Visiting the Grand Canyons

The Grand Canyons are one of the most beautiful and adventurous destinations in the United States, or the entire continent for that matter. The Yarlung Tsangpo canyons in Tibet are slightly larger, but more resemble a mountainous river valley rather than the dramatic sheer desert cliffs and viewpoints from Arizona. Despite how amazing the canyons are, and despite that I’ve been here three or four times the most I’ve done was take in the impressive views. Of course each trip was well worth it for me, but I owe it to this place to do all the adventures it offers. Everything from scenic flights, canyoneering, hiking, camping, rock climbing, kayaking, and more are available here. The photos posted here were all taken from old cameras of mine in my early photography days, so that is something I will have to fix as well. On the left is a shot of the canyon nearly 20 years ago taken with my first digital camera ever. Next on the right you can see a super amateur shot. The photo might look cool at first, but in actuality all I was trying to do was take a picture of a squirrel and only caught its tail!

I had returned to the canyons maybe a year or two later after my first visit, and then nearly a decade later. My trip to Arizona hadn’t been to see the canyons on the latest visit and by the time I arrived I could only catch the sunset. These two surrounding photos were taken from one of the main vantage points on the southern rim.

While some of the best views in the world will always be the main reason people visit, the Grand Canyons are also an excellent place to view wildlife. As a matter of fact, the very first time I entered the canyons I nearly had a deadly encounter. I entered the canyons at 5am and was driving in darkness when a whole herd of elk suddenly crossed the road. I didn’t have time to stop and literally drove between them with one of the closest calls I’ve ever had. On the last visit I had a much safer experience when I saw this elk above. Elk are the largest mammals that live here, while below you can see one of the smallest, a tiny desert mouse.

Lastly I’m only throwing these up since I have so few photos to share. The souvenirs are a bit unique here, where you can purchase everything from beautiful rock gems to tiny cacti.