Travel Biography Photo Extravaganza - Part 17.

About both the 1978 and the 1995 Grand Canyon Rim-to-River Hikes.

In 1978, I planned to spend a day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was one of many stops on a backpacking journey around the United States, using the Greyhound Bus visitor's pass known as the Ameripass. However, I discovered a trail leading into the Canyon after arriving at the South Rim. I found out that it was the 9.6-mile Bright Angel Trail, and it carried both hikers and mule riders down to the floor, over a mile beneath the rims.

Near the trailhead, a building known as the Bright Angel Lodge had a booking kiosk. I thought that by asking for details about the trail, I might learn something. Immediately, I was offered a bed at Phantom Ranch, that is, accommodation on the Canyon's floor near the Colorado River. I accepted the offer with enthusiasm! And so, the destiny of this 25-year-old changed from a day visitor to an overnighter, one who would see far more of the Canyon than just from the Rim. This included standing by the River, which, from where the Village stood, was hidden from the Rim.

However, as a keen photographer who always recorded on film life's most extraordinary events, the next morning after the descent, I snapped away at the surrounding scenery and the Colorado River before the energy-draining hike back out of the Canyon. The 19.2-mile hike was successfully completed and on schedule too.

But when I arrived back home, I saw that the Inner Canyon photos were nothing more than silhouettes contrasting with the cyan sky and River. This was one of life's biggest disappointments. Therefore, I had always wished for a second visit and to re-hike the Bright Angel Trail using a better camera. 

Such an opportunity arose in 1995, 17 years after my last visit to the States in 1978. I was about to turn 43 years of age when I arrived back at the Canyon during early Autumn. Despite any setbacks, I was determined to reach the floor, spend the night there, and record on film the adventure, this time, with success, and a beautiful photo album to show for it. Furthermore, I wanted the hike to be educational. For example, during the 19th Century, a geologist who was also interested in Eastern religions explored the Canyon and noted that some of the buttes and mesas took on certain shapes when viewed from a particular angle. Hence, he gave them names which stuck to this day. Naming certain buttes, especially near the Corridor Trails, and identifying them on the hike and in a photo album brings out the grandeur of the adventure.

Below is a stock photo of the Grand Canyon taken with a camera suitable for commercial use. It shows what you see as you approach the South Rim at the area of the Village and Visitor's Center. What I have done was identify the more familiar buttes and features using a colour code. This should enable you to locate each feature that appears in the main album by using the stock photo as a template and working out the orientation of each feature by comparing its location with the model. It would be better to click on the photo to expand it before studying.

Stock Photo of the Grand Canyon as seen from the Rim.

Key to the Colour Code:

Cyan: Cheops Pyramid.

Red: Buddha Temple Butte.

Yellow: Plateau Point.

White: Indian Gardens.

Green: Bright Angel Canyon.

Orange: Near Zoroaster Temple Butte (but it's just off the picture).

The overall length of the 1995 hike was approximately 23 miles (37 kilometers). This included a short spur from Phantom Ranch towards the North Rim and then back to the Ranch before commencing with the return ascent to the South Rim. At Indian Gardens, I branched off the main trail from the River and headed to Plateau Point, on the tip of the level "step" between the Outer and the Inner Gorge, known as the Tonto Plateau. This diversion added a further three miles to the overall hiking distance, a 1.5-mile extension each way.

The ratio of those staying overnight within the Canyon is about 1% of the total number of daily visitors, including dayhikers. However, at Plateau Point, I was entirely alone. I assume that the fantastic views seen from Plateau Point are missed by all but a very few. How fortunate I was to be numbered among those few!

This album contains the 23-mile return hike from Phantom Ranch back to South Rim, including the diversion from Indian Gardens to Plateau Point. Thus, there are some photos here that aren't found in many photo albums of the Grand Canyon.

This week contains the photos taken on the ascent back to the South Rim and the Village. 

Click here for the Index linking these photos to the main Biography, Weeks 58-61.

Photos of the 1995 Grand Canyon Ascent.

Early Morning at Phantom Ranch.

Individual huts at Phantom Ranch.

Mules waiting to transport cargo to South Rim.

Bright Angel Creek flows past Phantom Ranch.

