Grand Canyon

Very beautiful places, which are known all over the world, there are in every country.
Grand Canyon is one of these wonders of a nature in the United States.
*Grand Canyon*

Several million years ago, two continental plates, on which rests the American continent collided with each other...
The Eath had cracked...
The length of this huge crack - hundreds of kilometers.

To show people the natural beauty of these places, Grand Canyon National Park was created in 1919.
The park occupies only a small part of the creation of nature.
*Grand Canyon National Park*

When we talking about the Grand Canyon, we mean South Rim, North Rim and West Rim.

The South Rim of the Grand Canyon is the most visited and the most developed area at Grand Canyon National Park.
The huge Grand Canyon Village is located here and tourists travel between the view points by buses.

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon - for those, "who do not need to hurry home".
Recreation area is in a pine forest , a lot of lodges and campgrounds here.
You can stay for a few days here , enjoying the beauty and the tranquility.
(We did it only 1 year later)...
*North Rim*

The West Rim is a territory of the Indian tribe -Hualapai.
It home of the world famous glass bridge - the Skywalk.
But this area is not included in Grand Canyon National Park.

So, we turned from the highway 40, to the roads 64, 180 and drove to Grand Canyon National Park, to the South Rim.
And here is Grand Canyon Village.
GPS-coordinates: 36°03'32.0"N, 112°06'28.3"W

Tourists travel in the park on large buses, which run along the cliff every 10 minutes.

There are many bus stops at the routes - the Viewpoints.
You got off the bus, looked Grand Canyon and at the bus to the next stop, hiding from the sun.

The sun on the South Rim is really very dangerous.
And the rocks give off heat.
You can quickly get a sunburn while walking near the canyon.
Therefore, long pants, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and water the must be...

The trees do not protect from the heat, the trees are fighting for a life.

When we discussed at home how much time to spend at the Grand Canyon, my wife told me:
"All cliffs are similar and the three hours will be enough".
But on the first lookout point, wide-eyed with amazement, she said:
"I could not imagine that the cliffs can fascinate so...".

Indeed, it can not be said better.
Time is running fast here, it seems that you are standing in front of a eternity...

Grand Canyon looks beautiful even in photos.
What a man feels being in the Grand Canyon?
I can not find the right words.
A delight, a sense of the grandeur of nature, and happiness, because you see it.

The same cliffs look different from different viewing angles.
The sun, rocks, shadows create a picture of extraterrestrial landscapes.

Rare trees complement the picture of the nature, the trees are struggling with the sun and with rocks for the right to live

The narrow trail goes down to the bottom of the canyon, you can walk a little.
The canyon is very deep and you can not come down and go up in one day.

But most of the tourists love to look at the canyon from the lookout poins or straight off a cliff.

But be careful, do not stand close to the edge.
Perhaps because of the heat, tourists lose their sense of danger.
There were cases when people fell down.

All rocks have different colors: red, white, yellow, gray, black and blue in the distance, where the horizon merges with the sky.

The cliffs are composed of different rocks, which lie by layers.
We can study the geology of our planet on these rocks.

So, the tourists look at the Grand Canyon and they move between lookout points on buses.
While you're waiting for the bus with a refreshing air conditioning , you can relax on a bench or try to hide from the sun in the shade.

We have seen the Colorado River with one of the lookout points.

The weather was very hot
Even the shadow of the trees did not protect us from the heat.
The air was heavy and hot...

In addition, we are tired.
But we were able to visit all the viewing points of the route.
Oh, when will we see such beauty in next time?

We returned to the Grand Canyon Village and drove by car to the town of Page, AZ.
Near the town of Page, on the shores of Lake Powell, we had booked a site in the campground.

A huge crack in the ground - Grand Canyon, runs parallel to the road, and gradually narrowing.

We arrived safely to our Wahweap Campground in complete darkness, after 3,5 hours of driving a car.