Grand Canyon National Park

Willa Cather

The park's Search and Rescue Team responded to an 'over-the-edge' call on the North Rim on August 8. Upon arrival, they learned that a 14 year-old boy had fallen approximately 70-100 feet below Bright Angel Point. A helicopter short-haul rescue was not appropriate because of wind conditions and patient location, so team members implemented a technical rope rescue and were able to safely extract him. He was then flown to a pediatric trauma center for definitive care.

I have had many a perilous adventure in my ten years of exploring in the canyons of the Colorado River, but none so peculiar as one I passed through this year (1899).

The adventure of the first party to cross from one side of the Grand Canyon to the other by pack train in 1902 have never been told. Here follows a brief statement of the circumstances. by F. E. Matthes, U.S. Geological Survey.

To the bottom of the Grand Canyon by automobile was probably the most strenuous undertaking ever carried out in the annals of American motoring. To make that trip and to return to the plateau thousands of feet above, all on the car's own power, negotiating deep sand arroyos, frightfully steep grades, great boulder filled gorges and slimy mud flats, is a feat extraordinary.

Most aviators, I venture to say, would have been content to fly down into the canyon and make a safe landing. But not so Thomas. He was not satisfied with his performance until he had climbed back up again without landing and then dropped over the rim in a long tail-spin, which carried him nearly to the bottom, five thousand feet below...

The Chimney, Ooo-Ahh Point, Windy Ridge, the Red & Whites, the Tip-Off, the TrainWreck…For those who know and love the Kaibab Trail, the recitation of these names conjures up images that are the stuff of longing, wonder, and enchantment.

Construction of the suspension bridge across the Colorado river.

Recipients of the 2002 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards