BY ANNA GEANNOPOULOS
There is something about paying $25 to see a giant hole in the ground that makes you think it’s fake. Add four different shuttle buses, hoards of international tourists and the occasional pack of mules, and you feel like you’re in a theme park, not a National Park. With all this activity, it’s easy to forget that even though there is no guard rail around all of the rim trail, if you step too close to the edge you could still fall into the largest canyon on earth.
When tube top and mini-skirt wearing site-seers flip flop their way down the Bright Angel Trail, a rigorous hike into the canyon where people die every year (including an under prepared marathon runner), it’s tempting to forget that the Grand Canyon is a place of extremes.
The desert air is dry, lip shatteringly dry. Add to that the temperature shifts between night and day (When I was there in early June it was in the 40s at night and the 80s by day) and between the rim and lower canyon (it is usually 20 degrees hotter inside the canyon) and you are left with sun-burnt-frozen-shattered-lips. Chap-stick can only comfort you temporarily in the Grand Canyon.
But these facts should not deter you from going. With the proper equipment and knowledge anyone can have a fun, safe time at the Big C. The National Park service offers oodles of free information online about how to prepare for your Grand Canyon adventure, but here are three different site-seeing options ranging from docile to extreme:
Docile: Day Hike: Hermit’s Rest Rim Trail Loop
This is a trail along the rim that you don’t actually have to hike, but can if you want to. Free shuttle services allow you to stop at each of the breathtaking viewpoints and walk along the rim to the next one, or just catch the bus. This tour takes about three hours to complete, but you can always catch a bus back halfway to the end and it is completely wheelchair accessible.
Intermediate: Day Hike: Hiking a few mile into the Canyon at Bright Angel Trail
The Park Service advises that hikers choosing to descend into the canyon during summer months to start early, around 6 a.m., and strongly advises hiking during the hottest hours of the day 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There are two common ways people die in the canyon: dehydration and hyponatremia. Basically, you can either drink too little or drink too much. Drink before your thirsty, eat a salty snack each time you take a sip of your water bottle and go at your own pace. For a day trip hike down to one of the upper rest houses and back up.
Extreme: Overnight: Backpacking into the Canyon
This trek requires a backcountry permit and also warrants a visit to the backcountry information center. They can give you up to date information about the trails and what to expect inside the canyon. You can either hike down the north rim and back up the south the next day or pick two trails on the south rim. Sleeping at the bottom of the canyon after a strenuous day of hiking is not for everyone, but plenty of families take up this challenge, so with proper planing and training anyone can do it.
The Grand Canyon is something that I’ve wanted to see my whole life. When I gazed out into the vast abyss, I had to remind myself that despite appearances I wasn’t looking at a painting. Other tourists complained that the North Rim is prettier, less crowded and less of a zoo, but, regardless of what angle you view that devastatingly large hole from, be it space, rim or river, it is still pretty awesome.
