Day 6
This was the last day of waking up early, but we waited all week to see the Grand Canyon with ATV Action Tours. We, however, didn't expect for it to rain as it rains so rarely here. In fact, it rains so rarely, some of the locals were coming out simply to see the rain. For a desert community, it doesn't rain often and they weren't that prepared for it when it happened.
The ATV Action Tours, tour guide/van driver tells you stories the entire way to Hoover Dam. When he stops on the Arizona side to change the clock one hour past the time zone and allows you to look around and take some pictures. Hoover Dam is bigger than can be described. Not as big as I'll describe the Grand Canyon, but so big you're left wondering, "How in the world did they build it?" I mean, it's so big, I'd get a fear of heights if I even stood within feet of the edge.
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| Cows in the desert next to the Joshua Trees |
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Anyway, we jumped back in the van and rode another two hours to the Grand Canyon. The countryside was the entire forest of Joshua trees, which are much more cactus-y looking than on the cover of the infamous U2 album, and do indeed look like a forest. A forest of alien trees, but a forest just the same.
After that, we went off road and drove through more of this forest in the desert, until we got to the west rim.
Each rim is different, and people have their preferences. The west rim is famous because it is untouched. It is Native American land, and they won't allow even a guardrail. The advantage is that you can see the Grand Canyon as it really is.
On this day, there was an benefit to the rain. I walked down one plateau until I was nearly in the center of the canyon, and as the rain began, everybody ran back to the van. I stayed two minutes longer and spun around. Alone, just me and the Grand Canyon, and it leaves you feeling small. You see so much of the canyon from this point, as it goes on as far as your eyes can see. The entire horizon is filled with this canyon, and all you are left thinking is how amazingly small you are in comparison.
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| Alone in the Grand Canyon |
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Back on the bus, I admit I slept the whole way back until we got home since it was a rainy day
