Monday, March 5, 2012

The World Natural Wonder: Grand Canyon National Park (South Rim)

It has been awhile since the last time visiting Grand Canyon as there are many places to travel. My hiking group usually asks: will I organize a trip to Grand Canyon soon? Spring of this year may be a great time for going to Grand Canyon.
Besides for hiking reason, it's a National Park Week April 21-29, 2012 (Free Entrance Days) and Lyrid Meteor Shower is at peak time on the same weekend April 21-22. More information: http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors 
http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earthskys-meteor-shower-guid

If you are interested to join a group hiking and to know more information, check out this link: http://www.meetup.com/HikingOC/events/54476402/  
Check out photos from past events:
Grand Canyon National Park South Rim is in the state of Arizona, a Southwestern region of the United States, also known as a "Grand Canyon" State, a part of the Western country, and of the Mountain West states. This park is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.  As described on the Seven Natural Wonders website: "The Grand Canyon is a massive gorge located in the state of Arizona in the United States, and was created by the Colorado River. Although not the steepest nor the longest canyon in the world, the Grand Canyon is recognized as a natural wonder because of the overall scale and size combined with the beautifully colored landscape. The canyon offers a variety of lookouts and experiences that provide visitors with a view that cannot be matched."http://sevennaturalwonders.org/the-original/grand-canyon

The South Rim opens year round.  There are numerous ways to get to and around Grand Canyon--by bus, car, plane, or train. Whether you are into serious hiking, have a relaxing vacation and only interested in simple strolls inside the park, there are various trails with different hiking levels for you to choose from. Regardless of which one you chose, the view of the canyon is just as spectacular at any vantage point. You can find information prior to the trip by visiting the NPS' website at http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/day-hiking.htm.  Once you're inside the park, be sure to stop by the closest visitor center to pick up the accessibility guide.
The first trip to Grand Canyon in late April 2005 was memorable.   It was also my first time backpacking and I was inexperienced, untrained, and unprepared to hike in a strenuous desert climate. In hindsight, I realized that our lack of knowledge of the terrains and anticipation of a stressful hike, my friends and I had ultimately put our lives in a risky position.  After that 2-day weekend trip, we were exhausted from hiking 15 hours with a heavy backpack. Not to mention, we lacked of rest, sleep, food, and under the heat up to 100 F near Colorado River around 7 AM in the morning and on the trail with no shade around noon time. 
However, I was grateful to my friends who invited me on this trip, so that I had an opportunity to experience the Grand Canyon with the like-minded people. Stunning by the imposing view of Grand Canyon, saying to myself:  "a natural masterpiece", I can't drop a thought of going back, spending more time and sharing this wonder with others. The lessons and inspirations that I gained from the trip have motivated me to plan and prepare a safe adventurous travel for others. Especially if it's your trip to visit Grand Canyon, you will have a wonderful trip of a lifetime. 

After a short weekend backpacking the 20 miles of Bright Angel trail in the South Rim, some friends who liked hiking in the Grand Canyon asked me to organize a similar trip. Subsequently, we not only organized one, but two trips to the GC again in the same year.  Since we planned, prepared, and trained well for those later times, which were held in October and November of 2005, all participants had a great time. The highlight of these trips was hiking another route. We hiked down the South Kaibab trail to the Colorado River, crossed over a bridge to the campground; and then trod our way up passing another bridge to the Bright Angel trail as a loop of 17 miles.
No word can tell enough and a picture worths a thousand words, sharing with you some photos from those trips:  http://goo.gl/5fmPd








                                                      




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