The Grandest Canyon (Day 1)

Our first day in the Grand Canyon was a long one mostly full of getting familiarized with the park and learning day-to-day operations.  The main service project we will be focusing on is the issue of parking. With over six million visitors per year, this park is the busiest national park. Also spring break is the busiest time of the year for the Grand Canyon.

After breakfast, we met at the rangers’ headquarters. Here we met Rangers Todd and Perri. We got to sit in on a suicide awareness training that was taught by Ranger Perri. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the US. Apparently people come to national parks to commit suicide and it is not an uncommon occurrence. Some people believe this is because of how beautiful our National Parks are. It is very important and necessary for the rangers and volunteers to know how to help someone who is in that situation.

When we were done with the Suicide Prevention and Awareness training, we walked through the park to Mather’s point where we got to see the canyon for the first time. We walked over with our hands on the person’s back in front of us with our eyes closed, so we wouldn’t see it until we reached the edge. Words could never describe the site! It was so breathtaking! I literally almost cried. The canyon is ten miles across and a mile deep. Human eyes can’t really put this into perspective.

I have never felt so insignificant and humbled. It was a very good feeling though. Pictures and movies will never come close to doing it justice. We went to the visitor center afterwards to watch a movie on how the canyon was formed and the research that is being done to discover more about the canyon and preserve one of the seven natural wonders of the world, so that our children and their children will be able to enjoy it.

The park is undergoing construction, so we took the buses around to familiarize ourselves with the area. We got off at the stop near the train depot and got to walk along the rim of it for about a mile or so. Everywhere along the rim is a new view and it is nothing short of spectacular.  This is definitely a park that one could come to several times and still not be able to experience all of it.  We walked along the rim as far as we could until we got to the bus stop. We took it back to the other end where we hiked another mile along the trail to the Yavapai Geology museum where Perri talked to us for about 30 minutes about how the canyon was formed. I got refreshed on sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks again.  Converging tectonic plates and erosion were two of the four major factors on the creation of the canyon. I wish I would’ve recorded her lecture because she was so knowledgeable.

Tomorrow we will start our first day of service!