Episode 133: Paige Takes a trip to the Grand Canyon

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Ian: Hey everyone, you are listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I'm Ian Kennedy.

Paige: And I'm Paige Sutherland.

Ian: And today we're going to be talking about a fun little trip that Paige recently had to the Grand Canyon, which is one of the biggest world wonders that exists. It's a huge canyon in Arizona—a state that's located in the southwest part of the US—and it's just a really well-known and beautiful place, at least to us in the United States. So, we figured today would be a great opportunity to talk about this place and Paige’s trip while she's live in Arizona. So, listeners, as always, if you get lost to go online and check out that audio guide and transcript at www.dynamicenglish.cl. Okay, Paige—you're calling us from Arizona nearby from the Grand Canyon, so please tell us all about your trip. What was it like?

Paige: Yeah, of course. So, I'm in Tucson right now. I've been here for about a month and while in Arizona, you have to go to the Grand Canyon—it's a must. So, it's about a four or five-hour drive from us north. As you said, the Grand Canyon is this huge environmental wonder where the river, the Colorado River, which is also a really famous river in the US, this river cuts through seven states, it provides water for like over forty million people and it literally cuts through the canyon. And so, to go hiking in it you have to hike down into the canyon which is pretty not normal for those that hike. Usually, you hike up to get somewhere but here you hike down to go to the river. This canyon is huge. It's four hundred forty-six kilometers in length, the width is twenty-nine kilometers, and you really feel that when you're there. It's just, it takes over the landscape and you really feel like you're going down into the earth. And what's really so cool about it is how old it is. As you're going down, you can literally see the colors of the rock change and that's because of the age of the rocks and they're five to six million years old which just makes you feel very insignificant. But it's really cool.

Ian: That's amazing. And you talk about how old it is and it's amazing to see pictures of it. I personally have never been to the Grand Canyon, but just in the pictures you can see that it must have taken millions and millions of years for the river to be carving so much of the canyon to where now you have so many winding, almost like snake-looking areas of the canyon where you can just see millions of years of erosion and like you said, it's just it's a natural wonder to see. I can't even imagine what it's like to go there and look at it yourself in person. What was that like to see it from above before you went into it to hike?

Paige: Yeah, I think, I mean, I'm a big hiker so I did some pretty epic hikes in the canyon but honestly if you're not into hiking, you can just walk up to the edge and it's beautiful. You can see everything really by just going by the edge but I think for people who like hiking, it is really cool to be inside the canyon. It's cool to dip your foot in the Colorado River and to look up at the ledge of it and how far you've gone. But being there, we saw the sunrise one day, we caught all the sunsets and because the rocks are split off and how old they are, they're all different colors. And when you have a sunrise or sunset, the lighting is so different all parts of the day. So, you could be going on a hike, and every ten minutes the lighting kind of changes and it's prettier and different and I thought that was really cool.

Ian: That sounds really beautiful. I'll definitely have to see that in person myself some time in the future.

Ian: Coffee with Gringos officially has over one hundred episodes and we are among the “Top Podcasts in Chile.” And that's thanks to you, but we're always working to grow our audience. So, make sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, and even Snapchat. But most importantly—rate, review and share us with all of your friends, family, and coworkers. And if you want to take your English education to the next level, sign up for private or group classes with native English-speaking teachers at dynamicenglish.cl.

Paige: For listeners who don't know, Arizona is a very desert-like climate and their summers are so hot. Basically, in summer in parts of Arizona, you don't leave your house. It's almost like the winter in the Northeast where it's too cold. It's too hot so people just stay in air conditioning and the Grand Canyon, you can't hike it in the summer. There's no shade—you're in a canyon and you're talking like record-breaking heat.  So, if people do hike it in the summer, you have to go at night. You can't go during the day. And even it's winter here, well almost springtime here and we went and there was snow and ice at the top of the canyon, but the time you go half a mile, you're in a tank top and shorts. So, the weather was drastically different from the morning to the afternoon, where I was in like a ski jacket and parka and then I was in shorts.

Ian: Wow, that's amazing. That's a huge change for sure in that geography. So, when I ask you, you said you did some hiking. That sounds like it was the main activity of the trip there. So, tell us what kind of hikes did you do?

Paige: Yeah, so we did like two-day hikes down into the Colorado River. They were very long, very strenuous. It was twelve to fourteen miles, which is about twenty-seven kilometers. And it really did take all day. Each day we hiked for probably seven, eight hours. We drank so much water, there were just signs everywhere basically, “Know your fitness. If you aren't fit—don't do this.” And it was like bring so much water because it sounds like reading all the literature on all the hikes that they have to airlift people out because the Grand Canyon is one of the biggest attractions in our country and so, a lot of people go wearing their Nikes and jeans and maybe a little water bottle. Which I had, I think, six liters of water a day during the hike. You’re just constantly drinking water and so it's definitely an extreme hike. You wouldn't want to just go if you're not really a hiker and the hike it's hard but I think what was weird too is you like I said, you go down to go up. So, you're like “This is fine. I'm doing well.” And then you get to the bottom and you’re kind of tired and then you have to hike all the way up, which is the hard part. Where us hikers are used to getting the hard part over with first.

Ian: Right. I'm glad you mentioned that how dangerous it is and how people die there because I actually have a great uncle in my family who worked for many, many years in the Grand Canyon as a person who went to pull out the dead bodies of people who had died hiking or getting lost in the canyon. So, even though I've never visited, I've heard stories in my family of just how careful you have to be when you're there because it’s something that happens if you're not careful.

Paige: I've been getting into hiking a lot so I did a lot of research before. We were very prepared. We had all the equipment, all the water, and we saw this family that was heading out and, like I said, this hike is an eight-hour hike, it gets really hot, there's no shade in the canyon. And it was this family of a dad with three of his young kids, all like teenage years, but they were wearing basketball shoes and jeans and had one backpack that had maybe two water bottles for the four of them. And I was kind of nervous and they were like, “Oh, we're going to the river. We’re going down to the river.” And I'm like, “I don't think you have enough water.” Like, you're not prepared and they were starting to struggle as we were going down and I was like at this point you have to go to the bottom to get water. So, they made it all the way to the bottom and they were doing great and we saw them on the way up and the dad was completely dehydrated. He was on the ground, the other kids were really not doing well and we ended up having to all give them our water and our snacks and it was a little scary though because here's this dad with his kids and they're all sick. I am hoping he made it out okay. We gave them all our supplies like our water and snacks and everything and told him just to rest and then called the park rangers at the top just being like, “There's a guy who's not doing well.” It just shows you really have to be prepared and have the fitness but more essentially have some water, because you need it.

Ian: Totally—super important. You know it sounds like the dad and his kids were having some issues, some challenges getting down. So, did you or your group have any challenges or issues of your own?

Paige: We had some negative vibes. I think that you're in this canyon and it's beautiful, but it is daunting. You just keep going down and down and in the back of your mind, you're like “I have to go back up this…” So, having to be at the bottom and then go all the way up, I think there were some people in our group that were like, “I'm never going to make it. I'm not going to get out of here. Why did we come this far down?” So, there were some low points. I had one quote from one of my friends, who said she “lost her soul in the canyon.”

Ian: That’s saying something.

Paige: It was a lot of trying to get people to be positive vibes, enjoy the environment, the views are great. We'll do this so. But all in all, like at the end, everyone felt like it was amazing, such a good accomplishment but I don't think they do it again.

Ian: One and done. Do it once to be done with it. Fair enough. Besides all the challenges that the canyon gave you, let's talk about the opposite side. What was the most positive? What was your favorite part of this trip?

Paige: I mean, there were so many. It really was just breathtaking. I mean, sometimes I was trying to be like don't fall off the cliff because it's not like a normal hike where you're going up a mountain and you're in the woods. You were on the ledge of the canyon, so as you're walking you could kind of fall off and fall in. So, you kind of have to pay attention a little bit to where you're going but the views are so beautiful that you're just staring at the canyon as you're walking. That was incredible and then getting down to the Colorado River, there was this like wire bridge that goes across and you go across that and then I dipped my feet in the river and that just felt really cool. You were just in this really remote area; you could just look up at the top of the canyon and everything you hiked down. That was pretty incredible, but my favorite I'd say was after we did that hike, we get to the top and we bought some Grand Canyon Brewery beers and we had it at the top and watched the sunset. That was pretty baller.

Ian: That's a perfect ending to a long and seemingly very difficult hike from what you're explaining so nothing like a fresh, cold beer after a long hike in the desert. I'm sure that was one of the best beers you've had in a long time.

Paige: It was pretty great. Yeah, so I would recommend you definitely go, especially listeners as long as you do some hiking before and bring lots of water, you could do it. But definitely just do your homework before you go to the river because it's a lot further than you think.

Ian: I think you said it perfectly, Paige. Since you were just there, you're the perfect ambassador and first and foremost for anyone who wants to take that trip next. Listeners, again, if you get lost, go online and check out that audio guide and transcripts at www.dynamicenglish.cl. As always, thanks for listening.

Paige: We'll see you next time.

Paige: “Coffee with Gringos” was brought to you by Dynamic English, where you can learn English simply by using it. If you’re interested in taking classes or just want to learn more, go to our website at dynamicenglish.cl. Thanks for listening.

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

 1.     canyon (noun): a deep opening in the ground usually formed by a river.

a.     The canyon was formed from millions of years of the river flowing.

2.     landscape (noun): the view of an area of countryside or land.

a.     The landscape of the hike was absolutely beautiful.

3.     insignificant (adjective): unimportant; small.

a.     Looking at all the stars in the sky can me you feel insignificant.

4.     winding (adjective): twisting; not straight.

a.     the winding path took us deeper and deeper in the canyon.

5.     erosion (noun): the process of eroding or breaking down earth by wind, water, or other natural agents.  

a.     Millions of years of erosion formed the Grand Canyon.

6.     epic (adjective): impressive; remarkable.

a.     The epic hike made our trip so much better.

7.     to dip (verb): to put something into liquid.

a.     It was an amazing feeling to dip her feet into the Colorado River.

8.     ledge (noun): a narrow edge of a wall, cliff, or other surfaces.

a.     We walked close to the ledge of the cliff to get a better view of the landscape.

9.     shade (noun): the shadow or darkness caused by shelter from direct sunlight.

a.     It’s a good idea to rest in the shade during a long hike.

10.  tank top (noun): a close-fitting sleeveless shirt used for hot weather.

a.     I wore a tank top every day of my vacation to the beach.

11.  drastically (adverb): extremely; very.

a.     The top of the canyon is drastically different from the bottom.

12.  strenuous (adjective): difficult; tough; demanding.

a.     The hike was very strenuous and we were exhausted by the end.  

13.  to airlift (verb): to transport someone out of a dangerous area due to an emergency.

a.     The survivor needed to be airlifted from the bottom of the canyon.  

14.  daunting (adjective): intimidating; difficult.

a.     Even though the hike looked daunting, we had a lot of fun.

15.  breathtaking (adjective): something so amazing as to take one’s breath away.

a.     The breathtaking landscape was one of the best parts of our trip. remote

16.  remote (adjective): located far from the main centers of population.

a.     The location was so remote that we didn’t see anyone else.

17.  baller (adjective, slang): extremely good or impressive; excellent.

a.     The trip to the Grand Canyon was so baller!