There are so many things to know about the canyon that just the bare bones would (and have) filled books. I'm going to stick to the barest of bare bones here.
The Canyon runs East and West through the Navajo Nation as well as several other native American nations. There are two "rims" that are spoken of. The South Rim is the most visited, the most photographed, and the most storied. The North Rim is less visited and, unlike the south rim, is closed from roughly mid October (precise date depends on the snowfall level) until May (ditto the precise date). To reach the North Rim from the South is a trip of over 200 miles.
The Canyon's Depth is an average of 6000 feet (that's DEEP) in the park, or over 1 mile. When someone looks at a topographic map of the canyon, it's important to remember that the topography is measured from sea level and that notations of 4000 feet, etc. are from sea level.
The South Rim's elevation (above sea level) is about 7000 feet. The North Rim's elevation is approximately 8000 feet above sea level.
Remember what I wrote about acclimating to high altitudes? All of that goes for both rims of the canyon. Be careful, especially on the North Rim. The heart you save will be yours! Water, water, rest, water, water, food...
I'm not going to go through the entire history of the discovery of the Canyon. Lord knows there are a million articles and books about it out there. John Wesley Powell and his intrepid adventures as the first man (and accompanying party members) to row through the Canyon is the stuff of legend. Indeed, it's possible to see one of the (really) tiny boats that they used to make the journey. It was the 19th century, after all, and the rafts used to run the rapids of the Colorado today had not been invented yet.
Theodore Roosevelt's love affair with the Grand Canyon is also well known (he was instrumental in declaring it a national park), and I think that the influence of the railroads, which served to open the canyon to tourism on a modest scale early on, are also fairly well known.
I am going to hit on (ooops) talk a little about (much better) a couple of interesting facts and things, and hope that you might enjoy that.
Of squirrels and geographic separation:
On the south rim of the canyon, you may, if you're lucky, see Albert's squirrels. They don't belong to someone named Albert, of course, but they are the grey members of a tufted eared family of squirrels. They're really good looking (and they know it) and the ones near human habitations in the canyon are fearless. Here's one:
Cheeky little fella, but very cute!
On the North Rim of the Canyon (and only on the North Rim of the Canyon) is another tufted squirrel. He's, to all intents, a tufted squirrel just like the little guy up above. But the Kaibab squirrel has developed a strikingly different appearance. Here's a pretty good picture of one. They're rare and not the least bit comfortable around humans.
Just goes to show what a few millennia of geographic isolation can do...and you didn't have to go to the Galapagos to see it!!!
There is another wonder in the Canyon, a relatively new re-introduction to the avian food chain. That would be the California Condor. Again, there have been books and articles written for decades about the dedication and ferocious determination of not only the scientists involved but also a great many average folk in terms of the preservation of the California Condor. From only approximately 25 living in the wild (that there were some in zoos was critical in terms of the survival of the species. If the 25 in the wild had been the only genetic pool to pull from, there would have been little to no chance of bringing this magnificent bird back). Today the California Condor has been reintroduced to a remote section of the Grand Canyon. There are now an estimated 160 California Condors in the wild. Still a tiny number, of course, but they are (at least in terms of the Canyon) in a spot that is both remote and almost impossible to get to (like much of the canyon).
Someday, I hope to be able to see one soaring below me through the canyon. But, until then, I am glad to know they're there. Here's a picture:
The average wing span (tip to tip) is 9 feet or 2.74 meters. That is a large bird, to say the least. They're soarers once they're airborne, and the updrafts and cross currents in the canyon are perfect for their purposes.
Mary Colter: architect
What's an architect doing in a discussion of the Grand Canyon, you may ask.
If the architect is Mary Colter, it's because she designed and built (as an employee of the Harvey Company, of Harvey House fame) locations on the South Rim that are still in use today, nearly a century later. She was born in 1869 and in 1886, in a move that was rare for a female at that time, attended the California School of Design. In 1901 she was hired by the Harvey Company and, in 1910, after a stint with them as a decorator, became a full time architect for the company.
She designed and built the Watchtower (picture below. It's the one that looks like a tower...sorry, I couldn't help it), Hermit's Rest, Hopi House, and Lookout Studio as well as decorating El Tovar (I have a problem putting "The" in front of "El" which is "the" in Spanish...sigh...)
The Watchtower is just that - the really neat thing in addition to the large spiral staircase with observation windows built into the walls and all of the wooden floors as well as the view from the top - is that the watchtower looks as if it's just built of stone, but Ms. Colter decided not to risk anything falling over time and put a steel superstructure inside the building. Pretty cool for the early 1900s!
Along with her work on the buildings for the canyon, she designed numerous other structures in the Southwest. It's safe to say that Mary Colter's view of the buildings of the southwest, filtered through her own observations and architectural training, stamped an image of what buildings in the canyon SHOULD be.
Pictures below:
The second is part of the interior of the Watchtower. Neat, huh?
This is the arched way that leads to Hermit's Rest.
I could keep on showing pictures of buildings for awhile, and I do want to show one more. This is El Tovar from the outside. El Tovar was opened in 1905, when reaching the canyon was a huge and lengthy adventure. It was constructed, quite literally, within a few tens of yards from the rim of the Canyon. I've been there several times to eat (it's expensive to stay at El Tovar, but one can still enjoy the ambience while dining) and the views both of the interior of the hotel and of the Canyon are marvellous:
The Exterior. Well, part of the Exterior. This is the main door with its hanging sign. The hotel expands quite a long way to each side.
The main dining room of the hotel: this shot is looking toward the inside of the dining room. (Thank goodness for photographers who know how to do things like exposures on the insides of things!!! Bless 'em all!). To my mind, having eaten here, the linens, the impeccable service (many of the servers are college students from all over the US and the rest of the world. There's something about this grand lady (and not Old Lady - we're talking about a building on the edge of a canyon with rocks older than old itself. El Tovar is a demure young thing by comparison) that makes people, even the most casually dressed customers, sit up and behave well. Can't explain it, don't want to. I think it's pretty cool. It tamed me (for a little while.)
I haven't shown much of the Canyon itself, so I'm going to close this section (yup, there's more than one) with a view some wonderful person took from the balcony at El Tovar as sunset did its daily and ever changing paint job:
Part II ahead! I need to take a rest and stretch my legs!!!!
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