Grand Canyon

5/05/05 7:00pm, My first view of the Grand Canyon, near sunset. It was so overwhelmingly beautiful that I cried. 



5/06/05 8:30 am, Just before hiking down into the Canyon. 



5/06/05 9:15 am, Storm blew in. Very high winds and dust followed by hail. Stas and I were prepared for the change in weather, except we did not have gloves. The trail we were hiking can be seen lower right. 



5/06/05 11:00 am, Hiked back out of the Canyon. Center point in the photo is the Temple of Vishnu. It rained, hailed and snowed for the rest of the day. 



5/07/05 9:00 am, Grand Canyon from top of Bright Angel Trail. The view was glorious. Neither words nor images can capture it--it must be experienced. 



5/07/05 View of Bright Angel trail. It is possible to ride mules down it to Phantom Ranch. I followed the trail about 1200 feet down into the canyon, then turned around when my knees started to bother me. 



5/07/05 1:30pm, View of the Canyon from the west, near Hermit's Rest. 



5/07/05 4:00pm, View of the Grand Canyon from the east. 


We stayed right on the South Rim at the lodgings owned by the National Parks Service. We saw lots of wildlife, from chipmunks and deer to Stellar jays and California condors. The yucca were blooming, and I saw saxifras and a lot of other wildflowers I was unable to identify. I cannot find words to describe what it felt like to be at and in the Grand Canyon. I am frustrated by the knowledge that anything I say, any photo I take, only diminishes the ineffable numinousness that is such an amazing place, because it is only possible to describe or depict it in sections, rather than in its entirety.