.

      Something of this reverence infects nearly every first-time visitor. Nothing in the approach to the Grand Canyon prepares you for what awaits. You hardly notice the gradual elevation gain or the subtle change from windswept sagebrush scrubland to juniper woodlands to ponderosa pine forest. Suddenly, it’s there. No preliminaries, no warnings. Stark, quiet, a maze of cathedrals and castles sculpted by nature.

      Layers of sandstone, limestone, shale, and schist give the canyon its colors, and from dawn to dusk, the interplay of shadows and light creates an ever-changing palette of hues and textures. In this landscape layer cake of stone, we can read 2 billion years of geologic history.

      In the more recent past, the Grand Canyon has been home to several Native American cultures, including the Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi), best known for their cliff dwellings in the Four Corners region (see chapter 7). About 150 years after 13th-century Ancestral Puebloans and Coconino peoples abandoned the canyon, nomadic people from the west moved into the area. Today, the Hualapai and Havasupai tribes, descendants of the ancient Patayan people, still live in and near the Grand Canyon on the south side of the Colorado River.

      Some geologists believe the erosive action of the Colorado River carved the Grand Canyon in a 17-million-year span; others think it took much less time. Either way, it’s clear that the canyon has a complex geologic history—it’s written all over the landscape.

      The story of the Grand Canyon begins eons ago, when vast seas covered this region. Sediments carried by seawater were deposited and, over millions of years, those sediments were turned into limestone and sandstone. According to the most widely accepted theory, the Colorado River began its work of cutting through the plateau when the ancient seabed was thrust upward to form the Kaibab Plateau. Today, 21 sedimentary layers, the oldest of which is more than a billion years old, can be seen in the canyon. Beneath all these layers, at the very bottom, is a stratum of rock so old that it has metamorphosed, under great pressure and heat, from soft shale to a much harder stone. Called Vishnu Schist, this layer is the oldest rock in the Grand Canyon, dating from 2 billion years ago.

      In 1540, Spanish explorer Garcia Lopez de Cárdenas became the first European to set eyes on the Grand Canyon, but it would be another 329 years before the first expedition traveled through the entire canyon. John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran, was deemed crazy when he set off to navigate the Colorado River in wooden boats. His small band of men spent 98 days traveling 1,000 miles down the Green and Colorado rivers. So difficult was the endeavor that when some of the expedition’s boats were wrecked by powerful rapids, part of the group abandoned the journey and set out on foot, never to be seen again.

      Miners, ranchers, loggers, and farmers followed, but they soon found that the Grand Canyon was worth more as a landmark than as land to be worked. The Grand Canyon has become one of the most-visited natural wonders on the planet. By raft, by mule, on foot, and in helicopters and small planes—approximately four million people each year come to gaze into this great chasm.

      In the recent past, however, there were those who regarded the canyon as mere wasted space, suitable only for filling with water. Upstream of the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River stands Glen Canyon Dam, which forms Lake Powell (p. 323); downstream lies Lake Mead (p. 478), created by Hoover Dam. The Grand Canyon might have suffered the same fate, but luckily the forces for preservation prevailed. Today, the Grand Canyon is the last major undammed stretch of the Colorado River.

      The Colorado—named by early Spanish explorers for the reddish-brown color of its muddy waters—once carried immense loads of silt, much of which now gets deposited on the bottom of Lake Powell. As a result, the water in the Grand Canyon is much clearer (and colder) than it once was. Today, only when rainstorms and snowmelt feed the side canyons of the Grand Canyon does the river still flow murky and red from heavy loads of eroding sandstone.

      While the waters of the Colorado are usually clearer than before, the same cannot be said for the air in the canyon. Yes, you’ll find smog here, smog that has been blamed on both Las Vegas and Los Angeles to the west and a coal-fired power plant to the east, near Page. Scrubbers have been installed on the power plant’s smokestacks, but there isn’t much to be done about smog drifting from the west.

      Far more visible and frustrating is the traffic congestion at the South Rim during the spring-to-fall busy season. Some five million people visit the park each year, and South Rim traffic in summer has become almost as bad as it is during rush hour in any major city. Finding a parking space can be the biggest challenge of a visit to Grand Canyon National Park. But don’t let these inconveniences dissuade you. Despite the crowds, the Grand Canyon more than lives up to its name. It’s simply one of the most memorable sights on planet Earth.

      Essentials

      Arriving

      In summer you can expect at least a 20- to 30-minute wait at the South Rim entrance gate just to get into the park. If at all possible, travel to the park by some means other than car. Alternatives include taking the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams, flying into Grand Canyon Airport and then taking a taxi, taking the Arizona Shuttle from Flagstaff, or joining a guided tour to the park. You can walk to plenty of scenic overlooks, hiking trails, restaurants, and lodges in the Grand Canyon Village area, and free shuttle buses operate along both Hermit Road and Desert View Drive.