Hittin' the Trail: Day Hiking Grand Canyon National Park: Hittin' the Trail, #2
By Rob Bignell
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About this ebook
The Grand Canyon rightly defies description. Most who see it for the first time say it reminds them of a majestic painting, appropriately suggesting it's a place that only can be visualized by actually gazing upon it.
Now comes the only complete guide to the parks' great day hiking trails: "Hittin' the Trail: Grand Canyon National Park." With one tap of the screen, you can:
>>Plan days of fun family-friendly activities
>>Reserve a campsite or lodging
>>Receive a list of the parks' current programs
>>Learn about special kid programs
>>Find directions, entrance fees, parking lots and more!
With the "Hittin' the Trail" ebooks, you'll never need another hiking guide to any of your favorite parks. We'll see you on the trail!
Rob Bignell
Rob Bignell is the owner and sole editor at Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the editing and proofreading needs of writers both new and published. During the past five years, he's helped more than a hundred novelists, poets and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams. Several of his short stories in the literary and science fiction genres have been published, and he is the author of the popular and highly acclaimed nonfiction "Hikes with Tykes," "Headin' to the Cabin," and "Hittin' the Trail" book series, the novel "Windmill", and the poetry collection "Love Letters to Sophie's Mom". For more than two decades, he worked as an award-winning journalist, with half of those years spent as an editor. In addition, for seven years he served as an English teacher or a community college journalism instructor. He holds a Master's degree in English and a Bachelor's degree in journalism and English. He and his son live in west-central Wisconsin and are active in boys basketball and Cub Scouts.
Read more from Rob Bignell
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Book preview
Hittin' the Trail - Rob Bignell
Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking Grand Canyon National Park
By Rob Bignell
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HITTIN’ THE TRAIL: DAY HIKING GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK
Copyright Rob Bignell, 2013
All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio, television or online reviews, no portion of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
Thank you for downloading this free ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.
Atiswinic Press
Ojai, Calif. 93023
hikeswithtykes.com/hittinthetrail_home.html
ISBN 978-0-9858739-8-1
Cover design by Rob Bignell
Cover photo of Grand Canyon from South Rim
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing May 2013
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Dedication
For Kieran
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Table of Contents
Introduction
How to Reach the Park
Hours and Admission
Parking
Facilities
Kid-friendly Programs
Dogs
Hiking Challenges
Park Maps
South Rim Trails
Grand Canyon Village Trails
South Rim Trail (east segment)
Hermit’s Rest Trails
Grandview Trail
North Rim Trails
Grand Canyon Lodge Trails
Cape Royal Road Trails
Point Imperial Trails
Widforss Trailhead
North Kaibab Area Trails
Best Trails Lists
Bonus Section: Day Hiking Primer
Selecting a Trail
Clothing
Equipment
Navigational Tools
Food and Water
First-aid Kit
Hiking with Children: Attitude Adjustment
Rules of the Trail
Trail Dangers
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Introduction
The Grand Canyon is one of those rare landscapes that humbles a soul.
Its immense size – 6000 feet deep from rim to canyon floor at its deepest, 18 miles across from rim to rim at its widest – appears unreal to most visitors. Then there’s the unfathomable age of the rock, up to 2 billion years old. Or simply watch the ever-shifting light as the canyon’s mood rotates through the day, ranging from the mystical, multiple hues of sunrise and sunset, to the utterly stark harshness of its brilliantly lit desert walls at high noon.
Despite the canyon’s majesty, the forces carving it seem miniscule: The Colorado River’s flow, wind, meltwater streams, the freezing and thawing of water in the rock canyons…that these alone could gouge out a canyon vaster than any man-made machine has ever dug is a testament to Mother Nature’s patient superiority over us.
The canyon serves as a virtual time machine into the past. The rim is an extremely thin layer of topsoil. The bedrock immediately below begins with rock that can be up to 250 million years old, forming a full 20 million years before the first dinosaurs appeared on the Earth. With each new layer as approaching the Colorado River, day hikers descend farther in time.
These rocks piled up over the eons as sediment and the shells of ancient creatures settled at the bottoms of deltas and seas. With the growing pressure from the weight of each new layer, the sand and other minerals hardened into stone.
Some of these minerals now leeching out of the canyon walls create the rocks’ multiple colors, from amber and burnt orange to sharp whites and deep reds.
Today, the entire canyon runs 277 miles from Lees Ferry south of the Utah-Arizona border to Grand Wash Cliffs near the Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border. The canyon virtually cuts off southern Arizona from the state’s northwest corner.
Many of the national park’s trails head into the backcountry by going up and down steep canyon sides. Still, a small segment of any of those trails can be done as a day hike.
How to Reach the Park
Most visitors to the Grand Canyon see only a small portion of it.