Hiking the Grand Canyon
1. A young boy, barely 7 if that, scuffs his feet along the trail, stirring up little clouds of dust, leaving fresh footprints behind. He carries a bulky, red backpack nearly as big as he is, with a sleeping bag tied to the bottom. His clothes are dirty and raggedy and are completely soaked through with sweat. His face is full of determination and maturity, completely oblivious to the spectacular views of one of the 7 wonders of the world that surrounds him. The Grand Canyon. He’s a backpacker and has already spent two nights at the bottom of the canyon. Now, he walks along one of the numerous trails that venture into the gorge. In front of him is his father. He too had a large pack and wore sweat stained
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we continue on to Indian Gardens, a campground halfway between the rim and the river. It lies in a water run off fed by a spring. The campground is covered in lush Cottonwoods living off the abundant supply of water. The green patch is visible from the rim and provides a great rest area and much needed shade for exhausted hikers. Hikers refill canteens and soak shirts and hats with water. The smell of lush green shrubs and trees could certainly not be beat. Butterflies flutter through the air with the sound of rushing water rapidly going to stream. squirrels climb the Cottonwoods. It’s a peaceful stop. we sit and rest, watching mule trains lumber by carrying tourists too lazy, or incapable of hiking on his own. We need to get going. Five more miles. If you don’t like hiking in the dark we need to go now. He put his pack back on, weighed down by the extra water supply. He continue on the trail occasionally looking up at the towering canyon walls still ahead. The trail is littered with mule manure and is becoming dusty. Mule hoofs and hiking boots pound and scrape and eventually turn the hard packed dirt into powder. Then when the rain comes, the water rushes down the trail taking the powder with it, leaving trenches of washed out trail and exposing rocks. Here it comes. The toughest part of the hike. From here on out it’s just steep
To add to the difficulty of the trails is the extreme elevation changes. The re are ironically enough thirteen climbs which result in more than 10,000 feet of climb per loop. This is obviously accompanied by an equal amount of descent. One runner described it as climbing 100 floors of stairs in your first mile, going back down on second mile and continuing this for twenty miles. The course amasses an average grade of over 20% and between 50 and near 100 percent grade on the abandoned trails and bushwhacking sections. The grade is the reason that the trails have been abandoned or not built in the first pace. Each climb bears a unique name which in many cases gives a good idea of their nature.
Zig-zag, back and forth, down, down, down, Jonathon, Dad, and I went into a mysterious new world. Now that I have gone into this hot, dry canyon surrounded by monstrous hoodoos, I have seen what it is really like to leave the small town of Seymour, and emerge into the greatness of this world. I have now seen several other National Parks on one of the most renowned places on earth for mysterious creations, the Colorado Plateau. Of all the beautiful places on it, even the Grand Canyon, I have found my favorite one. Bryce Canyon National Park. I thought it was amazing, because it was the most diverse to anything I have ever seen before. We hiked down into it and I felt like I was surrounded by skyscrapers. We trekked around a little, but we didn’t
With over two hundred miles of trails to travel, it is easy to see the tranquility of this distinguished place, and why so many noble men gave their lives protecting it. From tents to pull-through, private or public, and campgrounds there are plenty of options and places for you to park your camper or pitch your tent. Only five miles from the national park, Jackson Hole offers several nice hotels. Grand Teton National Park can be enjoyed by everyone with its forty-two mile scenic loop drive. If you do not want to drive, you can sign up for a scenic float trip that takes you straight through the heart of this magnificent mountain range on the Snake River. Another option you have to viewing the serenity of this place is through a scenic cruise on Jenny Lake. On this cruise you would spend approximately 1 hour learning about the history and geolo...
Dani and I stand in the sun waiting for the “men” to catch up. The view was worth Quill’s whining and navigating through the snow. The breeze catches in the bright green and gold of new Aspen leaves whispering around the lake. The Pine trees scent the air and bask in the sun to steal its warmth from the forest below. The trees are a dark canopy along our path permitting only a few patches of the raised finely mulched trail to a beam or two of sun. Framed like a photo three pencil lead gray peaks rise above a lower sweeping curve of pines. They look close enough to walk over the ridge and touch them. Boulders precariously cling to the side of the mountains. The perfect deep blue early summer sky is the perfect backdrop.
Thomas Moran’s painting captures the essence of the true spirit of the Yellowstone Canyon and overwhelms any viewers who go up to it. With a size of 7’ by 12’ and a mastery display of vivid colors with hues of orange and yellow contrasted with the dark cold colors of the shadows, anyone would be overwhelmed. Under the cool shade, the path extending in front invites the viewer to join the tiny figures in the distance who seem to overlook the grand valley of the canyon below. The view from where those people are in the distance could be quite breathtaking, and this adds to the painting’s value. Moran captured the public and the government’s fascinations with the beauties of America’s Wild West. Moran’s mastery of composition within landscape
Wilderness is a highly idealized concept in today’s society – we simply put it on a pedestal and choose to admire it as we see fit. Nature and wilderness are considered distant and remote concepts, separate from our everyday, civilized lives. By approaching the natural realm in this sense, we simply detach ourselves from our origin, which leaves us to fantasize about the great outdoors as an escape from the artificial creations of our everyday life. This desire to escape our artificial lives has lead to the construction of locations such as national parks, which merely appear to be the natural world, yet in reality they are simply just facets of the modernized world we have created.
The trip began when I took a small green pencil and signed by name on the release forms needed to hike in Yosemite National Park. I and nine of my friends left the ranger station that night with a neatly folded map and a felling of excitement to what lay ahead. The long drive to the park left us tired and in need of a good night’s sleep. We decided to stay in tent city like most hikers do before they set out for their trek. Tent city was a large subdivision of tents that resembled a community of houses. Each tent was perfectly uniformed in its appearance and made up a total of fifty tents. Before we went to bead, we studied our maps and made an itinerary to the amount of hiking we would do.
Located in the popular Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Falls is the tallest waterfall in California. Every year, mother nature’s breathtaking beauty attracts millions of people from around the world. People hike for three long and fatiguing hours in anticipation of witnessing forceful water rushing down the steep mountain from 2,425 feet above. Last summer, my family and I backpacked through the Yosemite Falls Trail and I came to learn what a truly exhausting experience it is.
• Thinking Like a Mountain describes the intricate network of a mountain’s ecosystem and the consequences of disturbing their balances, such as through wolf overhunting. Escudilla is the name of the mountain that bounds Arizona’s horizons, former home of the Old Bigfoot – the grizzly bear, whose unnecessary hunt to make the area “safe for cows.” • The Green Lagoons describes the Colorado Delta, explored by the author while it was still untarnished by man. Leopold described it as a hundred miles of desolation many different passages to take. Stories of a jaguar hunted the Delta, yet was not seen.
Nature’s Beauty After a long and hot eight-mile hike up to Half Dome, I stopped for a moment at its base before continuing on. I sat there breathing in the fresh thin air at 8000 ft above sea level with nothing but the little shade from a nearby tree. I sat there and watched as other hikers staggered to the top, I remember feeling amused as I watched the cheeky little squirrels stealing each other's food and running from one tree to the next. I just sat there for a while and soaked it all in, mesmerized by the 360-degree view of nothing but beautiful mountains and trees for miles.
In hiking, as in life, there are choices between success and pain, pride and safety; this is the story of one such choice. Last summer I participated in the Rayado program at Philmont Scout Ranch. The eighth day of the trek was my crew’s greatest challenge: Super Black Death, a hike of seven peaks in one day.
The plants and herbs that have been chosen are fragrant, textured or edible. Some are a combination of these criteria. In order to prevent sensual overload I have alternated between the three. This will help set a pattern and allow the visitors to know what to expect and how to experience each. For example, at the beginning of the path there will be basil, an edible herb usually used for seasoning. Around the stones and tree, jasmine will be planted, which has a very soothing and strong scent. After leaving the stones towards the creek, there will be lamb’s ear, which is very soft, followed by another edible plant.
Last autumn, while on a trip, I decided to walk through a State Forest. This huge forest enriches the countryside not far from town and was a place where indians held hunting rights until recently. Little streams, ancient trees, shaded paths, and hidden places are some of the physical attributes which make the State Forest an enchanting place.
This area of the world is so foreign to my Oklahoma life; it infuses me with awe, and with an eerie feeling of being strongly enclosed by huge mountains, and the mass of tall trees. However, when my foot first steps onto the dusty trail it feels crazily magical. The clean, crisp air, the new smell of evergreen trees and freshly fallen rain is mixed with fragrances I can only guess at. It is like the world has just taken a steroid of enchantment! I take it all in, and embrace this new place before it leaves like a dream and reality robs the moment. As I turn and look at my family, I was caught by my reflection in their impressions. The hair raising mischief in the car was forgotten and now it was time to be caught up in this newness of life. It was as if the whole world around us had changed and everyone was ready to engulf themselves in it. The trickling of water somewhere in the distance and the faint noise of animals all brought the mountains to
It’s a beautiful morning, as my group of friends and I wake up, we hear the pounding and the thrashing of the water slamming on the moss covered granite rock, I go down the eroded leaf covered pathway to fetch water just like I would do every morning, the sun had just begun to rise, the mixture of scarlet red, orange, and a bleach-like yellow beaming against the hurried water of the river that led into the waterfall shone like flakes of gold floating on top of the whitening water. The serene environment of the surrounding rocks overlooking the waterfall, the ambience of water clashing against the granite, and the aroma of the white pine filling the forest is an awe inspiring experience to all who dare make their way down the narrow and lengthy