Why I'm Scared and Thrilled by Canyons
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I’ve never been afraid of heights. Peering out over New York from the top of the Empire State Building doesn’t scare me. I loved climbing to the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral and seeing all of London below me. But there’s something about the depths of canyons that will always put me on edge. Maybe it’s because you never really know what to expect the first time you visit a canyon. The natural beauty of the whole thing goes without saying. Just the utterance of the word ‘canyon’ triggers mental images of coppery yellow sunsets and craggy precipices of grey rock worthy of a Western movie. But to say that the gritty red and orange of the Grand Canyon is ‘breathtaking’ and the pounding water of the Zambezi Gorge is ‘awe-inspiring’ would be an insult to nature. Even the most skilled photographer with the most advanced camera can’t capture what it is about the canyons that make me shiver at the sight of them. And because of this, I’m never truly prepared. The canyon’s bottom always stretches a little bit deeper, the rocks always look more like steak knives than limestone, and the man-made wooden barriers between me and the nothingness never look quite as safe as they did in the pictures. Or maybe it’s the rugged emptiness of canyons that make them so core-shaking. It’s thrilling and terrifying at the same time to think that at any moment you could be swallowed by the vastness of the canyon. And if I was ever daring enough to venture down the canyon’s sloping sides onto the earthy floor, I can imagine looking up into the darkness of the night sky and wondering if anything else existed in the world but me. But even more than sheer natural beauty and all-encompassing emptiness, what thrills me the most about canyons is their stark contrast to the civilised world. You won’t find a bustling cosmopolitan city within a canyon’s walls. And in a time when skyscrapers are thrown together in the blink of an eye, I love that there are still world wonders that take thousands of years to create and continue to change everyday. |
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Great World Canyons... » Canyons that Shouldn't Be Missed...
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The Grand CanyonCanyons in Southwest Desert, United States Attracting around five million visitors a year, the world's most famous, and some say most scenic, canyon, the Grand Canyon has been carved into Arizona's dry landscape over millions of years by the Colorado River. At its deepest point the Grand Canyon is one and a half kilometres deep and reveals the changing face of the Colorado plateau in its horizontal sedimentary stripes. Rafting and hiking are the best ways to explore the Grand Canyon and you can walk or ride a donkey down to the bottom. There are also several camp sites in the area. Temperatures in the canyon vary between 40 and 17 degrees Celsius and there have been many deaths due to heat exhaustion and dehydration, as well as several over zealous photographers who have fallen in.
Review by Photo by flickr user Wolfgang Staudt |
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Zambezi GorgeCanyons in Livingstone, Zimbabwe Zambezi Gorge is the name for the gaping cleft below thunderous Victoria Falls. There is not just one gorge here but a series of chasms carved out by the huge quantities of water coming over the falls. As well as the drama of seeing the world's largest (by volume) waterfall up close - you can get quite close on foot - visitors will see one of the largest concentrations of diverse wildlife in Africa, including hippos, elephants, lions, crocodiles, velvet monkeys and baboons.
Review by Photo by mikelyvers |
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PartnachklammCanyons in Tyrol, Austria Partnachklamm Gorge is dramatic throughout the year - during winter the river at its base often freezes, creating stalactite icicles, and in the summer the rapids, waterfalls and whirlpools are a feisty, whirling sight. The gorge is carved along an 800 metre stretch of mountain, at some places is as deep as 80 metres into the rock. A trail has been cut into the rock to make it safe to view up close, but the park guides warn that you will probably get wet. There are numerous hiking and climbing paths in the area and though the gorge has been tamed since it was first proclaimed a natural monument in 1912, there are still some adventurous trips you can take along its route. In winter Partnachklamm has the additional draw for visitors of being close to the nearby Olympic Ski Stadium.
Review by Photo by mikelyvers |
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Cotahuasi CanyonCanyons in Cusco, Peru More than three and a half kilometres from the highest edge to the floor, this is the world’s deepest canyon. To set the scene clearly imagine it surrounded by raging rivers ending in waterfalls, draping bridges, forests of puya and cactus and with snow capped mountains and the Coropuna Volcano looming behind it.
Review by Photo by flickr user CmdrGravy |
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The Panorama Route and Blyde River CanyonCanyons in Eastern Transvaal, South Africa The warm, sun-drenched winter days of South Africa reveal the heart-stopping views from the celebrated ‘Panorama Route’, beginning at Graskop and rising to more than a thousand metres up in the northern regions of the Drakensberg mountains. As the road climbs, you’ll see expansive plains, game reserves and winding rivers stretching for miles to the horizon until you reach Blyde River Canyon, the world’s third largest, boasting an eight hundred metre drop of steep, red sandstone to the rushing river beneath. The famous ‘Three Rondavels’ can be seen nearby, circular rock formations in the shape of traditional South African houses, and the ‘Bourke’s Luck Potholes’ are also not to be missed – strange, Dali-esque, layered structures carved from the sandstone in curves and circles by the river beneath. God’s Window is possibly the best stop of all – a high cliff edge between two jutting escarpments, creating a frame for a dense swathe of paradisiacal forest that stretches for miles to the shadowy Lebombo Mountains in the far distance. It’s also said to be worth the climb further up between the trees to find your very own window, and a little peace amongst the tropical mist and rainforest sounds.
Review by Photo by flickr user Rob Inh00d |
