Grand Canyon National Park
The Grand Canyon is a mile-deep, 18-mile wide, 277-mile long (1.6 km x 29 km x 446 km) gash in the Earth. The colorful spires, the rocky cliffs, the hidden pocket canyons, the pristine springs making lovely deposits, the roaring thunderstorms and arching rainbows are to many people the quintessence of the U.S. West. The Grand Canyon is neither the deepest nor the steepest canyon of the planet, but the Grand Canyon indeed is grand, and defines “canyon” for many people.
When the author, his sister Sharon, and his cousin Chuck were hiking the Bright Angel Trail from the North Rim into the canyon, a snake crossed the trail and slithered into some dry grass just at the trail edge. Chuck and I, in the lead, could see quite clearly that this snake ended in a “harmless” tail. Sharon, just behind, was not aware of the snake until it stuck its head out and rattled the grass just at her feet. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, and that if it rattles like a rattler it might actually be one, she made one mighty leap backward, landing in a cloud of dust on a switchback below.
Sharon almost certainly was not concerned with the rocks about her at that instant, but she had leaped backward through history. And what a history it is.
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Visit the Grand Canyon National Park website. While you are not required to review this, you may find it interesting and possibly even helpful in preparing for the quiz!