Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon, USA |
May 2001 |
Trip Discription
If you are getting tired of ups and downs hiking through mountains,
you can have a taste of "downs and ups" hiking through canyons -
the miracles resulting from uplifts, volcanic depositions and eroding effort of ancient water.
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Description :
Sprawling along HWY12 which lead you to the heart of Bryce Canyon,
you would be amzaed by the crystal-white snowfields even in early
summer. Within an hour, the scene turned dramatically into brillant
red canyons, contrasted against the bright blue sky.
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Description :
Before you reach the Bryce Canyon National Park Visiting Centre,
Fairyland Point gives you an appetite and overview of the amphitheatre.
Whether the Fairyland Characters are alive or not, they are definitely dazzling.
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Description :
The most beautiful trail is the Queen's Garden Trail between Sunrise
and Sunset Points. Shortly after departing from Sunrise Point, you
will be mixed into the fascinating sculptures by the nature.
You can dance among those colourful hoodoos , and
pass under the natural arches bridging the trail.
The, you will meet Thor's Hammer where you could choose
to continue your hike round the Navajo Loop Trail to the Wall Street
or ascend back to the canyon rim at Sunset Point.
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Description :
We drove south along HWY89A towards Arizona. This scenic drive made
hours of driving enjoyable and worthwhile. The way to Jacob Lake and
North Rim Entrance of Grand Canyon would not open until mid-summer.
We crossed the east extreme of Grand Canyon via Navajo Bridge which hangs
over the rapidly running Colorado River and came to its south rim.
It's this powerful and energetic river that carved the Grand Canyon
into its North and South parts.
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Description : We entered the Grand Canyon National Park from its East Rim. Immediately, the Desert View trapped our sight. It is the highest point of South Rim where the ancient Indians built an observation tower there for defense and storage. Nowadays, you can get on the top of the tower between 9am and 5pm to have a panoramic view of the canyon, palisades of the desert, and Navajo Indian Reservation. A Kiva is also exhibited inside the tower. Travelling along the south Rim, you can enjoy spectacular scenery at numerous viewpoints. From time to time, clouds and sunlight fight for their dominance, adding colours and life to the canyon.At dusk, sunlight faded, took away its luster on the rocks, left behind a mystery purple glow. |
Description : The urge to get closer and explore the canyon distended within our hearts. We joint a one-day mule-riding trup to Plateau Point on the Bright Angle Trail. We had great fun on mule-backs apart from enjoying the views. I would, however, advise against hiking on this trail due to the relatively crowd and dusty environment. |
Description : We took the South Kaibab trail for a day-hike. After half and hour's walk down the Zig-Zag path, we reached the Ooh-Aah Point, named after the exclamations heard there about the great view. Further down, the scene changed from thrilling views of cliffs to calming views of plateaus.The weather became warmer and warmer as you descend. We shed our layers and rest at Ceder Ridge. Extending from this point are sheets of brillant red rocks like a licking tongue to taste the atmosphere of the canyon. Then we came to the O'Neili Butte where a strange profile of square blocks of rocks stands.
The trail leads you down to a
large plateau and finally the Kaibab Sunspension Bridge over Colorado River.
A return trip up to that point takes 2 days and you need to apply for
backcountry permit to stay overnight inside the canyon.
For us, we had to went back up to the rim before sunset.
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