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A walk in
the Grand Canyon
Trevor
Wray |
(Please click the
images for a better view.)
British tourists, polled for the
one holiday place to visit before they died, voted the Grand Canyon in Arizona
number one. And how did they describe it? Awesome, awesome and, yes, awesome!
However we have a major interest in cacti – is there anything to offer besides
the awesomeness of the view?
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Above: The
South Kaibab Trail leads steeply into the Grand Canyon to a meadow with
abundant Spring flowers and cacti.
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When anyone visits the American
southwest a visit to the Grand Canyon is compulsory. I have now been lucky
enough to visit this general area four times and stopped at the Grand Canyon
every time. Sunrise, sunset and the evening Ranger presentation are the least
you can do there, though I did miss one sunrise on the last visit. (It was
05.20). I must be getting old!
The journey from Williams or
Flagstaff, in the south, is the route normally taken I suspect. This is 50 miles
so boring the US government puts an information board telling you that the
vegetation type is Ponderosa pine forest.
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At the Grand Canyon it does not look like cactus
country but when you walk along the rim trails or investigate clearings in those
pines you will see several Opuntias (prickly pears), Echinocereus
triglochidiatus, (claret cup cactus) and Escobaria vivipara. These
species probably flower in June at this elevation (6000 feet).
| To stand at the top and gawp is fine but to truly
appreciate the Canyon it is a good idea to walk into it. Even a few hundred
yards down is to see a different world. For a start the California condors
(introduced giant vultures) fly above you! Cactus wise the first 1000 feet of
descent is not relevant. The cacti of the rim may be present and you may glimpse
them, but the cliffs are nearly vertical and to walk off trail risks your life
and those below you. After around 1000 ft of descent on both the South Kaibab
and the Bright Angel Trails there are picnic areas (and toilets – only in
America). I have gone several times past this point on the South Kaibab Trail.
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Above:
Broad ledge with Echinocereus, Echinocactus polycephalus and Opuntia |
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Top: Echinocereus
triglochidiatus in flower in the Grand Canyon. Below: nearby is
a flowering plant of Echinocereus engelmannii.
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At about 2000 feet of descent there is a broad
flatter area (around Cedar Mesa) which is a cactus paradise, especially in late
April and early May. Echinocereus triglochidiatus (with scarlet blooms)
and E. engelmannii (with purple flowers) may both be in flower here. Last
trip I was able to take a picture with both in flower together. My favourite
cactus, Echinocactus polycephalus, also grows here with the best view in
Arizona. This is a clustering barrel cactus (polycephalus = many heads) which
has yellow flowers in summer. The seedlings seem to have impossibly long spines.
Various prickly pears (Opuntias) proliferate here and hybridise. The flowers are
yellow and purple in Spring. Agave utahensis sends its flowering shoots
up in May and there are also Yuccas.
Remembering that to return to the
rim there is a 2000 feet ascent, this a good place to wander and take photos. In
Spring there are many wild flowers which would be accepted as true alpines,
commonly Phlox and Hymenoxis on the cliffs, Penstemon and Calochortus (Mariposa
lilies) on the flatter land. Startling clusters of paintbrush (Castilleja) are
everywhere. The challenge is not to find the plants but to find specimens with a
view of the Canyon beyond.
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The last trip I descended another
1000 feet into the Canyon to the rim of the Inner Gorge. There are some
beautiful views here and the Canyon towers above. Awesome! As to the cacti –
the extra few miles of hiking produced no new species and it was a long walk
back in the heat of the afternoon sun. When I returned to our campsite Sue
announced that I must come and see one of those ‘Mammillaria thingies’ along
the Rim Trail.
| After a cuppa I did, though
my knees and hips were feeling the effects of 10 miles of walking in the
Canyon. Sue’s plant was an Escobaria vivipara (it used to be a
Mammillaria) and there is a huge one near the Visitor Centre, ask the
Rangers. However a walk in some nice scenery revealed a cluster that was
worth taking a picture.
If you are not fit or do not want
the exertion of hiking into the Canyon (though you will take at least those few
hundred yards won’t you?) the drive to Lee’s Ferry to the north will produce
all the cacti of the Grand Canyon accessible by easy level hiking. A wander over
the bare slopes of Kaibab limestone may also reveal Pediocactus bradyi as
well. However, although the scenery there is nice, it is hardly awesome but you
could take a paddle in the Colorado River.
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Escobaria
vivipera along the rim of the Grand Canyon.
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It’s a long, long walk down the
Grand Canyon for that pleasure!
Trev
