The Grand Canyon is without a doubt my favorite backpacking location. Millions visit it every year. They come to the tourist shops and lookout points on the south rim and think they've seen it! Oh, they come away impressed, of course, even awed; but they haven't really SEEN the Canyon.
To SEE that marvelous place, you have to get below the rim. You have to spend sultry nights in a slot canyon and cold mornings waiting for the sun to inch its way down the red sandstone. You have to find the pink rattlesnakes and listen to the ravens politicking in the evening twilight. You have to look up from the bottom of the Abyss. And you have to hike out again...
You aren't getting any closer by just looking at this page, though. Click here to get your backcountry permit, and start getting those legs in shape. I recommend the Stairmaster.