Gneiss Bedrock, facing towards the South Rim.

Bright Angel Creek flows from the little footbridge. 

The bridge links the Ranch with a Campground.

Loaded and ready to go.

Where there's water, there are trees.

Looking towards the North Rim from the Ranch.

About to cross the Colorado River on Silver Bridge.

A section of the South Rim seen from the Bridge.

I leave Silver Bridge behind.

Looking east upstream at Zoroaster Temple Butte.

A raft sails downstream.

Another view of the Colorado River.

Morning view of the Inner Canyon.

I get my feet wet before the Ascent.

A species of Cactus.

Pipe Creek.

Pipe Creek flows down the Devil's Corkscrew.

The Devil's Corkscrew cuts through the Gneiss Bedrock.

Looking northwest from the Corkscrew.

Looking back down the Corkscrew.

Buddha Temple Butte seen from the Corkscrew.

Panoramic view of the Corkscrew.

A section of the South Rim.

A view of the South Rim from Indian Gardens.

Here at Indian Gardens, I divert to Plateau Point.

The River seen from Plateau Point.

Tapeats Sandstone rests on Gneiss Bedrock.

The River cuts through Gneiss Granite. Plateau Point.

How the River appears from Plateau Point.

Zoroaster Temple and Brahmans Temple Buttes.

Cheops Pyramid as seen from Plateau Point.

South Rim as seen from Plateau Point.

Heading through Indian Gardens towards the South Rim.

The Hike over, showered and refreshed.

El Tovar Hotel was a welcoming sight.

Fred Harvey's log cabins make up the Village.

Signs like this one are found in American National Parks.

Eve casts a shadow as the evening draws in.

San Francisco Peaks as seen from Flagstaff.

In Flagstaff, I spent a night and a day.

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Next Week, I stop at Phoenix, Arizona, to visit the Papago Botanical Gardens.

Travel Biography Photo Extravaganza - Part 16.

America 1995. How therapeutic was the desert wilderness after a social disaster!

Between 1993 and 1994, I spent 15 weeks in the Holy Land, 13 of them in 1994, making this the most extended stay outside the UK in my life. Those weeks consisted of both good and bad elements of the experience. The good consisted of such variations of the venues I visited, from the river system of the Great Rift Valley, the beauty of the lush Northern Israel to the Southern Desert of the Negev, and the active religious sites in Jerusalem, along with ancient buildings dating back to 2,000 BC. I also communicated well with both Jews and Arabs, making Israel a pleasant land to live in.

The negatives were restricted to the social side I experienced at the Conference Centre due to a culture clash. This was not with the Jews or the Arabs but with fellow British colleagues who volunteered there. As a result, after flying back home from Tel Aviv, I spent the next twelve months with a broken heart.

That is, until I boarded a United Airlines flight to New York on Tuesday, September 5th, 1995 - exactly one year to the day after taking off from Ben Gurion Airport for London Gatwick on Monday, September 5th, 1994. The following four weeks spent across the Atlantic Ocean proved to have been the best therapy needed to heal a broken heart.

Healing a Broken Heart, a Hike in the Grand Canyon.

Since my last visit to North America in 1978, I have always felt an attraction for that continent, especially California and Arizona, as well as the semi-desert States west of the Mississippi River. This was due mainly to the vast open spaces under a warm, dry climate, along with the lack of grey urbanisation, which echo the constant grey, rainy skies, which is the character of Britain, especially from the Midlands northwards. By contrast, cities such as San Diego have their Downtown buildings in bright pastel colours along with palm trees and sub-tropical vegetation, which adds that touch of natural beauty to the local environment. 

Geographically, the Mississippi River is a third inland from the Atlantic coastline, and the continent's overall size is such that a ride on the Greyhound Bus from New York City to St Louis in Missouri is almost the same as the distance between London and Rome.

My love for Israel and America are equal but for different reasons. While Israel (along with the West Bank) is steeped in religious, historic and archaeological sites, America, especially in the Southwest, has its own natural beauty that was so pleasing to my soul, and for me, the Grand Canyon is one geological phenomenon that led me to a near obsession since 1978. Therefore, when an opportunity opened to return to the States after 17 years since 1978, I virtually made a beeline to Arizona.

