Finally saw Grand Canyon!

Have you watched Gregory Peck’s (Dev Anand’s whose look alike) “Mackenna’s Gold” movie? If you havent, then you better watch it… It’s a movie based on one of the natural wonders of the world – “Grand Canyon” which is supposed to be the most visited natural wonder.. Many people I have met are confused between the “seven wonders of the world” and the “natural wonders of the world”.. For all such confused people let me clarify.. The seven wonders of the world were built by men many centuries back.. Currently, there is only one wonder left which is the Pyramids of Egypt.. the rest of them do not exist anymore.. The great wall of China, Taj Mahal etc are the modern(or other) wonders of the world.. The seven natural wonders of the world were formed naturally on their own, no one built them… First in this list is the Great Barrier reef and then comes the Grand Canyon… The largest and the deepest canyon is in Mexico called the Barranca del Cobre or “Copper Canyon”..This canyon is made up of 20 small canyons carved out of the Sierra Madre occidental by six different rivers. But Grand Canyon is made up of a single canyon and it is the largest “single canyon” in the world.. As soon as I knew that I would be going to Arizona, the first thing that came into my mind was Grand Canyon.. I wanted to visit that place badly and started dreaming about it while in India itself especially since I had seen in so many movies especially Mackenna’s Gold which was shot entirely there.. I felt very bad when people kept going to Grand Canyon and I couldnt find company to visit the place myself.. Finally when one of my roomie was also interested in seeing the place, I decided to visit it…

We set out early in the morning.. We even passed the Sonoran desert which is supposed to the richest desert with more than 140 species of cacti and surprisingly no sand either.. In the lowland, we could find rich vegetation with even the largest of the cactus species, Saguaro… As we entered the highland, we were shocked to see such a drastic change in the scenery.. there was no vegetation at all except a kind of cactus which was so small and looked like “Mickey’s ears”… I gazed at the desert trying to remember some of the western movies shot in such places.. Then we could see some cowboy houses and the first cowboy who came into my mind was the dashing “Client Eastwood” in “The good, the bad and the ugly”… The first stop was at Sedona, the red rock country.. I was spellbound to see such a beautiful place.. The red rocks were so beautiful and they were naturally formed.. Those rocks owe the color to iron oxide content in them.. After clicking some pictures, we headed to flagstaff which is famous for the pine forests and also being the only place in Arizona where one can see snowfall.. On the way we saw various canyons like the oak creek canyon etc.. Finally we reached GC.. We were headed to the helicopter ride since we had signed up for one.. I was so excited about it since it would be my first ride on any airbourne vehicle other than airplane.. After the helicopter took off, I could see the pine forests below.. It was little scary in the beginning since the vehicle would tilt completely whenever they had to turn in any direction, but then I got rid of the fear after I imagined people sky-diving from such vehicles at such an altitude.. riding it was nothing when compared to jumping from it.. These choppers make ear-deafening sounds (because of the rotating blades) and hence we had to wear a headphone. As we entered the Grand Canyon, the music in the headphones changed to some scary music.. The scenery below was jaw-dropping.. I could never imagine that there could be a place on Earth which could be that much “AMAZING”.. I wanted to scream at the top of my voice looking at the depth below.. There was such a sudden drop in the ground.. Any person just cannot make out that there is a canyon unless he reached the rim of it.. And to imagine the depth of it!!!! I started wondering about the olden days when people did not know about its existence.. How many people would have fallen down without even realizing that there is a gorge!!! Then we saw the colorado river running majestically far below us.. I wanted to go there, right at the bottom of this gorge.. How I wished my dad and mom could see it!!! I promised myself that I would make them see it once in their lifetime for sure!! I heard people even go down the canyon on mules.. Some people even go river rafting in Colorado river..

Then we went to each of the rims individually.. to the south rim and to the east rim.. We also went to Grand view which is supposed to the point from where you get the best view of the canyon.. This has been the most exciting trip for me.. Even the most beautiful building on Earth built by man cannot match this natural beauty in any manner.. There is also a railway depot supposed to the oldest in US built sometime in 1910 called “Grand Canyon railway”.. For people who havent been to GC, I would recommend you to visit the place atleast once in your lifetime!!!! I want to visit again…