A Grand Time

We spent a day and a half and two nights appreciating the Grand Canyon's majesty for ourselves.

The highlight was a morning hike along the southern rim from Bright Angel Lodge. A few times, the trail passes a couple of yards from the edge and an initial drop-off of about 300 feet on the express route to the canyon floor. Though you would have to try hard to fall off, it still provided a thrill of danger, especially with a glance down. At one vista point, we could see a stretch of the Colorado River, its mighty rapids looking like harmless white ripples from so far away.

Past wind-twisted junipers, we hiked for about two miles until our water ran out. The sun bore down on us. We trudged along, growing thirstier -- then caught the next air-conditioned bus full of visitors back to the lodge.

John Wesley Powell and the other first canyon explorers had it slightly rougher.