Day 53, The Tuweep (also known as Toroweap); Grand Canyon

We met some people at the Skywalk who told us that the best views are obtained from Toroweap ...so that is where we are right now.
Toroweap, a Paiute term meaning "dry or barren valley," refers to many local features, including the geologic formation and fault, the valley, and the overlook.

This has an excellent setting with colourful cliffs visible in all directions including those of the inner gorge to the south, and with flourishing desert vegetation.
We strolled for a few hundred yards eastwards across sand until we reached the canyon edge.

Whoa!! My heart almost jumped out of my chest!!!

That's a 3,000 feet VERTICAL drop directly below.
Some of the huge rocks at the canyon edge are split and uneven, and it is slightly unsettling, yet exhilarating to stand at the very edge, and gaze into the chasm below.............

The Grand Canyon is among the earth's greatest on-going geological spectacles.

Its vastness is stunning, and the evidence it reveals about the earth's history is invaluable.
About 65 million years ago in the earth's shifting, a huge area of land was lifted a mile and a half above sea level, forming what is now the Colorado Plateau.
For the last 5-6 million years, the Colorado River has been slowly carving its way down through the many layers of rock.
The river and its tributaries, together with the erosive forces of rain, snow, heat and cold, have formed a spectacular gorge one-mile deep and at some points 18 miles across.
The colorful strata of the canyon walls reveal the rock formations of the earth's evolution from nearly 2 billion years ago.
Even if you do not believe in the concept of GOD or SPIRIT...a visit to this place is certainly a spiritually uplifting experience...
Truly a wonder of the world!!!!