Like in the seventies, the Greyhound Ameripass was available to "aliens" visiting the USA. However, in the seventies, this came in a form of a book of vouchers, each voucher was torn off by the driver when commencing a journey. By 1995, The Ameripass was a single card which was kept by the visitor throughout.

So, in late summer of 1995, I set off across the Atlantic, thus returning to solo backpacking after 1994. And nothing could be more therapeutic!

After spending a night and a day in New York City, I boarded a Greyhound Bus at the Port Authority Bus Terminal for a "fast" ride to St Louis in Missouri, the home of the Gateway Arch. To get there, I passed through the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. When the bus drove into a city terminal for servicing, I could see that from a distance, each city looked as if it consisted of a cluster of cuboid skyscrapers huddled together on the horizon. Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis may have been worth a visit or even just a walk through, but back then, I was keen to head west. After all, my time in the USA was limited.

I spent two nights and a day at St Louis, visiting the Arch and its underground museum. Along the route to Arizona, I had a brief walk through Tulsa in Oklahoma, and a nice city it was for a Saturday midmorning, with two bandstands near each other, both attracting an audience among the shoppers. By contrast, Albuquerque in New Mexico was quiet and resembled a ghost town, as it was a Sunday.

By four in the following morning, I arrived at Flagstaff, Arizona, to connect to Grand Canyon Village. From the South Rim, I hiked the 9.6-mile Bright Angel Trail to Phantom Ranch. This was a four-hour downhill walk to the Colorado River and further on towards the North Rim at the start of Bright Angel Canyon. Bright Angel Creek runs through this side canyon to join the Colorado River. Phantom Ranch is a short distance upstream of the Creek.

This photo album is the first part of USA 1995, starting in New York and finishing at Phantom Ranch at the Canyon's floor. All the appropriate photos are from the 1995 hike into the Grand Canyon.

Click here for Weeks 56-72 for the whole trip Index. There is a separate link for the Grand Canyon Hike.

Arrival into New York.

 

Night view from my hotel room on 8th Avenue.

Times Square.

New York Skyline.

Looking across the Hudson River at New Jersey.

Turtle Pond, Central Park.

City skyline from Central Park.

Goodnight, Times Square.

St Louis, Missouri.

The Arch looms behind the Courthouse.

View of the Courthouse from 632 feet (192 metres)

St Louis Stadium.

Looking across the Mississippi at Illinois

The Underground Museum.

Ground level view of the Arch.

Courthouse interior.

Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Downtown.

Lively Shopping Precinct, Tulsa.

A Gospel Choir.

A second band, nearby.

Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Early Sunday Morning.

I attended a Methodist Church in Albuquerque.

Downtown Albuquerque, an American Sunday.

A lone passerby took this of me.

From Albuquereque, the start of the Rockies.

The Grand Canyon and the 1995 Hike to the Colorado River.

My first view of the Grand Canyon.

South Rim cliffs seen from the Village.

I see stratified rock layers but not the River.

Battleship Rock as seen from the Rim.

El Tovar Hotel perches on the Rim.

Bright Angel Canyon, far off.

Just before the start of the Hike.

One of the Trail tunnels.

As I go down, the scene gets more dramatic.

The Park Service bans feeding wildlife.

The rock layers become more prominent.

The North Rim begins to distort as I go down.

Approaching the 1.5-mile Station.

I had to give way to a train of mule riders.

Battleship Rock from the trail beneath it.

 Indian Gardens with Cheops Pyramid to the left.

Buddha Temple Butte is visible directly in front.

Facing north at Buddha Temple Butte.

 Looking up at Plateau Point from Devil's Corkscrew.

Facing north into Bright Angel Canyon.

Looking up from the Devil's Corkscrew.

Devil's Corkscrew View of the South Rim.

Cheops Pyramid from below.

The Inner Canyon Gneiss Bedrock.

Yes! The Colorado River.

Star pic! Zoroaster Temple Butte dominates the River. 

Facing west downstream, the Colorado River.

At Silver Bridge, I was overtaken by another hiker.

Phantom Ranch, the Canyon Floor Terminus.

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Next Week: Why was the return hike 3 miles longer than the outward hike?