The Big Hole in the Ground

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2010 trip so far: javelina, mule deer, desert grassland whiptail
*Birds we’ve seen on our 2010 trip so far: white-wing dove, Gamble’s quail, western tanager, roadrunner, violet-green swallow, California condors
*National Parks/Monuments visited on 2010 trip so far: 10
*State Parks visited on 2010 trip so far: 1
*Total number of Jr. Ranger badges so far: 12

[Click on any picture to enlarge…then arrow back to the blog]

Welcome to the Grand Canyon! (Or as some people call it “the big hole in the ground!”) You may recall it was one of our destinations last summer, and we decided on a return visit to the South Rim this year. (You can review that trip by clicking on this link (August2009GrandCanyon). Once again we spent a week at the Trailer Village Campground located within the park, requesting the same site as last year. Nice and shady plus we got satellite reception!

The beauty and grandeur of Grand Canyon National Park (www.nps.gov/grca) never cease to amaze us. We went somewhere in the park everyday, trying to see some things we hadn’t before, and attended more ranger programs than last year. We walked the rim trail, ate lunch at Bright Angel Lodge, and watched the sun set below the rim.

We even earned another Junior Ranger badge from the Canyon but not the one you think. Russ was wearing the one we earned from the Grand Canyon last year on his hat along with a couple others when we walked into Kolb Studio. The manager, Virginia, was at the register and began chatting with us about his badges and thought it was great that we were participating. Some people wanted to checkout so we went downstairs to see the art exhibit. Suddenly we heard a woman’s voice from above calling out “Hey, Junior Rangers!”, and it was Virginia at the top of the stairs telling us to come see her before we left. As it turns out a couple years ago in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corps there had been a special Junior Ranger program. Virginia still had some of the workbooks, and the visitor center down the way still had the special badges! Of course we completed the workbooks as best we could (a couple of the activities related to the actual exhibit which is no longer there) and earned the very special CCC Junior Ranger badge plus Virginia had given each of us the special CCC anniversary patch! If you don’t know about the CCC, you can learn about it at http://www.ccclegacy.org/.

One of the best ranger programs we’ve ever attended happened during this trip even though we were only killing time until the 9pm ranger talk in the same area. Ranger Pat definitely brought his passion and enthusiasm to the program called Canvas of Stone: Rock Art of the Southwest, all about pictographs and petroglyphs. Sometimes lectures like these can just be boring, but he made it very interesting and we even learned the location of some easily accessible pictographs within the park, a type that is not found in any other area.

The 9pm program, called Graveyard Walk, was presented by Ranger Rachel and was held in the Pioneer Cemetery (bet you didn’t know there was a cemetery in the Grand Canyon, did you?) Under the light of a full moon, she led the group to about 6 different gravesites that are of significance to the story of the Grand Canyon. With kerosene lantern in hand adding a spookiness to the program, Rachel brought an enthusiasm to her presentation as well, and we decided to come back during the daylight hours for another look.

People buried at the cemetery include Grand Canyon pioneers, war veterans, tribal members, and employees of the National Park Service. However, one of the tombstones is a memorial to the 128 people who lost their lives on June 30, 1956, during the collision of two commercial airliners over the Grand Canyon. At the time it was the worst disaster in aviation history and brought about sweeping changes in air traffic control. Since it was Memorial Day weekend, the American Legion had placed flags at many of the graves. This is still an active cemetery but several years ago a new stipulation was made that an individual must have lived at the Grand Canyon for more than 3 years or must have made a significant contribution to Grand Canyon NP. As you would imagine, Pioneer Cemetery is a very peaceful, moving, and respectful place, and we’re glad we had the opportunity to discover it on this trip.

Those pictographs mentioned earlier are located on the other side of the tunnel on the Bright Angel Trail. The trail is quite a strenuous hike that would take you all the way to the canyon floor and there was no way we were doing that, but the tunnel is only about 100 yards from the start of the trail and didn’t seem like too much of a hike. The pictographs are located under a small overhang about 30 feet above the trail and could easily be missed by anyone walking by. It’s estimated that these red drawings are at least 800 years old. Now what was kind of funny was when we turned around to go back to the start of the trail, we realized that we had descended more than we thought! Oh, well, it's good exercise, right?

We also visited The Watchtower in the Desert View area of the canyon. Built in 1932, this 70 foot stone tower is the highest point on the South Rim and has Hopi murals on the interior walls. Originally it was an observation station and rest stop for Grand Canyon visitors. Today it has a big gift shop on the first floor and climbing the narrow stairs still offers spectacular views of the canyon and surrounding area.

One thing for sure that we wanted to try and see again this trip was the California condors. With a 9-1/2 foot wingspan, there is nothing like watching them soar above the canyon. One of their favorite spots seems to be near Lookout Studio, and generally it seems between 4 and 5pm is when they show up. This trip we were fortunate enough to catch them twice! As you may recall from last year, they are tagged for easy tracking. The first day we saw #-0 and #23, and the next time we saw #A9 and #23 again, plus about another half a dozen were gliding on the wind whose tags we could not make out. We had learned that condors do not flap their wings, and this time we saw how true that really was. When they land on a ledge and are ready to take off again, they simply walk to the edge, spread their wings, and catch the draft. What an incredible sight! If you’re interested, this website will give you all the pertinent info by tag number on the condors that we saw: (http://www.nps.gov/grca/naturescience/upload/condor-tag-cht20100505.pdf)

Every time we went to the rim, we were inspired. Whether watching the changing light on the canyon walls, following the airborne antics of a bird with a face only a mother could love, discovering or learning something new, or just wandering along the trail, it renewed our spirit and made us thankful for being able to experience such a gift.