We arrived at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on November 5 and stayed 4 nights at the Bright Angel Lodge in the park. Our hikes include the Hermit Trail along the south rim west of Grand Canyon Village, Shoshone Point, South Kaibab (down to Skeleton Point), and the Rim Trail east of Grand Canyon Village.
Above: View before sunrise at Yavapai Point
The Grand Canyon is a place to learn about the geology of Earth. So much of it is exposed here and there is a huge amount of information available to visitors. A good place to start is the Geology Museum at Yavapai Point with its excellent displays and explanations.
At the top of the South Rim, you stand on rocks that were deposited 270 million years ago, the Kaibab formation, and extends down to rocks that are 1.68 billion years old, the Vishnu Group formations. Going for a hike down into the canyon on the South Kaibab trail, for example, takes you through millions of years of different sediments that can be fun to try to identify (if you are into that sort of thing…). The Rim Trail going west from the Geology Museum at Yavapai Point toward the Grand Canyon Village has the very interesting “Trail Through Time” that helps put the geology time scale into perspective.
Click on the images below to see larger versions and a slide show.
