subject: Measuring The Significance Of Life [print this page] Located in the northern end of the state of Arizona is one of natures most spectacular sights. The Grand Canyon is an impressive tourist attraction that has been carved out of the earth through the erosion of rock and soil over eons of time. One of the marvels of the world, the breathtaking colors of the rising cliffs from the canyon floor provides vistas that cannot be found anywhere else on the planet. Cut from the path of the Colorado River that winds its way through the southwestern landscape of the desert, the plateaus of the gorge capture the imagination and are a testament to the creative forces of the universe.
Looking down into the abyss from the top of the cavernous opening reminds a person of how small they are in the grand scheme of things as the vast expanse of the magnificent chasm stretches on for miles out ahead of the spectators. While the views from the top of the canyon are unparalleled there is another perhaps more striking way to see the splendor of the layered rock formations, and that is from the seat of a raft as it makes its way downstream on the Colorado River. Grand Canyon rafting trips show travelers a greatly different perspective of the wondrous sights that the area is famous for.
With the adventurous spills of the white water and the current of the water pulling a boat through the twists and turns of the chasm visitors to the national park are rewarded with an experience that pales to every other tour of the landscape. Other tours direct interested people down into the canyon by riding on the back of a donkey or pack mule that is lead down the steep slopes of the cliffs by a professional guide or park ranger, but that ride cannot compare the awesome thrill of river rafting through the canyon and looking up at walls which stretch high overhead.
Each year millions of tourists from all over the globe make the journey to the rim of the Grand Canyon and peer over the edge into the pristine drops that fall hundreds of feet to the bottom. There is nothing on earth that compares to the remarkable erosion of the forms that make up the largest natural gorge in the world. Connecting to all of the wildlife that inhabits the divide it is possible to find a tranquil peace that allows all of the worries and troubles of life to be forgotten as the place of each individual is somehow marked by their smallness in the vast expanse of nature and time.
