Today, the Park Service service warns hikers not to hike to the river and back in one day. But the good advice predates Grand Canyon National Park.
The clouds beneath your feet: Hiking into an atmospheric inversion
During an atmospheric inversion, Grand Canyon is transformed into a river of clouds. I hiked into the inversion and took some photographs.
The Hance Guestbook: Deadpan comments from 19th-Century Grand Canyon tourists
A collection of testimonies written in John Hance’s private guestbook preserves a fascinating collection of early tourist reactions to Grand Canyon.
Classic cartoon travel maps of Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon, as rendered in cartoon form. These vintage travel maps show how tourists saw the canyon in the 1930s and ’40s. They also show how tourists were seen by the artists.
Running Grand Canyon during the 1983 flood
In 1983, twenty years after Glen Canyon dam opened, a combination of management decisions and high spring runoff resulted in Lake Powell filling to the brim. Dam releases, ordinarily on the magnitude of 10,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), increased to nearly 100,000 cfs. That summer, boaters still ran Grand Canyon.