Grand Canyon

One Mile below - the River

What struck me enormously was the accessibility along the South Rim of the path for people in wheelchairs, yes, they could not descend to the precarious 'viewing' spots, but using shuttle buses with ramps they were able to descend from the bus at special scenic overlooks and motor along the paved pah to - at the least - get a pretty good impression of the grandeur and stunning sights of the "Big Ditch"! Good !

That IS the mighty Colorado

Hopi Dancer -was it a rain dance?
Shortly after it rained and how!

clinging to life on the cliff

"Choo Choo" Train to Grand Canyon

There is much to be said about THAT trip' aside from the typical touristy stuff:
Wild West Show (?) before, Banjo entertainer during the ride North, passing through several biologic strata, from Cedars and Pinons, to scrub pines and mossy hillocks to majestic Ponderosa Pines (bringing to mind out friend C."HOSS" J. ;-0.
Finally, after several switchback curves arriving at the South rim of THE GRAND CANYON.
Loading onto the bus for a reasonably tasty lunch, then on to several look out points along the rim...some numbers for my dear readers here: 277 river miles long, 600 to 18 miles across..yes 18 MILES!and one mile deep. The South rim is about 1100 feet lower than the North rim (8100 ft).
The Colorado River has been carving the deep 'ditch' in the course of 6 million years with  a little help of wind and ice, while the bottom of it is, at last count, 2 BILLION years old. Oldest human artifacts found here reach back to 10,000 years.

The Grand Canyon Railroad was established in 1901,  transported famous and not so famous passengers from 1910 to 1968. Due to Americans' love affair with the auto, it was discontinued, but restarted by the Biegerts in 1989, who also reopened the famous Fray Marcos Hotel next to the Depot in Williams, AZ and offers continuous service (with wheelchair lifts) today with musical entertainers on the way - Banjo playing/singing "Cowboy", going up, mouth organ and accordeon playing "Cowboy" with a slap stick routine on the way down, plus a  "Railway Robbery" by masked men on horseback. For easy boarding by these 'outlaws' the train slows down, the outlaws board, rush through the cars with "the Marshal" ( from the Wild West show) in leisurely pursuit..all in good fun. Singalongs are encouraged!

The Grand Canyon truly defies all descriptions.. one HAS to have seen it.
Photos (to  follow) only offer a small glimpse into its fantastic and majestic, frightening, open mouth gaping vastness!
The National Park Service has done simply wonders to make some scenic overlooks accessible to wheelchaired and handicapped trippers...plus providing shuttle buses to special trailhead points.
Hiking and riding mule trains downs steep trails are for more agile adventurers. One can hike several miles back and forth and/or up and down well marked trails-on one's own, but needs to always be well equipped.. There is NO natural wellwater on the South Rim, the little and extermely precious wet stuff is piped over from the North... and only few 'reststations ;-) are provided along trails...but then there are a few scraggly bushes!! Not recommended...rattlers can hide there ;-).
Returning to the depot one is, tired or not, tempted to climb 47 steps to the famous (the first) Hotel El Tovar (a Harvey Hotel) to take a last look at the overpowering majesty of the "Deep Ditch" from the rim.
In the background , in front of HOPI house, Indian Music and Dancers provide color but also promotional information on the fate of THE FIRST Americans before and after the 'invasion'.

A brief 'monsoon' rain drenches the weary travelers as the board the train back down to Williams, chilling the air and laying the dust.  It has been a rather wet year so far and the wild flowers are in their third bloom according to knowledgeable guides.
To close with a tit bit of human interest:  huge numbers of seasonal workers from all over the world live up there in dormitories or family housing: waitstaff, bus drivers, road crews, landscapers (? - well we saw some guy loading a shovel and transferring dirt to the back of a cart) and more, plus rangers and volunteers.
And so back in the dark to Sedona, which experienced rain, thunder and lightening plus hail, at around the same time the big drops hit the Big Ditch!