SUNRISE TO SUNSET AT GRAND CANYON - ARIZONA National Park Week - April 20-28, 2013 There is no better place to accidentally find yourself during the National Park Service's free week than the second most visited park, Grand Canyon. With nearly 5 million visitors a year, Grand Canyon is as good for its people watching as it is for the view itself.  You can go a long time without hearing a single word of English, but easily make out that everyone has the same mix of marvel and disbelief as they walk up the trail to Mather Point and catch their first glimpse of the South Rim.  The dark pines of the Kaibob National Forest conceal the Grand Canyon of the Colorado till the rim is reached. There, spread out for seemingly endless miles, is an ocean of color. From misty blue depths rise gigantic islands of crimson sandstone. Their undulating bands of red and purple grow softer in color and outline towards the horizon, where a single firm stroke seems to separate the rosy depths from the sky above. Its immensity is awful; the boldness of its contours overwhelming; its immobility terrifying. —Arizona, The Grand Canyon State: A State Guide (WPA, 1940)  Guide Note: National Park Week occurs each spring. * * * At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he's up to atinlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.
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