A place everyone should visit
One of my favorite places besides the mountains of Southwestern Pennsylvania is Grand Canyon National Park. It truly is majestic and once visited it keeps drawing you back for more. Since that first visit of the South Rim with its hiking trails, bighorn sheep and sweeping vistas of rocks and sky, I was hooked.
I have had the thrill and adventure of rafting down the Colorado River through the canyon on three different occasions. The first trip was with Jon Dragon who was a pioneer of some of the first whitewater rafting on the New and Gauley rivers in West Virginia. Also on that trip were Dave and Mimi Demaree who own a company in Friendsville, Maryland, that manufactures the big rubber boats that are used to float the Colorado. Dave was our guide and Mimi also had a bit of a geology background and was able to explain the many different layers of rock on our journey through the canyon. Some of these formations are billions of years old.
The Colorado river is big whitewater and it is remote. Rafts accommodate 14 people along with gear, personal belongings, toilet, cooking equipment and food for the entire eight days. The guide is also the cook and the meals were fabulous. There was no cell phone reception and emergencies were handled via radio or a message left at Phantom Ranch, which is located about the half way point.
On my last trip, my mom was ill and had a problem developed, a message would be left at the ranch and I would鈥檝e had to hike out eight miles uphill and get transportation to the town and then the airport.
On my second trip, I was able to have my three grown children join me for the five-day package which included a day at a remote ranch riding horses and ATVs in some of the most remote country you will ever see. We flew into the ranch on a small plane and the next day we were helicoptered into the canyon and boarded our raft for four exciting days on the Colorado River.
The rancher told us to have fun on the ranch, but to be careful not to don鈥檛 get seriously injured since the nearest road was 35 miles away and a hospital trip took several hours. He also reminded us that all power at the ranch was self generated and lights go out at 9 p.m. With barely any light on a hundred thousand acre ranch, the nighttime stars were simply awesome.
In addition to the raw beauty of the Grand Canyon, the hikes up some of the side canyons and waterfalls were also spectacular. Plenty of animals reside in the canyon and my last trip was in the month of April, so the wildflowers were at their peak. Even in April, the daytime temperature would get into the 90s since the canyon floor is actually a desert. Nights could be cool, but since the rocks held a good bit of the day蘑菇视频 heat, sleeping out under the stars was truly joyful. On my first trip, only sleeping bags were provided. The later trips you had the option of a small cot, which, as I got older, was a nice upgrade.
In contrast, the water is very cold as it originates from the bottom of Glen Canyon Dam. It does warm a bit over the days as it pushes you down the canyon. There are plenty of big powerful rapids. But the guides prepare you well before each one and we never had anyone fall out. The eight-day excursion is about the same distance of riding the Pennsylvania Turnpike from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.
On my last trip a few years ago, I was pretty much on my own and had a lot of time to ponder life and what I wanted to do with the later chapters. Returning home, I sold my business to spend more time with family, travel and enjoy the outdoors. The Grand Canyon does that to you.