was I? Oh, the Grand Canyon. It’s still incredible, one of those sights in all the world that completely amazes me. I joke that “Grand” may be selling it short. Pictures can’t really do it justice, but I think we have quite a few worth sharing. We again visited the southern rim, and got it on a partly sunny day. We parked at the visitor center and hiked a few miles west along the rim. For the last seven miles we alternated between hiking and shuttle buses.
Leena found the canyon and helpfully pointed it out.
You can see the famous Bright Angel trail in this one. Someday…
As you get further west along the south rim you get some glimpses of the Colorado River. Though it looks small, it’s about 100m wide.
