O'Reilley News

Thursday, January 06, 2005
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, ARIZONA
Stories and Steep Cliffs at the Grand Canyon

You know the Grand Canyon--and I never did find out who named it--really does deserve the name. Mount Rushmore, the Sydney Opera House, the Badlands, all look smaller than the pictures. The Grand Canyon looks Grand. I'd never been there before. Leslee and I had a great little adventure there today.

Our arrival was fortitous. We'd planned to go yesterday, but we called the Ranger Station and it was socked in. On a good day at the Grand Canyon you can see for 100 miles. On a bad day, you are "invited to enjoy the lichens and mosses on the ground beneath you." We waited for a clear day.

Today was a bright, cold, and clear as we headed out. The Grand Canyon pops out of a topographical nowhere. There's really no introduction, no little or lesser canyon. No Good or Fine Canyon. Not even a little hill. Just suddenly there it is at the end of the road. We spent an hour or so wandering around in awe of it. Gradually, the clouds rolled in and stayed, making our little view of it that much more precious.

We wandered down the Rim Trail, passing the famous and sprawling El Tovar Lodge--closed for construction--and stopping at the little Kolb Studio. I talked to the lady at the counter, the house had been owned by a local photographer in the early 20th century. A local group had restored it and offered tours. Sadly, today's was booked. We talked a little longer and she nicely added us to this list, "people often don't show up anyway," she said.

Well, the tour was fantastic. I think employees of the National Park Service are a little bit like the teachers I had in Catholic school. They are treated so badly and paid so little that a sizable percentage are either too incompetent to seek employment elsewhere or too bitter. But the rest, they'll change your life: you'll find no one more dedicated, wise, and inspired, and inspiring. Our guide--Ranger Jim Haywood--was a resounding example of this second, endangered group of NPS employees. He gave a great tour.

It says a lot that Ranger Haywood could compete with the scenery. The Kolb Studio is a house that's built right into the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It's five floors tall, full of windows each looking out into the canyon. But the story is gripping. The Kolb Brothers--Ellsworth and Emery--came to the area in the 1901 in search of adventure, opened a photo studio talking pictures of tourists before there was a reliable source of water (the river is a mile below you), took the first motion picture of the river trip from Wyoming to Mexico through the Canyon, became world famous, and fought the railway company that owned the monopoly on the land around them. Ultimately, they ended up fighting the federal government--none too pleased of their thriving business in the middle of the now National Park. They offered to buy them out for $700 in the 1960s. (After pressure from Barry Goldwater, they eventually settled on a couple of thousand.) In one of the many ironies of the story, it's now the Federal government--in the form of Ranger Jim--that eloquently tells their story.

After a nice little lunch at the historic Bright Angels Lodge, we raced from the Grand Canyon in the snow to go see the Grand Canyon IMAX movie down the road. It was either a very affordable helicopter trip or a very expensive movie. I prefer to imagine the former. It was a grand little day. Tomorrow, we prepare for the road. Saturday, weather permitting, we hit it.

For Pictures of This Part of Our Trip, Click This Link.
Jude O'Reilley
jude@hush.com
9:07 PM