Nothing prepares you for the first time you stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon -- not photographs or movies you've seen of it; not words you've read about it, no matter how evocative; not vivid descriptions from friends or relatives who've vacationed there.
The Grand Canyon is immense and awesome and breathtaking, a tribute to the majestic expanse of Mother Nature, a testament to the geologic ravages of Father Time.
We pulled into the parking lot of the El Tovar Hotel at the South Rim Village on Sunday afternoon, November 6th, having spent a fun couple of days south of the Grand Canyon in Sedona. The hotels and lodges at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon are, in fact, right at the edge of the Canyon. We parked our rental car and, even before unloading our luggage, walked over to the rim of the Canyon not more than 50 yards away and got our first glimpse of this magnificent natural wonder. Here are some photos we took later that afternoon as the sun was sinking low in the west.
The next day Pat and I walked the "Trail of Time" from the South Rim Village along the rim of the Canyon to the Yavapai Geology Museum, about a one-and-a-third-mile hike along a paved path. Here are some pictures from that walk.
Our dogs were barking and our wind was taxed at an altitude higher than we were used to, so we opted for riding the bus back from the Museum to the South Rim Village.
