March 23rd. We Hearty Hikers woke up in Phoenix with the Palo Verde trees in full bloom.
These “green-trunked” trees are all over town. Not surprisingly, they are Arizona’s state tree.
But our main mission was not to explore Phoenix, but to get in a rental car and drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It took us about five hours. Some might have driven a little quicker, but living in Japan as I do, I’m accustomed to “slightly” lower speeds. I’m also used to driving on the left-hand side of the road.
Basically, from Phoenix, you drive up and over mountains—and then just plain old UP. We might have got a better picture of the Saguaro, but we were driving 70 miles an hour and worrying about getting whacked by those driving 85 or 90.
The prickly pears we photographed during a rest stop.
As we did these cute little purple guys. Would’ve never noticed them if we hadn’t gotten off the expressway for a while.
And then, voila!—there we were at the rim.
Well, not exactly voila! We had to wait in line for about 30 minutes, just to enter Grand Canyon National Park, and then once we were near the South Rim village, had to scramble for a parking place. The one we found wasn’t very close to the Bright Angel Lodge, where we were staying, and to be honest, I don’t think it was really a parking place, but everyone seemed to be parking wherever they could, and so did we. (TIP: If you want to get a good parking place inside the South Rim village, get into the park before 10 AM, at least in the busier months.) Indeed, though our “parking place” was a bit far from the lodge, it was still only a ten-minute walk back to the rim. And who complain about getting to the Grand Canyon after walking only ten minutes?
And so then, VOILA!, we were at the rim.
The Grand Canyon is big.
I’d like to say more than that, but I’m not sure what. Occasionally, I read and listen to a bit of sports news. Everything is “awesome,” “epic,” “insane,” and “freakish.” I lose track of what those words mean. So for the canyon, for the time-being, I’ll stick with “big.”
But what a first glance it was! What a . . . big sight it was!
Honesty, though, compels me to say that some of the locals (even though perched on the very edge of the rim) seemed absolutely unconcerned with the view. At least this rabbit was kind enough to stand still and let me get a photograph.
Which is more than I can say for this Western Scrub Jay. He was only still for the fraction of a second in which the shot was taken. Consider it a miracle that I found him in my lens just then. He’d had me and my lens chasing him for about fifteen minutes.
As I said, we were staying at the Bright Angel Lodge, and where I was strolling the rim was very close to the Bright Angel Trail trailhead, so it was not at all surprising to come across an angel dancing on the edge of the rim.
California condors are also known to sail about around this part of the rim, but I didn’t see any.
But the canyon itself, what can we say?
Yes, it’s big. In my next post, I’ll try to think about this more, when I share pictures of our descent inside the canyon and down to the Colorado River. I’ll try to get into it more.
But for the meantime, I’ll stick with big.
But suddenly I feel like posting a song I wrote a week or two before coming to Arizona. Maybe it expresses a bit of what I felt standing on the rim, though lyrics-wise it has nothing to do with the Grand Canyon . . . unless, of course, you think of the Grand Canyon as a place that can make you tremble.
As usual, I’ve recorded the song making full use of Persimmon Dream’s pocket studio. It’s my first attempt to record something with my new eight-string uke.
Komorebi
Do you still believe . . . there are places you can go?
Can you still conceive . . . of faces you’d like to know?
Oh, do you remember?
Oh, do you remember?
Her hair . . . shining in candlelight
Your love . . . burning deep into the night.
And oh, do you still tremble?
Do you still imagine . . . mountains deep and blue?
Do you still have passions . . . fountains that well in you?
Oh, do you remember?
Oh, do you remember?
Snow so soft . . . you walked another mile
Hopes aloft . . . his talk, his smile.
And, oh, do you still tremble?
Will you still slip your feet . . . in streams of biting cold?
Do you still try to free . . . your dreams from strangleholds?
Oh, do you remember?
Oh, do you remember?
Sunlight . . . kissing leaves so new
Your hand . . . holding all that’s true.
And oh, do you still tremble?
Do you still believe . . . there are places you can go?
Can you still conceive . . . of faces you’d like to know?
Oh, do you remember?
Oh, do you remember?
Your eyes . . . gazing on rosy sea.
Your heart . . . craving such energy.
And oh, do you still tremble?
And oh, do you still tremble?
And oh, do you still tremble?
After a day of driving, the wait to get into the park, the struggle to park, and a two-hour stroll along the Rim Trail, we Hearty Hikers were ready to get into our room in the Bright Angel Lodge. It’s a beautiful place to spend a couple of nights and I highly recommend it to you. TIP: They fill up fast—and start taking reservations thirteen months in advance.
