It's hard to describe this place - you just run out of superlatives!
I failed to mention on the last post that we actually took a down day
on the 3rd and enjoyed the quiet of the campground.
Our first day in the park was on June 4 and today is day 2.
Donna is a little under the weather today because of too much sun the
past few days, so the girls and I are off to get their “Junior Ranger Badges”
and ride the rim trail on our bikes.
The Grand Canyon wasn’t thought
of as grand by the first Europeans to see it.
The Spanish, in the 1500’s saw it as an obstacle in their search for the
“cities of gold”. Some of the first Americans
to see it in the 1800’s described it as “completely valueless”. It wasn’t until men like Captain John Wesley
Powell came in the late 1800’s and sent back reports about its beauty and
ruggedness that there was much interest.
Powell was the first to navigate the Colorado river all the way through
the canyon. At night, along the river as
they camped, he would write in his journal about all that he saw and his
writings that changed the way the canyon was viewed. Then people saw it as a way to make money –
that’s right – from rich east coast tourists.
Men like Fred Harvey who built the El Tovar hotel in 1905 and the Sante
Fe railroad which built a line up from Williams just to bring people to Harvey’s
hotel.
Fortunately, men like Thoreau, Emerson, and Muir were equally
influential and were championing the idea of preserving places like the Grand
Canyon for future generations (us!) and were able to convince others as
well.
Among those others just happened
to be President Teddy Roosevelt! Yeah
for them! Because of them and many others like them, we have this national
treasure today.
But I digress. On to today’s
adventure.
We took part in a Ranger led program as a part of the girl’s getting
their badge and it helped me appreciate even more the importance of protecting
this place.
The girls finished their requirements and were sworn in as “Grand
Canyon Junior Rangers”.
These are the Kolb Brothers - who ran photography studio in the canyon for many years and it's now a part of the history.
The Heart Stone story.
This heart-shaped stone has a bit of folklore attached to it. During the 1930’s, the CCC (Civilian
Conservation Corps) was being used to improve the National Parks and at the
same time provide jobs for the many 18-25 year old young men who couldn’t find
work. On such project was underway in
the Grand Canyon and it’s told that one of the young men developed a “pining”
for one of the girls working at the El-Tovar hotel. The girls weren’t allowed to have anything to
do with the men in the CCC – so he could only try to express his love from a
distance. It’s said he set this stone
here so she could see it from the window her room in the servants’
dormitory. True? Who knows.
But a neat bit of folklore from the history of the park.
After we finished the Ranger program, it’s time to get Passports
stamped and go for that bike ride! Hanging out at the Verkamp's visitor center and having a snack. We also got passports stamped here. The Grand Canyon actually has 5 different places you can get your National Parks Passport stamped!
While we were going down to the Kolb Brothers Studio, we saw a rare
site. Two of the rare California
Condors!
Yavapai Point and Geology Museum - and another Passport stamp
Finally getting that bike ride in!
On the way back to the campground and the girls had to get their picture with Smokey!
Emi even found her own place!
All that riding and walking makes for one tired crew!
On our way back out of the park and we stopped at the Watchtower! A must if you visit! Here, you can see the river at the bottom of the canyon like nowhere else.
Now we're off to Horseshoe Bend, Page, and Lake Powell!
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