The Big Hole

The Grand Canyon was as good as advertised. And then some.

Being a writer and teacher of writing, I constantly push my students to find the right words for their experiences and not settle for generalities or clichés when a little effort can put readers in the writer’s shoes. This time, however, I am at a loss for words in describing what I saw today. So I’ll settle for the obvious and the clichéd.

First of all, the Grand Canyon is older than dirt. It’s mind blowing, a sight to behold, a thing of beauty, a real piece of work, and the best thing before sliced bred. It’s a home run, pay dirt, Bingo, the finish line, the whole enchilada, the Big Kahuna, the kit and caboodle. And, truly, the Grand Canyon is like nothing else on the face of the earth.

I took 112 photos today, and I whittled them down to the 43 that appear in the album called The Big Hole. It was a difficult day, despite how much we enjoyed the scenery. Dad is still recovering from his sinus infection, which has made it’s way down to his chest and has produced a cough. Plus, it was hot. It was 68 when we left Williams this morning, and was in the upper 80’s during much of our visit to the Grand Canyon. Then, from the Grand Canyon to Page, Arizona, the temperature soared to 103 degrees. We stopped a lot and drank a lot of water.

One personal misperception about the Grand Canyon that was cleared up by today’s visit was the Canyon’s altitude. I’d always assumed (not sure why) that the Canyon was in the desert and thus at low altitude. I thought you’d just be driving along on flat terrain and then fall right in (not strictly speaking). However, according to our park map, many parts of the Canyon are over 7,000 feet above sea level, with a few spots topping 8,000. It was an odd sensation to go up in altitude to see down in a hole. But I guess it makes sense, since the Colorado River has carved out the Grand Canyon over millions of years. According to park literature, the Colorado River flowed across the Colorado Plateau on its way from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California. Each rain washed sparsely vegetated desert soils into the river. A steep gradient (which I’ll tell you about later) and heavy sediment loads created a powerful tool for erosion. As the river cuts down, the canyon deepens.

We stopped at most of the pull-offs and overlooks, although I can’t quite remember exactly where each photo was taken. If I know this information, I’ll include it in the photo’s caption.

After we left the Grand Canyon, we descended about 25 miles from high elevation along Highway 64 East, which was a long and beautiful passage. The speed limit on this two-lane highway was 65 miles per hour, and we had a hard time keeping it under 70. The landscape changed rapidly, from the Ponderosa Pines of the highlands to the red rock and scrub bushes of the lower elevations. I highly recommend this route to anyone visiting the Grand Canyon.

Our last route took us on Highway 89 North to Page, Arizona. This road was also super, even though we suffered in the heat (this is when it hit 103). Page is located on a plateau, so after our descent we had to climb moderately again. This ascent took us up a passage through solid red rock, and, at one point, we slithered between a huge rock formation that walled us in on either side as high as we could see. I’d give anything for this photo, but the road was too dangerous to stop and snap.

All in all, it was a great day. Tomorrow we will continue north and then west on Highway 89 into Southern Utah before swinging south again on I-15 into Nevada down to the Las Vegas area. It’ll be a trying day, as tomorrow will probably be the hottest day of our tour. The forecast for Henderson, Nevada (our destination) is 105 degrees.

201.9 miles today. 2,342.7 total miles.